Abstract
UNGULATE communities of two East African savannas, the Serengeti and Athi-Kapiti Plains, are dominated by wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) supplemented by zebra (Equus burchelli), topi (Damaliscus lunatus), hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus), buffalo (Syncerus caffer) eland (Taurotragus oryx) and gazelles (Gazella grand and G. thomsoni)1–3. Before this research, little was known of East African large mammal communities in the Late Pleistocene and early to middle Holocene. We document an extinct impala-sized alcelaphine antelope that is numerically dominant in Late Pleistocene archaeofaunal assemblages from the Athi-Kapiti Plains. The extinct giant buffalo Pelorovis antiquus is present, and a number of arid-adapted regionally extinct species are common. The small alcelaphine is rare in northern Tanzania, but regionally extinct arid-adapted species are present in Late Pleistocene deposits. These data indicate that as recently as 12,000 years ago, the large mammal community structure of East African savannas was very different and dry grasslands and arid-adapted ungulates expanded at least as far south as northern Tanzania during the Last Glacial Maximum.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Sinclair, A. R. E. in Serengeti: Dynamics of an Ecosystem (eds Sinclair, A. R. E. & Norton-Griffiths, M.) 1–30 (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1979).
Talbot, L. M. & Talbot, M. H. The Wildebeest in Western Masailand (The Wildlife Society, Monograph number 12, 1963).
Foster, J. B. & Coe, M. J. J. Zool. Soc. Lond. 155, 413–425 (1968).
Nelson, C. M. & Kimengich, J. in Origin and Early Development of Food Producing Cultures in North-Eastern Africa (ed. Krzyzaniak, L.) 481–487 (Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan, 1984).
Gramly, R. M. Man, 11, 319–344 (1976).
Miller, S. F. Nyame Akuma 14, 31–34 (1979).
Innskeep, R. in Actes du IV Congrès Panafricain de Préhistoire 249–256 (Tervuren, 1962).
Deacon, J. Anns Cape Prov. Mus. 5, 5–84 (1966).
Bower, J.R.F. & Smale, W. The Longest Record: The Human Career in Africa (Conf., Berkeley, 1986).
Klein, R. G. & Cruz-Uribe, K. The Analysis of Animal Bones from Archaeological Sites (University of Chicago, Chicago, 1984).
Vrba, E. Anns. Transvaal Mus. 15, 287–352 (1973).
Simpson, G. C., Roe, A. & Lewontin, R. C. Quantitative Zoology (Harcourt, Brace & World, New York, 1960).
Gentry, A. W. & Gentry, A. Bull. Br. Mus. nat. Hist. Geol. 29, 289–446 (1978).
Lehman, U. Mitt. Geol. Staatsinst. Hamburg 26, 100–140 (1957).
Potts, R., Shipman, P. & Ingall, E. J. hum. Evol. 17, 597–614 (1988).
Klein, R. G. Occ. Papers Nat. Mus. Mon. Rhodesia 4, 74–80 (1978).
Klein, R. G. Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 81, 233–283 (1980).
Vrba, E. Palaeont. Afr. 26, 33–46 (1987).
Marean, C. W. thesis, Univ. California at Berkeley (1990).
Hamilton, A. C. Environmental History of East Africa (Academic, New York, 1982).
Bonnefille, R. et al. Nature 346, 347–349 (1990).
Janis, C. M. in Teeth Revisited: Proceedings of the VIIth International Symposium on Dental Morphology (eds Russell, D. E., Santoro, J.-P. & Sigogneau-Russell, D.) 367–387 (Mémoires du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Série C, tome 53, Paris, 1988).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Marean, C., Gifford-Gonzalez, D. Late Quaternary extinct ungulates of East Africa and palaeoenvironmental implications. Nature 350, 418–420 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1038/350418a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/350418a0
This article is cited by
-
Biogeographic and Evolutionary Implications of an Extinct Late Pleistocene Impala from the Lake Victoria Basin, Kenya
Journal of Mammalian Evolution (2014)
-
Middle and Later Stone Age lithic technology and land use in East African savannas
The African Archaeological Review (1994)
-
Hunter to herder: large mammal remains from the hunter-gatherer occupation at Enkapune Ya Muto rock-shelter, Central Rift, Kenya
The African Archaeological Review (1992)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
