Using faunal remains from Bolt’s Farm Cave System (Cradle of Humankind) to understand the system’s palaeo-environment. - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2023

Using faunal remains from Bolt’s Farm Cave System (Cradle of Humankind) to understand the system’s palaeo-environment.

Nonhlanhla Vilakazi
  • Fonction : Auteur
  • PersonId : 1120327
Lazarus Kgasi
Brigitte Senut
  • Fonction : Auteur
  • PersonId : 923321
Frank Sénégas
Martin Pickford
  • Fonction : Auteur
  • PersonId : 843368
Marco Pavia
Francis Thackeray

Résumé

The Plio-Pleistocene sites of the Cradle of Humankind (UNESCO site), at Taung and Makapansgat Limeworks, all in South Africa, have yielded a rich collection of macrofauna and an abundance of microfauna. This has been validated by different publications on bovids, primates, carnivores, rodents, insectivores, elephant shrews and birds. The palaeokarst system of Bolt's Farm, Gauteng Province, South Africa, is no different from the above as it is endowed with numerous fossiliferous Plio-Pleistocene deposits. Macrofauna gives information about the past environment at the regional scale because of their high migration capacity. But ecosystems are often complex, mosaic, and to obtain a more precise reconstruction of the past environment, local indications must be considered. This information may concern the entire Cradle of Humankind, the nearby valley or only the site surroundings. Bovid faunal remains are useful in palaeo-ecological interpretations and elucidate contemporary regional environments. Carnivores on the other hand indicate prey size preferences and availability. Microfauna gives information about the local environmental conditions as they do not travel long distances. Fossils such as rodents, Mylomygale, Agama sp., Hemachatus haemachatus, and Geronticus cf. calvus have been yielded from Bolt's Farm Cave System and these have also been useful in the reconstruction of the palaeo-environment of the locality.

Domaines

Paléontologie
Fichier non déposé

Dates et versions

hal-04230637 , version 1 (06-10-2023)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-04230637 , version 1

Citer

Nonhlanhla Vilakazi, Dominique Gommery, Lazarus Kgasi, Brigitte Senut, Frank Sénégas, et al.. Using faunal remains from Bolt’s Farm Cave System (Cradle of Humankind) to understand the system’s palaeo-environment.. 29th Colloqium of African Geology, “The earth sciences and Africa’s development: current realities, future projections”, Sep 2023, Windhoek, Namibia. ⟨hal-04230637⟩
45 Consultations
2 Téléchargements

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More