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Science 2 October 2009:
Vol. 326. no. 5949, pp. 67, 87-93
DOI: 10.1126/science.1175822
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Research Articles

Macrovertebrate Paleontology and the Pliocene Habitat of Ardipithecus ramidus

Tim D. White,1,* Stanley H. Ambrose,2 Gen Suwa,3 Denise F. Su,4 David DeGusta,5 Raymond L. Bernor,6,7 Jean-Renaud Boisserie,8,9 Michel Brunet,10 Eric Delson,11,12 Stephen Frost,13 Nuria Garcia,14 Ioannis X. Giaourtsakis,15 Yohannes Haile-Selassie,16 F. Clark Howell,17,{dagger} Thomas Lehmann,18 Andossa Likius,19 Cesur Pehlevan,20 Haruo Saegusa,21 Gina Semprebon,22 Mark Teaford,23 Elisabeth Vrba24

A diverse assemblage of large mammals is spatially and stratigraphically associated with Ardipithecus ramidus at Aramis. The most common species are tragelaphine antelope and colobine monkeys. Analyses of their postcranial remains situate them in a closed habitat. Assessment of dental mesowear, microwear, and stable isotopes from these and a wider range of abundant associated larger mammals indicates that the local habitat at Aramis was predominantly woodland. The Ar. ramidus enamel isotope values indicate a minimal C4 vegetation component in its diet (plants using the C4 photosynthetic pathway), which is consistent with predominantly forest/woodland feeding. Although the Early Pliocene Afar included a range of environments, and the local environment at Aramis and its vicinity ranged from forests to wooded grasslands, the integration of available physical and biological evidence establishes Ar. ramidus as a denizen of the closed habitats along this continuum.

1 Human Evolution Research Center and Department of Integrative Biology, 3101 Valley Life Sciences Building, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
2 Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois, 607 South Matthews Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
3 The University Museum, University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
4 Department of Anthropology, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010–2889, USA.
5 Department of Anthropology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305–2034.
6 National Science Foundation, Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology Program, Arlington, VA 22230, USA.
7 College of Medicine, Department of Anatomy, Laboratory of Evolutionary Biology, Howard University, 520 W Street, Washington, DC 20059, USA.
8 Paléobiodiversité et Paléoenvironnements, UMR CNRS 5143, USM 0203, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, 8 rue Buffon, CP 38, 75231 Paris cedex 05, France.
9 Institut de paléoprimatologie et paléontologie humaine, évolution et paléoenvironnements, UMR CNRS 6046, Université de Poitiers, 40 avenue du Recteur-Pineau, 86022 Poitiers cedex, France.
10 Collège de France, Chaire de Paléontologie humaine, 3 Rue d’Ulm, F-75231 Paris cedex 05, France.
11 Department of Anthropology, Lehman College, City University of New York, Bronx, NY 10468, USA.
12 Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA.
13 Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403–1218, USA.
14 Departamento Paleontología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid y Centro de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, ISCIII, C/ Sinesio Delgado 4, Pabellón 14, 28029 Madrid, Spain.
15 Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Department of Geo- and Environmental Sciences, Section of Paleontology, Richard-Wagner-Strasse 10, D-80333 Munich, Germany.
16 Department of Physical Anthropology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, 1 Wade Oval Drive, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
17 Human Evolution Research Center and Department of Anthropology, 3101 Valley Life Sciences Building, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
18 Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut, Senckenberganlage 25, D-60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
19 Département de Paléontologie, Université de N’Djamena, BP 1117, N’Djamena, Chad.
20 University of Yuzuncu Yil, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Science and Letters, Zeve Yerlesimi 65080 Van, Turkey.
21 Institute of Natural and Environmental Sciences, University of Hyogo, Yayoigaoka, Sanda 669-1546, Japan.
22 Science and Mathematics, Bay Path College, 588 Longmeadow Street, Longmeadow, MA 01106, USA.
23 Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 1830 East Monument Street, Room 303, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
24 Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.

{dagger} Deceased

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: timwhite{at}berkeley.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Ardipithecus ramidus and the Paleobiology of Early Hominids.
T. D. White, B. Asfaw, Y. Beyene, Y. Haile-Selassie, C. O. Lovejoy, G. Suwa, and G. WoldeGabriel (2009)
Science 326, 64-64, 75-86
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Reexamining Human Origins in Light of Ardipithecus ramidus.
C. O. Lovejoy (2009)
Science 326, 74-74, 74e1-74e8
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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