Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T22:33:05.575Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Pollen Analysis of Hyena Coprolites and Sediments from Equus Cave, Taung, Southern Kalahari (South Africa)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Abstract

Equus Cave, in Quaternary tufa near Taung in the semiarid woodland of the southern Kalahari, yielded 2.5 m of sediment in which a rich assemblage of bones and coprolites was preserved. The fossils were accumulated mainly by hyenas during the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Pollen from coprolites reflects diet as well as vegetation over relatively large areas visited by hyenas, while pollen from sediments represents more local sources. The pollen sequence derived from coprolites and sediments demonstrates how the vegetation evolved from open grassland with small shrubs and occasional trees during the late Pleistocene, to open savanna with more small shurbs, then, during the last 7500 yr, to modern savanna. Temperatures were not more than 4°C cooler and it was slightly moister than today during the late Pleistocene phase; it became gradually warmer but relatively dry before optimal temperature and moisture conditions developed around 7500 yr B.P. Climatic conditions slightly less favorable for woodland occurred during part of the late Holocene.

Type
Articles
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acocks, J.P.H. Veld types of South Africa. Botanical Survey of South Africa, Memoir 28 1953 1 192 Google Scholar
Beaumont, P. B. van Zinderen Bakker, E. M. Vogel, J. C. Environmental changes since 32 000 BP at Kathu Pan, northern Cape, South Africa. Vogel, J. C. Late Cainozoic Palaeoclimates of the Southern Hemisphere. 1984 Balkema Rotterdam 329 338 Google Scholar
Bottema, S. The interpretation of pollen spectra from prehistoric settlements (with special attention to Liguliflorae). Palaeohistoria 17 1975 17 35 Google Scholar
Butzer, K. W. Paleoecology of South African australopithecines: Taung revisited. Current Anthropology 15 1974 367 382 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butzer, K. W. Fock, G. J. Scott, L. Stuckenrath, R. Dating and contextual analysis of rock engravings in South Africa. Science 203 1979 1201 1214 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butzer, K. W. Stuckenrath, R. Bruzewicz, A. J. Helgren, D. M. Late Cenozoic paleoclimates of the Gaap Escarpment, Kalahari margin, South Africa. Quaternary Research 10 1978 310 339 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dart, R. A. Australopithecus africanus: The man-ape of South Africa. Nature (London) 115 1925 195 199 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grine, F. E. Klein, R. G. Pleistocene and Holocene human remains from Equus Cave, South Africa. Anthropology 8 1985 55 98 Google Scholar
Klein, R. G. Carnivore size and Quarternary climatic change in southern Africa. Quaternary Research 26 1986 153 170 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Rourke, M. K. Mead, I. Late Pleistocene and Holocene pollen records from two caves in the Grand Canyon of Arizona, U.S.A.. American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists Contribution Series 16 1985 169 185 Google Scholar
Partridge, T. C. Spring flow and tufa accretion at Taung. Tobias, P. V. Hominid Evolution: Past, Present and Future. 1985 Liss New York 171 187 Google Scholar
Peabody, F. E. Travertines and cave deposits of the Kaap Escarpment of South Africa and the type locality of Austrolopithecus africanus . Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 65 1954 671 706 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schulze, R. E. McGee, O. S. Climatic indices and classification in relation to the biogeography of southern Africa. Werger, M.J.A. Biogeography and Ecology of Southern Africa. 1978 Junk The Hague 19 52 Google Scholar
Scott, L. A late Quarternary pollen record from the Transvaal bushveld, South Africa. Quaternary Research 17 1982 339 370 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, L. Palynological evidence for Quaternary paleoenvironments in southern Africa. Klein, R. G. Southern African Prehistory and Paleoenvironments. 1984 Balkema Rotterdam 65 80 Google Scholar
Scott, L. Reconstruction of late Quaternary palaeoenvironments in the Trasvaal region, South Africa, based on palynological evidence. Vogel, J. C. Late Cainozoic Palaeoclimates of the Southern Hemisphere. 1984 Balkema Cape Town 317 327 Google Scholar
Scott, L. Pollen analysis and palaeoenvironmental interpretation of late Quaternary sediment exposures in the eastern Orange Free State, South Africa. Palaeoecology of Africa 17 1986 113 122 Google Scholar
Scott, L. Klein, R. G. A hyena-accumulated bone assemblage from late Holocene deposits at Deelpan, Orange Free State. Annals of the South African Museum 86 1981 217 227 Google Scholar
Scott, L. Vogel, J. C. A late Quaternary pollen profile from the Transvaal highveld, South Africa. South African Journal of Science 79 1983 266 272 Google Scholar
Skinner, J. D. Ecology of the brown hyena Hyaena brunnea in the Transvaal with a distribution map for Southern Africa. South African Journal of Science 72 1976 262 269 Google Scholar
Skinner, J. D. van Aarde, R. J. The distribution and ecology of the brown hyaena Hyaena brunnea and spotted hyaena Crocuta crocuta in the central Namib desert. Madoqua 12 1981 231 239 Google Scholar
Smithers, R.H.N. The Mammals of the Southern African Subregion 1983 Univ. of Pretoria Pretoria Google Scholar
Thompson, R. S. Van Devender, T. S. Martin, P. S. Foppe, T. Long, A. Shasta ground sloth (Nothrotheriops shastense Hoffstetter) at Shelter Cave, New Mexico: Environment, diet, and extinction. Quaternary Research 14 1980 360 376 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Zinderen Bakker, E. M. Jr. Ecological investigations of forest communities in the eastern Orange Free State and the adjacent Natal Drakensberg. Vegetatio 28 1973 299 334 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Zinderen Bakker, E. M. Sr. Observation on the distribution of Ericaceae in Africa. Argumenta Geographica 12 1970 89 97 Google Scholar
Van Zinderen Bakker, E. M. Sr. Pollen analytical studies of the Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa. Pollen et Spores 24 1982 235 250 Google Scholar
Vogel, J. C. Partridge, T. C. Preliminary radiometric ages for the Taung tufas. Vogel, J. C. Late Cainozoic Palaeoclimates of the Southern Hemisphere. 1984 Balkema Rotterdam 507 514 Google Scholar