Conservation Implications of Fossil Roan Antelope (Hippotragus equinus) in Southern Africa’s Cape Floristic Region

Faith, J. Tyler

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-25038-5_12

Cited by 26 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…For example, Sereno et al (2008) report fossil roan from early Holocene sediments in Central Niger, and Merzoug and Sari (2008) report roan from the Iberomaurusian site of Tamar Hat, Algeria. In South Africa, Klein (1974) and Faith (2012) have demonstrated that roan recently inhabited the Cape Floristic Region through much of the Late Pleistocene and likely into historical times. Together, these three records, in addition to the Kibish occurrence, show that populations of Hippotragus equinus extended north, south, and eastward of their current range during the over the last~105 ka.…”

Section: Hippotragus Equinusmentioning

confidence: 97%

Taxonomy and paleoecology of fossil Bovidae (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) from the Kibish Formation, southern Ethiopia: Implications for dietary change, biogeography, and the structure of the living bovid faunas of East Africa

Rowan

Faith

Gebru

et al. 2015

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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Section: Hippotragus Equinusmentioning

confidence: 97%

Taxonomy and paleoecology of fossil Bovidae (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) from the Kibish Formation, southern Ethiopia: Implications for dietary change, biogeography, and the structure of the living bovid faunas of East Africa

Rowan

Faith

Gebru

et al. 2015

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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“…This raises the possibility that populations of Grévy's zebra declined or have been declining long before the first historical observations of the species were made. It follows that in addition to human impacts over the last few decades, the decline of Grévy's zebra may be driven in part by mechanisms operating on temporal scales beyond the limits of human observation, as has been documented in the fossil histories of several other mammal species (Lyman, ; Grayson, ; Grayson & Delpech, ; Faith, ,b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

The fossil history of Grévy's zebra (Equus grevyi) in equatorial East Africa

Faith

Tryon

Peppe

et al. 2012

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim Within the last several decades, Grévy's zebra (Equus grevyi) has undergone a massive reduction in geographical range and population size, largely as the result of human impacts. To place its recent decline in a deeper prehistoric context, and to understand the factors mediating its range and abundance over geological time frames, this study examines the fossil history of Grévy's zebra in equatorial East Africa.Location Equatorial East Africa.Methods Presence/absence data for ungulates recovered from fossil sites spanning the last c. 400,000 years in Kenya and Ethiopia were compiled from the literature and from previously unreported palaeontological sites. Associations between Grévy's zebra and other taxa were examined using principal coordinates analysis and non-random species pairs were identified using a Bayesian approach. Changes in rainfall were reconstructed using the average hypsodonty index of ungulate species from fossil assemblages.

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“…rests on the assumption that the range of blue antelope during the colonial era was adequately documented. The fact that the type specimen of roan antelope has been traced to the south coast near Nelson Bay Cave (Grubb, ), despite only equivocal observations of this species in the region (Skead, ; Faith, ), highlights the inadequacies of the historical record. The blue antelope's migratory behaviours would have made it particularly vulnerable to agricultural expansion early in the historical era.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The bontebok and Cape mountain zebra, two large grazers that may have also participated in past migrations, are the focus of ongoing conservation efforts in the CFR (Novellie et al ., ; Kerley et al ., ; Watson & Chadwick, ; Smith et al ., ; Faith, ). The bontebok nearly followed the blue antelope to extinction in the early 1800s, and the Cape mountain zebra only narrowly avoided extinction 100 years later (Skinner & Chimimba, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although historical observations are scarce (Skead, ), the blue antelope is well represented in the Quaternary fossil record (Klein, ), which provides a key source of insight into its ecology and the factors leading to its demise. An understanding of both is not only important in its own right, but is also relevant to contemporary large mammal conservation efforts (Kerley et al ., , ; Faith, ) and to understanding palaeoecological change in the region (Klein, ; Rector & Reed, ; Faith, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fossil evidence for seasonal calving and migration of extinct blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus) in southern Africa

Faith

Thompson

2013

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim Palaeoecological data are crucial to understanding the historical extinction of the blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus). This study examined late Quaternary fossil evidence bearing on the blue antelope's calving and migratory habits. Location Cape Floristic Region (CFR), South Africa. Methods Blue antelope mortality patterns were reconstructed from dental remains from fossil assemblages spanning the last c. 200,000 years and located in the CFR's winter and year‐round rainfall zones. Two demographic measures were examined: (1) the frequencies of juveniles relative to adults; and (2) the frequencies of neonates relative to older juveniles. Geographical trends were examined across a longitudinal gradient of decreasing winter rainfall and increasing summer rainfall. Results There was a significant longitudinal trend in the blue antelope mortality data, with juveniles and neonates declining in frequency from west to east. This suggests that calving occurred primarily in the winter rainfall zone, probably during the winter months when seasonal rains promoted the growth of C3 grasses. The summer drought and lack of adequate forage forced blue antelope to migrate east, in time with summer rainfall and the increased availability of C4 grasses. The migration route probably depended in part on reduced sea levels during glacial phases of the Pleistocene. Main conclusions Blue antelope were probably migratory. Rising sea levels at the onset of the Holocene disrupted their migration routes, limited access to west‐coast calving grounds, and fragmented populations. Such disruption would have devastated the blue antelope population and contributed to its vulnerability to extinction. Blue antelope survived previous marine transgressions, however, suggesting that other factors played a role in its demise. Agricultural expansion early in the colonial era may have further disrupted migration routes and played an important role in its extinction.

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Conservation Implications of Fossil Roan Antelope (Hippotragus equinus) in Southern Africa’s Cape Floristic Region

Cited by 26 publications

References 34 publications

Taxonomy and paleoecology of fossil Bovidae (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) from the Kibish Formation, southern Ethiopia: Implications for dietary change, biogeography, and the structure of the living bovid faunas of East Africa

Taxonomy and paleoecology of fossil Bovidae (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) from the Kibish Formation, southern Ethiopia: Implications for dietary change, biogeography, and the structure of the living bovid faunas of East Africa

The fossil history of Grévy's zebra (Equus grevyi) in equatorial East Africa

Fossil evidence for seasonal calving and migration of extinct blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus) in southern Africa

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