Summary Dietary inferences are a key foundation for paleoecological, ecomorphological and macroevolutionary studies because they inform us about the direct relationships between the components of an ecosystem. However, we need to consider the range of dietary variation we want to investigate and characterize before choosing a proxy. The goal of the present work is to evaluate the differences in dietary discrimination power between our new method, the multidimensional multi‐proxy dental morphology analysis (MPDMA) and unidimensional dental morphology proxies such as orientation patch count (OPCR), relief index (RI) or slope. In order to do that, we three‐dimensionally scanned the dentitions of 134 extant mammals including 28 marsupials (order Diprotodontia) and 106 placentals (orders Carnivora, Primates and Rodentia) and classified their diets using a new classification scheme that emphasizes the primary resource in a given diet. Diet categories included herbivory, carnivory, frugivory, granivory, insectivory, fungivory, gumivory and generalist. Unidimensional proxies significantly discriminate (P < 0·05) between one or two diet categories on the one hand and the rest on the other. For example, OPCR discriminates well between carnivorous and non‐carnivorous species. However, none of the individual proxies discriminate all eight dietary categories. Multi‐proxy dental morphology analysis demonstrates significant morphological differences across diets (MANOVA, d.f. = 7; F = 7·56; P < 0·05) and correctly discriminates diet for 67–82% of the specimens in the data set including and excluding rodents respectively. Combining different morphological variables makes it possible to draw better dietary inferences and fully represent the multidimensional nature of dental morphology and dietary specializations. Our results have important applications in ecological, paleoecological and evolutionary research.

Investigating historical anthropogenic impacts on faunal communities is key to understanding present patterns of biodiversity and holds important implications for conservation biology. While several studies have demonstrated the human role in the extinction of large herbivores, effective methods to study human interference on large carnivores in the past are limited by the small number of carnivoran remains in the paleozoological record. Here, we integrate a systematic paleozoological survey of biogenic cave assemblages with the archaeological and paleoenvironmental records of the Judean Desert, to reveal historical changes in the large carnivore community. Our results show a late Holocene (~ 3400 years ago) faunal reassembly characterized by the diminishment of the dominant large carnivoran, the Arabian leopard (Panthera pardus sbsp. nimr), and the spread of the Syrian striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena sbsp. syriaca). We suggest that increased hunting pressure in combination with regional aridification were responsible for the decrease in the number of leopards, while the introduction of domestic animals and settlement refuse brought new scavenging opportunities for hyenas. The recent extirpation of leopards from the region has been a final note to the Holocene human impact on the ecosystem.

Biotic interactions between Africa and Eurasia across the Levant have invoked particular attention among scientists aiming to unravel early human dispersals. However, it remains unclear whether behavioral capacities enabled early modern humans to surpass the Saharo–Arabian deserts or if climatic changes triggered punctuated dispersals out of Africa. Here, we report an unusual subfossil assemblage discovered in a Judean Desert’s cliff cave near the Dead Sea and dated to between ∼42,000 and at least 103,000 y ago. Paleogenomic and morphological comparisons indicate that the specimens belong to an extinct subspecies of the eastern African crested rat, Lophiomys imhausi maremortum subspecies nova, which diverged from the modern eastern African populations in the late Middle Pleistocene ∼226,000 to 165,000 y ago. The reported paleomitogenome is the oldest so far in the Levant, opening the door for future paleoDNA analyses in the region. Species distribution modeling points to the presence of continuous habitat corridors connecting eastern Africa with the Levant during the Last Interglacial ∼129,000 to 116,000 y ago, providing further evidence of the northern ingression of African biomes into Eurasia and reinforcing previous suggestions of the critical role of climate change in Late Pleistocene intercontinental biogeography. Furthermore, our study complements other paleoenvironmental proxies with local—instead of interregional—paleoenvironmental data, opening an unprecedented window into the Dead Sea rift paleolandscape.

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