The fossil carnivores of the Transvaal caves. The Lycyaenas of Sterkfontein and Swartkrans, together with some general considerations of the Transvaal fossil Hyaenids

Abstract

Summary. Two further specimens of Lycyaena silberbergi Broom have been found, one from the Sterkfontein Type Site and the other from Swartkrans. These include regions of the mandible anterior to what was present in Broom's type specimen, and permit the addition of some further details of the structure of this species. A new species, Lycyaena nitidula, is described from Swartkrans. One fragment from the Sterkfontein Type Site probably also belongs to this species. All the species of hyaenid at present known from the three sites, Kromdraai, Swartkrans and the Sterkfontein Type Site are tabulated. Their relationships to other hyaenids are discussed, and their implications as to the relative and absolute dates of the three deposits are considered. It is concluded that of the three deposits the Sterkfontein Type Site is the oldest, separated by only a short time interval from Swartkrans, with Kromdraai later still and separated from Swartkrans by a rather longer time interval. Kromdraai is estimated to be of early Pleistocene age, and Swartkrans and the Sterkfontein Type Site are considered to belong to the top of the upper Pliocene.

The fossil carnivores of the Transvaal caves: Machairodontinae

“…piveteaui from Kromdraai. This is in agreement with the view previously expressed (Ewer 1955) that Kromdraai is the most recent of the three deposits. The Therailurus fragment from Swartkrans is not sufficient for any assessment of its relations to the other two species.…”

The Fossil Carnivores of the Transvaal Caves: Felinae

“…The latter is not represented at all in the abundant Swartkrans material. These facts would seem to support the conclusion suggested by a study of the hyaenid fauna (Ewer, 1955) that the three deposits are not strictly contemporaneous and that Kromdraai is separated by a longer time interval from the other two deposits than the latter are from each other, SUMMARY Three fossil J! 'elinae are described.…”

“…However. indistingiiishable Lycyaenas have previously been fonnd in these deposits (Ewer, 1955). and it would therefore not be surprising to find a leopard also in common.…”

<i>Crocuta dietrichi</i> de Meob, Namibia: Implicaciones sobre la edad de la Arenisca de Tsondab en la zona costera del desierto de Namibia

“…In contrast, during the same period, the genera Crocuta, Pliocrocuta, Pachycrocuta, Parahyaena and Hyaena became established; of which only three genera (Crocuta, Parahyaena and Hyaena) survive to the present day. This turnover affected South Africa (Ewer, 1954(Ewer, , 1955a(Ewer, , 1955bHendey, 1974Hendey, , 1978, North Africa (Geraads, 1997;Howell, 1987) as well as Central and East Africa (de Bonis et al, 2010;Haile-Selassie & Howell, 2009;Morales et al, 2005).…”