Contracting eastern African C4 grasslands during the extinction of Paranthropus boisei

Abstract The extinction of the Paranthropus boisei estimated to just before 1 Ma occurred when C4 grasslands dominated landscapes of the Eastern African Rift System (EARS). P. boisei has been characterized as an herbivorous C4 specialist, and paradoxically, its demise coincided with habitats favorab...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Rhonda L. Quinn, Christopher J. Lepre
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/3408a9a458ef40809d4f760a6be046a5
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:3408a9a458ef40809d4f760a6be046a5
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:3408a9a458ef40809d4f760a6be046a52021-12-02T13:26:24ZContracting eastern African C4 grasslands during the extinction of Paranthropus boisei10.1038/s41598-021-86642-z2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/3408a9a458ef40809d4f760a6be046a52021-03-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-86642-zhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract The extinction of the Paranthropus boisei estimated to just before 1 Ma occurred when C4 grasslands dominated landscapes of the Eastern African Rift System (EARS). P. boisei has been characterized as an herbivorous C4 specialist, and paradoxically, its demise coincided with habitats favorable to its dietary ecology. Here we report new pedogenic carbonate stable carbon (δ13CPC) and oxygen (δ18OPC) values (nodules = 53, analyses = 95) from an under-sampled interval (1.4–0.7 Ma) in the Turkana Basin (Kenya), one of the most fossiliferous locales of P. boisei. We combined our new results with published δ13CPC values from the EARS dated to 3–0 Ma, conducted time-series analysis of woody cover (ƒWC), and compared the EARS ƒWC trends to regional and global paleo-environmental and -climatic datasets. Our results demonstrate that the long-term rise of C4 grasslands was punctuated by a transient but significant increase in C3 vegetation and warmer temperatures, coincident with the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (1.3–0.7 Ma) and implicating a short-term rise in pCO2. The contraction of C4 grasslands escalated dietary competition amongst the abundant C4-feeders, likely influencing P. boisei’s demise.Rhonda L. QuinnChristopher J. LepreNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Rhonda L. Quinn Christopher J. Lepre Contracting eastern African C4 grasslands during the extinction of Paranthropus boisei
description	Abstract The extinction of the Paranthropus boisei estimated to just before 1 Ma occurred when C4 grasslands dominated landscapes of the Eastern African Rift System (EARS). P. boisei has been characterized as an herbivorous C4 specialist, and paradoxically, its demise coincided with habitats favorable to its dietary ecology. Here we report new pedogenic carbonate stable carbon (δ13CPC) and oxygen (δ18OPC) values (nodules = 53, analyses = 95) from an under-sampled interval (1.4–0.7 Ma) in the Turkana Basin (Kenya), one of the most fossiliferous locales of P. boisei. We combined our new results with published δ13CPC values from the EARS dated to 3–0 Ma, conducted time-series analysis of woody cover (ƒWC), and compared the EARS ƒWC trends to regional and global paleo-environmental and -climatic datasets. Our results demonstrate that the long-term rise of C4 grasslands was punctuated by a transient but significant increase in C3 vegetation and warmer temperatures, coincident with the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (1.3–0.7 Ma) and implicating a short-term rise in pCO2. The contraction of C4 grasslands escalated dietary competition amongst the abundant C4-feeders, likely influencing P. boisei’s demise.
format	article
author	Rhonda L. Quinn Christopher J. Lepre
author_facet	Rhonda L. Quinn Christopher J. Lepre
author_sort	Rhonda L. Quinn
title	Contracting eastern African C4 grasslands during the extinction of Paranthropus boisei
title_short	Contracting eastern African C4 grasslands during the extinction of Paranthropus boisei
title_full	Contracting eastern African C4 grasslands during the extinction of Paranthropus boisei
title_fullStr	Contracting eastern African C4 grasslands during the extinction of Paranthropus boisei
title_full_unstemmed	Contracting eastern African C4 grasslands during the extinction of Paranthropus boisei
title_sort	contracting eastern african c4 grasslands during the extinction of paranthropus boisei
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/3408a9a458ef40809d4f760a6be046a5
work_keys_str_mv	AT rhondalquinn contractingeasternafricanc4grasslandsduringtheextinctionofparanthropusboisei AT christopherjlepre contractingeasternafricanc4grasslandsduringtheextinctionofparanthropusboisei
_version_	1718393022068031488

Contracting eastern African C4 grasslands during the extinction of Paranthropus boisei

Ejemplares similares