A Review of the Cenozoic Vegetation History of Africa

Jacobs, Bonnie F.; Pan, Aaron D.; Scotese, Christopher R.

doi:10.1525/california/9780520257214.003.0005

Cited by 75 publications

(84 citation statements)

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“…The authors proposed that the African stock was transported from West African coasts to South America or Antilles via the oceanic South Equatorial Current (SEC) (Fig. 6), considering that the evergreen forests were more widespread in Africa during the Paleogene (see also Feakins and Demenocal 2010;Jacobs et al 2010). A similar colonization was proposed for other examples involving plants (Thorne 1973;Chanderbali et al 2001;Dick et al 2003;Gottschling et al 2004;Lavin et al 2004;Renner 2004;Antonelli 2008) and insects (see below), and was also demonstrated with diverse groups of vertebrates (Fleagle 1999;Houle 1999).…”

Section: Hymenaea Dispersalmentioning

confidence: 73%

New ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Platypodinae) from Miocene Mexican and Dominican ambers and their paleobiogeographical implications

et al. 2015

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Two new species are described from Mexican amber (15-20 Ma): Cenocephalus tenuis Peris and Solórzano Kraemer sp. nov. and Tesserocerus simojovelensis Peris and Solórzano Kraemer sp. nov. Cenocephalus, originally described as living in Central and South America and then as fossils from Early to Middle Miocene amber, is noted as morphologically indistinguishable from Mitosoma, and originally described as endemic from Madagascar. Thus, we consider that a close taxonomic relationship exists, even if they are not the same genus. New evidence of the species already described in Platypodinae (Tesserocerini) from Mexican and Dominican ambers (15-20 Ma) and the differences between those species are discussed, complementing the original descriptions. The paleobiogeography of Cenocephalus and Mitosoma is analyzed, which strongly supports the hypothesis of colonization from Afrotropical Madagascar to America prior to Early to Middle Miocene (15-20 Ma) via sea currents. Hymenaea was interpreted as the Mexican and Dominican resin producers. Based on the analysis of fossil and current distribution of such plants, our hypothesis considers that the beetle dispersion occurred with Hymenaea, which was possibly its host plant.

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Section: Hymenaea Dispersalmentioning

confidence: 73%

New ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Platypodinae) from Miocene Mexican and Dominican ambers and their paleobiogeographical implications

et al. 2015

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“…8-10 Ma (Cerling et al, 1998;Jacobs et al, 1999Jacobs et al, , 2010Uno et al, 2016), implying that unchanging habitats allowed biotic factors to drive evolution of early hominoid lineages through most of the early and middle Miocene. However, a few studies have indicated the presence of open canopy habitats based on environmental interpretations from paleosols and stable isotopes from early Miocene strata at Karungu and Rusinga Island in western Kenya (Bestland and Krull, 1999;Forbes et al, 2004;Driese et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Early Miocene Critical Zone at Karungu, Western Kenya: An Equatorial, Open Habitat with Few Primate Remains

et al. 2017

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Early Miocene outcrops near Karungu, Western Kenya, preserve a range of fluvio-lacustrine, lowland landscapes that contain abundant fossils of terrestrial and aquatic vertebrates. Primates are notably rare among these remains, although nearby early Miocene strata on Rusinga Island contain a rich assemblage of fossilized catarrhines and strepsirrhines. To explore possible environmental controls on the occurrence of early Miocene primates, we performed a deep-time Critical Zone (DTCZ) reconstruction focused on floodplain paleosols at the Ngira locality in Karungu. We specifically focused on a single stratigraphic unit (NG15), which preserves moderately developed paleosols that contain a microvertebrate fossil assemblage. Although similarities between deposits at Karungu and Rusinga Island are commonly assumed, physical sedimentary processes, vegetative cover, soil hydrology, and some aspects of climate state are notably different between the two areas. Estimates of paleoclimate parameters using paleosol B horizon elemental chemistry and morphologic properties are consistent with seasonal, dry subhumid conditions, occasional waterlogging, and herbaceous vegetation. The reconstructed small mammal community indicates periodic waterlogging and open-canopy conditions. Based on the presence of herbaceous root traces, abundant microcharcoal, and pedogenic carbonates with high stable carbon isotope ratios, we interpret NG15 to have formed under a warm, seasonally dry, open riparian woodland to wooded grassland, in which at least a subset of the vegetation was likely C 4 biomass. Our results, coupled with previous paleoenvironmental interpretations for deposits on Rusinga Island, demonstrate that there was considerable environmental heterogeneity ranging from open to closed habitats in the early Miocene. We hypothesize that the relative paucity of primates at Karungu was driven by their environmental preference for locally abundant closed canopy vegetation, which was likely absent at Karungu, at least during the NG15 interval if not also earlier and later intervals that have not yet been studied in as much detail.

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“…Our lineage, the hominins, first appeared in the late Miocene or early Pliocene after splitting from chimpanzees between 7 Ma and 5 Ma based on molecular divergence rates (1,2). In the past few decades, new discoveries have greatly expanded the number of hominins in the fossil record, and, in concert, new paleoenvironmental records (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8) and syntheses (9)(10)(11) have expanded our understanding of hominin paleoenvironments in eastern Africa. The set of tools available for studying paleovegetation has also expanded considerably, and a diverse series of approaches are being used in eastern Africa.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Neogene biomarker record of vegetation change in eastern Africa

Uno

Polissar

Jackson

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

121

103

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The evolution of C4 grassland ecosystems in eastern Africa has been intensely studied because of the potential influence of vegetation on mammalian evolution, including that of our own lineage, hominins. Although a handful of sparse vegetation records exists from middle and early Miocene terrestrial fossil sites, there is no comprehensive record of vegetation through the Neogene. Here we present a vegetation record spanning the Neogene and Quaternary Periods that documents the appearance and subsequent expansion of C4 grasslands in eastern Africa. Carbon isotope ratios from terrestrial plant wax biomarkers deposited in marine sediments indicate constant C3 vegetation from ∼24 Ma to 10 Ma, when C4 grasses first appeared. From this time forward, C4 vegetation increases monotonically to present, with a coherent signal between marine core sites located in the Somali Basin and the Red Sea. The response of mammalian herbivores to the appearance of C4 grasses at 10 Ma is immediate, as evidenced from existing records of mammalian diets from isotopic analyses of tooth enamel. The expansion of C4 vegetation in eastern Africa is broadly mirrored by increasing proportions of C4-based foods in hominin diets, beginning at 3.8 Ma in Australopithecus and, slightly later, Kenyanthropus. This continues into the late Pleistocene in Paranthropus, whereas Homo maintains a flexible diet. The biomarker vegetation record suggests the increase in open, C4 grassland ecosystems over the last 10 Ma may have operated as a selection pressure for traits and behaviors in Homo such as bipedalism, flexible diets, and complex social structure.

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A Review of the Cenozoic Vegetation History of Africa

Cited by 75 publications

References 0 publications

New ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Platypodinae) from Miocene Mexican and Dominican ambers and their paleobiogeographical implications

New ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Platypodinae) from Miocene Mexican and Dominican ambers and their paleobiogeographical implications

The Early Miocene Critical Zone at Karungu, Western Kenya: An Equatorial, Open Habitat with Few Primate Remains

Neogene biomarker record of vegetation change in eastern Africa

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