Shearing Quotient based Ecomorphological Analysis of Cercopithecidae fossils from the Lower Omo Basin: Dietary Adaptation, Habitat Preference and Paleoenvironment Reconstruction
| dc.contributor.advisor | Yirga, Solomon (PhD) | |
| dc.contributor.author | Ashagrie, Mezgebu | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2018-07-05T13:26:42Z | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2023-11-09T04:21:13Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2018-07-05T13:26:42Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2023-11-09T04:21:13Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2008-12 | |
| dc.description.abstract | This study was undertaken to reconstruct the Shungura cercopithecid assemblages’ dietary adaptation, habitat preference and environmental changes. Their dietary adaptations were reconstructed through shearing quotient based ecomorphological analysis. Each species’ trophic adaptation was compared to their locomotor adaptations and associated environmental evidences in the case of reconstructing their habitat preferences. Moreover, the proportions of their trophic adaptation across the stratigraphic members were taken to derive the paleoenvironmental changes. Reconstructed dietary adaptations show that except the Theropithecus lineage the rest of the cercopithecid taxa are adapted like that of their modern lineages, i.e., frugivory in cercopithecines (Cercopithecus sp., Papio, large papionini, small papionini A and B) and folivory in colobines (Rhinocolobus turkanaensis, Paracolobus mutiwa and Colobus sp.) have been observed. Exceptionally, the Theropithecus lineage shows different dietary adaptations along their successive temporal scale, i.e., frugivory (most likely soft fruit) in T. brumpti, hard food items (most likely seed or nut-like fruits) in T. oswaldi and more grass blades in T. gelada (the modern Theropithecus) are suggested. This trophic adaptation together with plausible previously documented environmental evidences indicate that T. oswaldi were living in open environment (habitats), while the rest of the fossil cercopithecids were dwelling in environments with more tree cover or forests to bushlands, particularly colobines and Cercopithecus sp. in forest, T. brumpti in closed woodland and the other papionini in closed to open woodland/bushland habitats. In addition to their habitat differences, the study showed that the Lower Omo valley was a closed environment at its basal members A and B. However, environmental changes have been observed at the later different stratigraphic members, particularly from closed to a mosaic of closed and open environment at member C (2.85 – 2.52 Ma) and progressively open and most probably extreme aridity at member H (1.90-1.74 Ma). These environmental changes coincide with the East African climatic change recorded from Marine records of African climate variability document as well as to the evolution of hominids such as Paranthropus aethiopicus and Homo erectus. These possible relations between faunal, environmental and climatic change in turn indicate that there exists temporal correlation between terrestrial and marine event sequences. Finally, the study suggests that the observed major late Pliocene-Pleistocene events in the Shungura Formation may have been climatically mediated. Key words/ phrases: Ceropithecidae, Shearing crest/ quotient, Dietary adaptation, Habitat preference, Paleoenvironment, Shungura Formation | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/6752 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.publisher | Addis Ababa University | en_US |
| dc.subject | Ceropithecidae | en_US |
| dc.subject | Shearing crest/ quotient | en_US |
| dc.subject | Dietary adaptation | en_US |
| dc.subject | Habitat preference | en_US |
| dc.subject | Paleoenvironment | en_US |
| dc.subject | Shungura Formation | en_US |
| dc.title | Shearing Quotient based Ecomorphological Analysis of Cercopithecidae fossils from the Lower Omo Basin: Dietary Adaptation, Habitat Preference and Paleoenvironment Reconstruction | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |