Mongoose Manor: Herpestidae remains from the Early Pleistocene Cooper’s D locality in the Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng, South Africa

Mongooses (Herpestidae) are an important component of African ecosystems, and a common constituent of southern African fossil assemblages. Despite this, mongoose fossils from the Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng, South Africa, have received relatively little interest. This paper presents the diverse mongoose craniodental assemblage from the early Pleistocene fossil locality Cooper’s D. A total of 29 mongoose specimens from five genera were identified at Cooper’s, including numerous first appearances in the Cradle or in South Africa. The exceptional mongoose assemblage at Cooper’s likely reflects the effects of an unknown taphonomic process, although mongooses follow other carnivore groups in the Cradle in displaying an apparent preference for the southern part of the Cradle. This investigation shows the value of mongooses as palaeoecological indicators and supports previous interpretations of the environment at Cooper’s as grassland with a strong woody component near a permanent water source.Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST); DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, Palaeosciences (CoE-Pal); the South African National Research Foundation; and the University of the Witwatersrand Postgraduate Merit Award.JNC201

The Equidae from Cooper’s D, an early Pleistocene fossil locality in Gauteng, South Africa

Cooper’s D is a fossil locality in the Bloubank Valley close to other important sites such as Sterkfontein and Kromdraai in Gauteng, South Africa. The fossil deposits of Cooper’s D date to 1.38 ± 0.11 Ma. Hominins like Paranthropus robustus and early Homo have been recovered from Cooper’s Cave. We report here on the Equidae remains. Our sample contains specimens from the extinct Equus capensis, and a specimen which represents an extinct hipparion Eurygnathohippus cf. cornelianus. This particular specimen was previously identified as plains zebra (Equus quagga). The contribution of Equidae to the total fossil assemblage of Cooper’s D is relatively low, and these remains were likely accumulated by various predators such as spotted and brown hyenas and leopards. The Equidae, as well as the other fauna from Cooper’s D supports the existence of grassland, wooded and water components in the vicinity of the site

Mustelid and viverrid remains from the Pleistocene site of Cooper’s D, Gauteng, South Africa

Fossil mustelids and viverrids are rare in the African Pleistocene fossil record. The careful examination of sieved sediments from the well-dated Cooper’s D locality in Gauteng has revealed six new mustelid and viverrid specimens. These represent three uncommon genera – two mustelids, Propoecilogale bolti and Mellivora capensis, and a viverrid, Civettictis cf. civetta. We describe and figure these six specimens here. Cooper’sD is only the fourth African locality at which P. bolti has been identified, and it is the first of the Witwatersrand sites to contain remains of the African civet.Palaeontological Scientific Trust NRF/DST Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences South African National Research Foundation University of the Witwatersrand Postgraduate Merit Award Liverpool John Moores University Early Career Researcher Awar

The global abundance of tree palms

Aim Palms are an iconic, diverse and often abundant component of tropical ecosystems that provide many ecosystem services. Being monocots, tree palms are evolutionarily, morphologically and physiologically distinct from other trees, and these differences have important consequences for ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration and storage) and in terms of responses to climate change. We quantified global patterns of tree palm relative abundance to help improve understanding of tropical forests and reduce uncertainty about these ecosystems under climate change. Location Tropical and subtropical moist forests. Time period Current. Major taxa studied Palms (Arecaceae). Methods We assembled a pantropical dataset of 2,548 forest plots (covering 1,191 ha) and quantified tree palm (i.e., ≥10 cm diameter at breast height) abundance relative to co‐occurring non‐palm trees. We compared the relative abundance of tree palms across biogeographical realms and tested for associations with palaeoclimate stability, current climate, edaphic conditions and metrics of forest structure. Results On average, the relative abundance of tree palms was more than five times larger between Neotropical locations and other biogeographical realms. Tree palms were absent in most locations outside the Neotropics but present in >80% of Neotropical locations. The relative abundance of tree palms was more strongly associated with local conditions (e.g., higher mean annual precipitation, lower soil fertility, shallower water table and lower plot mean wood density) than metrics of long‐term climate stability. Life‐form diversity also influenced the patterns; palm assemblages outside the Neotropics comprise many non‐tree (e.g., climbing) palms. Finally, we show that tree palms can influence estimates of above‐ground biomass, but the magnitude and direction of the effect require additional work. Conclusions Tree palms are not only quintessentially tropical, but they are also overwhelmingly Neotropical. Future work to understand the contributions of tree palms to biomass estimates and carbon cycling will be particularly crucial in Neotropical forests

Felidae from Cooper’s Cave, South Africa (Mammalia:Carnivora)

The Cooper’s Cave System has produced a diverse fossil assemblage including the remains of Paranthropus robustus Broom, 1938, and early Homo. The majority of the faunal remains come from Cooper’s D, which dates to ~1.5 – 1.4 Ma. Here we describe 158 craniodental and postcranial felid fossils from Cooper’s D, including Dinofelis cf. aronoki. These fossils indicate the presence of four large felid genera at Cooper’s D: Dinofelis, Megantereon, Panthera (two species) and Acinonyx, plus two smaller taxa: Caracal and Felis. This assemblage may mark the first appearance of the modern cheetah Acinonyx jubatus (Schreber, 1775) in Africa, as well the first occurrence of the East African species Dinofelis cf. aronoki in southern Africa. This taxon appears intermediate in features between Dinofelis barlowi (Broom, 1937) and Dinofelis piveteaui (Ewer, 1955). We compare the Cooper’s D felid assemblage with those from other sites in the Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng, and discuss several scenarios for the evolution of the genus Dinofelis in eastern and southern Africa

Dental microwear differences between eastern and southern African fossil bovids and hominins

Dental microwear has proven to be a valuable tool for reconstructing diets of fossil vertebrates. However, recent studies have suggested that the pattern of microscopic scratches and pits on teeth may be more reflective of environmental grit than of food preferences. Could differences in dental microwear between early hominins, for example, therefore be a result of dust level rather than of diet? We investigated this possibility using a palaeocommunity approach. We compared microwear texture differences between eastern and southern African Hominini, along with Plio-Pleistocene specimens representing two tribes of bovids, Alcelaphini and Antilopini, from the same deposits as the early hominins. If exogenous grit swamps diet signals, we would expect community-wide microwear patterns separating samples by region. Results indicate that each of the three tribes shows a different pattern of variation of microwear textures between eastern and southern Africa. These results imply that differences in microwear reflect diet rather than grit load, and that microwear can provide valuable information not just about environmental dust level, but about food preferences of fossil vertebrates

Available craniometric comparisons in <i>P</i>. <i>angusticeps</i>, UW 88–886, <i>P</i>. <i>h</i>. <i>cynocephalus</i>, and <i>P</i>. <i>izodi</i>.

<p>Top Row: Boxplots of orbit height considering UW 88–886 separately (left) and within <i>P</i>. <i>angusticeps</i> (right). Note that <i>P</i>. <i>izodi</i> has significantly taller orbits than both <i>P</i>. <i>angusticeps</i> and <i>P</i>. <i>h</i>. <i>cynocephalus</i>. UW 88–886 has tall orbits compared to other <i>P</i>. <i>angusticeps</i> specimens, but within a reasonable range of expected variation for a species. Middle Row: Boxplots of orbit area (mm²) considering UW 88–886 separately (left) and within <i>P</i>. <i>angusticeps</i> (right). <i>P</i>. <i>izodi</i> has significantly larger orbits than <i>P</i>. <i>angusticeps</i>, but a non-significant difference compared to <i>P</i>. <i>h</i>. <i>cynocephalus</i>. The difference between <i>P</i>. <i>angusticeps</i> and <i>P</i>. <i>h</i>. <i>cynocephalus</i> is also non-significant. UW 88–886 appears to have large orbits compared to other <i>P</i>. <i>angusticeps</i> specimens, but again within a reasonable range of expected variation for a species. Bottow Row: Boxplots of relative malar height considering UW 88–886 separately (left) and within <i>P</i>. <i>angusticeps</i> (right). <i>P</i>. <i>izodi</i> has a significantly shorter malar height compared to <i>P</i>. <i>angusticeps</i> and <i>P</i>. <i>h</i>. <i>cynocephalus</i>, but the difference between <i>P</i>. <i>angusticeps</i> and <i>P</i>. <i>h</i>. <i>cynocephalus</i> is non-significant. UW 88–886 is closest to the average of other <i>P</i>. <i>angusticeps</i> specimens. See also <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0133361#pone.0133361.t002" target="_blank">Table 2</a> and <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0133361#pone.0133361.g005" target="_blank">Fig 5</a>.</p

CT Scans of UW 88–866 in oblique (left) and lateral (right) views.

<p>Again, note the strong maxillary ridges, deep maxillary fossae, strong temporal lines, and tall malar region, distinctive of <i>P</i>. <i>angusticeps</i> males.</p

Comparison of morphology in UW 88–886 (left), <i>P</i>. <i>angusticeps</i> males (CO 100, center), and <i>P</i>. <i>izodi</i> males (TP 89-11-1, right).

<p>Top: Lateral view, specimens scaled to approximately the same cranial height. Note the tall malar region (black bar), prominent maxillary ridges and deep maxillary fossae (white arrows) in UW 88–886 and <i>P</i>. <i>angusticeps</i> compared with <i>P</i>. <i>izodi</i>. Bottom: Dorsal view, specimens scaled to approximately the same cranial width. Note the longer, narrower muzzle in <i>P</i>. <i>angusticeps</i> compared to <i>P</i>. <i>izodi</i>, and again the prominent maxillary ridges and deep maxillary fossae in UW 88–886 and <i>P</i>. <i>angusticeps</i> compared with <i>P</i>. <i>izodi</i>.</p