Isotopic Evidence for Neogene Hominid Paleoenvironments in the Kenya Rift Valley

Details Isotopic Evidence for Neogene Hominid Paleoenvironments in the Kenya Rift Valley Isotopic Evidence for Neogene Hominid Paleoenvironments in the Kenya Rift Valley

May 1994

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994sci...264..955k&link_type=abstract

Science, Volume 264, Issue 5161, pp. 955-959

Mathematics

Logic

22

Scientific paper

Bipedality, the definitive characteristic of the earliest hominids, has been regarded as an adaptive response to a transition from forested to more-open habitats in East Africa sometime between 12 million and 5 million years ago. Analyses of the stable carbon isotopic composition (δ13C) of paleosol carbonate and organic matter from the Tugen Hills succession in Kenya indicate that a heterogeneous environment with a mix of C3 and C4 plants has persisted for the last 15.5 million years. Open grasslands at no time dominated this portion of the rift valley. The observed δ13C values offer no evidence for a shift from more-closed C3 environments to C4 grassland habitats. If hominids evolved in East Africa during the Late Miocene, they did so in an ecologically diverse setting.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Isotopic Evidence for Neogene Hominid Paleoenvironments in the Kenya Rift Valley does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Isotopic Evidence for Neogene Hominid Paleoenvironments in the Kenya Rift Valley, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Isotopic Evidence for Neogene Hominid Paleoenvironments in the Kenya Rift Valley will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1681129