Landscape distribution and ecology of Plio-Pleistocene avifaunal communities from Lowermost Bed II, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

The paleoecology of Pleistocene birds from Middle Bed II, at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, and the environmental context of the Oldowan-Acheulean transition

“…Avifaunal data can provide a snapshot of local environmental and ecosystem composition and health (Pearson, 1994;Hawkins et al, 2007;Chambers, 2008). The establishment of many extant genera dating back to the Miocene, and even Oligocene (Brodkorb, 1971;Stewart and Beech, 2006;Louchart, 2008a;Louchart et al, 2008), also facilitates their utility as paleoenvironmental indicators (Miller, 1937;Cheneval, 1989;Eastham, 1997;Finlayson et al, 2011;Peresani et al, 2011;Prassack, 2014) and can provide important data on long-term environmental and climate change (Brodkorb, 1985;Emslie and Morgan, 1994;Emslie et al, 1998;Meijer et al, 2013;Prassack, 2014).…”

“…An ecotaphonomic approach to the study of Olduvai's avifaunal communities was applied by Prassack (2010Prassack ( , 2014 to the study of OLAPP excavated birds. When combined with data from other environmental proxies (e.g., Plummer and Bishop, 1994;Kappelman et al, 1997;Fernández Jalvo et al, 1998;Liutkus et al, 2005;Werdelin and Lewis, 2005;Bamford et al, 2006;Sikes and Ashley, 2008;Bennet et al, 2012;Blumenschine et al, 2012a, b;Ungar et al, 2012;Kovarovic et al, 2013), this type of approach can allow for greater accuracy in inferences made as to the potential causalities behind observed changes in hominin behavioral ecology and land use (i.e., distributions and types of stone tools, butchered animal bones, and hominin fossils) at Olduvai (Blumenschine et al, 2012a, b; Pante and de la Torre, submitted).…”

“…OGAP specimen catalogue numbers are referenced by korongo, trench, level, and identification number (e.g., FC East T34-L89-75). Leakey HWK EE specimens are referenced as either HWK EE LC (Leakey Clay) We also used fossil taxa previously identified by the first author from other deposits at Olduvai (e.g., Prassack, 2010Prassack, , 2014 and published images and measurements to assist in the identification of these birds. These are noted in the text.…”

“…The taphonomic histories of avifaunal remains provide information that, in conjunction with the community profile, can be used to make stronger inferences about a site's environmental context (Emslie et al, 1996;Behrensmeyer et al, 2003;Cruz, 2007;Prassack, 2010Prassack, , 2011Prassack, , 2014. The taphonomic agents most likely to alter the community profile through differential destruction and/or transport of a birds bones are weathering, carnivoran feeding, and fluvial transport.…”

“…The Pleistocene birds of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, remain the largest and richest avifaunal assemblage known in Africa (Wetmore, pers. comm., in Leakey, 1965;Brodkorb, 1985) and provide important data on avian evolution and community change on that continent (e.g., Harrison, 1980a;Brodkorb, 1985;Prassack, 2010Prassack, , 2014. The Olduvai birds are also important to the field of paleoanthropology, as they come from a dynamic period of hominin evolution at a site internationally recognized for its paleoanthropological significance (Leakey et al, 1964;Leakey, 1965Leakey, , 1971Tobias, 1967Tobias, , 1991Blumenschine et al, 2003;Clarke, 2012;Domínguez-Rodrigo et al, 2013).…”