M. Böhme et al. 2017
Full reference
M. Böhme, N. Spassov, M. Ebner, D. Geraads, L. Hristova, U. Kirscher, S. Kötter, U. Linnemann, J. Prieto, S. Roussiakis, G. Theodorou, G. Uhlig, and M. Winklhofer. 2017. Messinian age and savannah environment of the possible hominin Graecopithecus from Europe
. In R. Macchiarelli (ed.), PLoS One 12(5) [E. Vlachos/P. Kampouridis/P. Wagner]
Metadata
| ID number: | 66561 |
| Created: | 2018-08-13 04:58:09 |
| Modified: | 2021-03-12 23:34:47 |
| Publication type: | journal article |
| Taxonomy: | stated with evidence |
| Language: | English |
| DOI: | 10.1371/journal. pone.0177347 |
| Comments: Dating fossil hominids and reconstructing their environments is critically important for understanding human evolution. Here we date the potentially oldest hominin, Graecopithecus freybergi from Europe and constrain the environmental conditions under which it thrived. For the Graecopithecus-bearing Pikermi Formation of Attica/Greece, a saline aeolian dust deposit of North African (Sahara) provenance, we obtain an age of 7.37–7.11 Ma, which is coeval with a dramatic cooling in the Mediterranean region at the Tortonian-Messinian transition. Palaeobotanic proxies demonstrate C4-grass dominated wooded grassland-towoodland habitats of a savannah biome for the Pikermi Formation. Faunal turnover at the Tortonian-Messinian transition led to the spread of new mammalian taxa along with Graecopithecus into Europe. The type mandible of G. freybergi from Pyrgos (7.175 Ma) and the single tooth (7.24 Ma) from Azmaka (Bulgaria) represent the first hominids of Messinian age from continental Europe. Our results suggest that major splits in the hominid family occurred outside Africa. | |
Taxonomic opinions (13) - view classification
'Adcrocuta belongs to Carnivora' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Atelodus neumayri is recombined as Ceratotherium neumayri' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Bohlinia belongs to Giraffidae' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Camelopardalis attica is recombined as Bohlinia attica' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Capra amalthea is recombined as Tragoportax amalthea' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Ceratotherium belongs to Rhinocerotidae' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Gazella belongs to Bovidae' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Graecopithecus freybergi belongs to Graecopithecus' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Graecopithecus belongs to Primates' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Hippotherium belongs to Equidae' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Palaeotragus belongs to Giraffidae' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Tragoportax macedoniensis belongs to Tragoportax' according to Bouvrain 1988
'Tragoportax belongs to Bovidae' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Atelodus neumayri is recombined as Ceratotherium neumayri' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Bohlinia belongs to Giraffidae' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Camelopardalis attica is recombined as Bohlinia attica' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Capra amalthea is recombined as Tragoportax amalthea' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Ceratotherium belongs to Rhinocerotidae' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Gazella belongs to Bovidae' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Graecopithecus freybergi belongs to Graecopithecus' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Graecopithecus belongs to Primates' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Hippotherium belongs to Equidae' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Palaeotragus belongs to Giraffidae' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017
'Tragoportax macedoniensis belongs to Tragoportax' according to Bouvrain 1988
'Tragoportax belongs to Bovidae' according to M. Böhme et al. 2017