Past and present distributions and community evolution of Muridae and Soricidae from MIS 9 to MIS 1 on the edge of the Palaeo-Agulhas Plain (south coast, South Africa)

QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS

卷:235

Article

Matthews, Thalassa²  Marean, Curtis W.^1,2  Cleghorn, Naomi^2,3 

[1] Arizona State Univ, Sch Human Evolut & Social Change, Inst Human Origins, POB 872402, Tempe, AZ 85287 USA

[2] Nelson Mandela Univ, African Ctr Coastal Palaeosci, POB 77000, ZA-6031 Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa

[3] Univ Texas Arlington, Dept Sociol & Anthropol, Box 19599, Arlington, TX 76019 USA

关键词: Pleistocene;    Holocene;    Southern Africa;    Micromammals;    Paleoclimatology;    Fossil micromammal distributions;    Muridae;    Soricidae;    Pinnacle point;    Knysna;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.05.026

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

This paper reviews past and present distributions of murid (mice and rats) and soricid (shrew) species from the Pinnacle Point fossil sites PP5-6N, PP9C, PP13B, and PP30, as well as the coastal site of Knysna Eastern Heads Cave 1. The positioning of these sites on the edge of the Palaeo-Agulhas Plain resulted in the micromammal communities being exposed to rapid landmass changes through sea-level regressions and transgressions, as well as climatic and environmental fluctuations during glacial-interglacial cycling. Together, Pinnacle Point and Knysna preserve a composite coastal sequence from MIS 9 to MIS 1, and provide an opportunity to assess the long term sensitivity of micromammals to environmental change. Modern distributional information for the south coast region was obtained from owl pellet and small-carnivore scat assemblages, and extended the known current distributions of six murids. A uniform suite of micromammals was pervasive throughout all the fossil sites, during both glacial and inter-glacial cycling, and the composition of the majority of fossil micromammal assemblages remained unchanged, despite fluctuations in rainfall amount, seasonality, and the proportion of C3 versus C4 vegetation. This suggests an ability to adapt to, and cope with, climatic and environmental changes with relative ease. The fact that the fossil evidence indicates that many murid taxa occupied different ranges in the past, and, in some cases, had considerably more extensive ranges, and lived in a greater variety of habitats, raises a note of caution regarding using current biogeographies to elucidate palaeoenvironmental and climatic change, and for biogeographic and species distribution modelling. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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