Increased ecological resource variability during a critical transition in hominin evolution

Richard Potts; René Dommain; Jessica W. Moerman; Anna K. Behrensmeyer; Alan L. Deino; Simon Riedl; Emily J. Beverly; Erik T. Brown; Daniel Deocampo; Rahab Kinyanjui; Rachel Lupien; R. Bernhart Owen; Nathan Rabideaux; James M. Russell; Mona Stockhecke; Peter deMenocal; J. Tyler Faith; Yannick Garcin; Anders Noren; Jennifer J. Scott; David Western; Jordon Bright; Jennifer B. Clark; Andrew Cohen; C. Brehnin Keller; John King; Naomi E. Levin; Kristina Brady Shannon; Veronica Muiruri; Robin W. Renaut; Stephen M. Rucina; Kevin Uno

doi:10.1126/sciadv.abc8975

Increased ecological resource variability during a critical transition in hominin evolution

Richard Potts^*, René Dommain, Jessica W. Moerman, Anna K. Behrensmeyer, Alan L. Deino, Simon Riedl, Emily J. Beverly, Erik T. Brown, Daniel Deocampo, Rahab Kinyanjui, Rachel Lupien, R. Bernhart Owen, Nathan Rabideaux, James M. Russell, Mona Stockhecke, Peter deMenocal, J. Tyler Faith, Yannick Garcin, Anders Noren, Jennifer J. ScottDavid Western, Jordon Bright, Jennifer B. Clark, Andrew Cohen, C. Brehnin Keller, John King, Naomi E. Levin, Kristina Brady Shannon, Veronica Muiruri, Robin W. Renaut, Stephen M. Rucina, Kevin Uno

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

71 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Although climate change is considered to have been a large-scale driver of African human evolution, landscape-scale shifts in ecological resources that may have shaped novel hominin adaptations are rarely investigated. We use well-dated, high-resolution, drill-core datasets to understand ecological dynamics associated with a major adaptive transition in the archeological record ~24 km from the coring site. Outcrops preserve evidence of the replacement of Acheulean by Middle Stone Age (MSA) technological, cognitive, and social innovations between 500 and 300 thousand years (ka) ago, contemporaneous with large-scale taxonomic and adaptive turnover in mammal herbivores. Beginning ~400 ka ago, tectonic, hydrological, and ecological changes combined to disrupt a relatively stable resource base, prompting fluctuations of increasing magnitude in freshwater availability, grassland communities, and woody plant cover. Interaction of these factors offers a resource-oriented hypothesis for the evolutionary success of MSA adaptations, which likely contributed to the ecological flexibility typical of Homo sapiens foragers.

Original language	English
Article number	eabc8975
Number of pages	14
Journal	Science Advances
Volume	6
Issue number	43
Early online date	21 Oct 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abc8975
Publication status	Published - Oct 2020

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Potts, R., Dommain, R., Moerman, J. W., Behrensmeyer, A. K., Deino, A. L., Riedl, S., Beverly, E. J., Brown, E. T., Deocampo, D., Kinyanjui, R., Lupien, R., Owen, R. B., Rabideaux, N., Russell, J. M., Stockhecke, M., deMenocal, P., Faith, J. T., Garcin, Y., Noren, A., ... Uno, K. (2020). Increased ecological resource variability during a critical transition in hominin evolution. Science Advances, 6(43), Article eabc8975. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abc8975

@article{479747ada02247a397943f97e265fc52,

title = "Increased ecological resource variability during a critical transition in hominin evolution",

abstract = "Although climate change is considered to have been a large-scale driver of African human evolution, landscape-scale shifts in ecological resources that may have shaped novel hominin adaptations are rarely investigated. We use well-dated, high-resolution, drill-core datasets to understand ecological dynamics associated with a major adaptive transition in the archeological record ~24 km from the coring site. Outcrops preserve evidence of the replacement of Acheulean by Middle Stone Age (MSA) technological, cognitive, and social innovations between 500 and 300 thousand years (ka) ago, contemporaneous with large-scale taxonomic and adaptive turnover in mammal herbivores. Beginning ~400 ka ago, tectonic, hydrological, and ecological changes combined to disrupt a relatively stable resource base, prompting fluctuations of increasing magnitude in freshwater availability, grassland communities, and woody plant cover. Interaction of these factors offers a resource-oriented hypothesis for the evolutionary success of MSA adaptations, which likely contributed to the ecological flexibility typical of Homo sapiens foragers.",

author = "Richard Potts and Ren{\'e} Dommain and Moerman, {Jessica W.} and Behrensmeyer, {Anna K.} and Deino, {Alan L.} and Simon Riedl and Beverly, {Emily J.} and Brown, {Erik T.} and Daniel Deocampo and Rahab Kinyanjui and Rachel Lupien and Owen, {R. Bernhart} and Nathan Rabideaux and Russell, {James M.} and Mona Stockhecke and Peter deMenocal and Faith, {J. Tyler} and Yannick Garcin and Anders Noren and Scott, {Jennifer J.} and David Western and Jordon Bright and Clark, {Jennifer B.} and Andrew Cohen and Keller, {C. Brehnin} and John King and Levin, {Naomi E.} and Shannon, {Kristina Brady} and Veronica Muiruri and Renaut, {Robin W.} and Rucina, {Stephen M.} and Kevin Uno",

note = "Peter Buck Fund for Human Origins Research (Smithsonian), William H. Donner Foundation (R.P.), the Ruth and Vernon Taylor Foundation (R.P.), Whitney and Betty MacMillan (R.P.), National Science Foundation grants EAR 1322017 (A.L.D.) and EAR 1349599 (D.D.), Swiss National Science Foundation grant P300P2 158501 (M.S.), Hong Kong Research Grants Council (R.B.O. and V.M.), and the Smithsonian Human Origins Program (R.P.). Funding support for A.N. and K.B.S. provided by NSF awards EAR-1338322 and EAR-1462297. ",

year = "2020",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1126/sciadv.abc8975",

language = "English",

volume = "6",

journal = "Science Advances",

issn = "2375-2548",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",

number = "43",

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Potts, R, Dommain, R, Moerman, JW, Behrensmeyer, AK, Deino, AL, Riedl, S, Beverly, EJ, Brown, ET, Deocampo, D, Kinyanjui, R, Lupien, R, Owen, RB, Rabideaux, N, Russell, JM, Stockhecke, M, deMenocal, P, Faith, JT, Garcin, Y, Noren, A, Scott, JJ, Western, D, Bright, J, Clark, JB, Cohen, A, Keller, CB, King, J, Levin, NE, Shannon, KB, Muiruri, V, Renaut, RW, Rucina, SM & Uno, K 2020, 'Increased ecological resource variability during a critical transition in hominin evolution', Science Advances, vol. 6, no. 43, eabc8975. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abc8975

TY - JOUR

T1 - Increased ecological resource variability during a critical transition in hominin evolution

AU - Potts, Richard

AU - Dommain, René

AU - Moerman, Jessica W.

AU - Behrensmeyer, Anna K.

AU - Deino, Alan L.

AU - Riedl, Simon

AU - Beverly, Emily J.

AU - Brown, Erik T.

AU - Deocampo, Daniel

AU - Kinyanjui, Rahab

AU - Lupien, Rachel

AU - Owen, R. Bernhart

AU - Rabideaux, Nathan

AU - Russell, James M.

AU - Stockhecke, Mona

AU - deMenocal, Peter

AU - Faith, J. Tyler

AU - Garcin, Yannick

AU - Noren, Anders

AU - Scott, Jennifer J.

AU - Western, David

AU - Bright, Jordon

AU - Clark, Jennifer B.

AU - Cohen, Andrew

AU - Keller, C. Brehnin

AU - King, John

AU - Levin, Naomi E.

AU - Shannon, Kristina Brady

AU - Muiruri, Veronica

AU - Renaut, Robin W.

AU - Rucina, Stephen M.

AU - Uno, Kevin

N1 - Peter Buck Fund for Human Origins Research (Smithsonian), William H. Donner Foundation (R.P.), the Ruth and Vernon Taylor Foundation (R.P.), Whitney and Betty MacMillan (R.P.), National Science Foundation grants EAR 1322017 (A.L.D.) and EAR 1349599 (D.D.), Swiss National Science Foundation grant P300P2 158501 (M.S.), Hong Kong Research Grants Council (R.B.O. and V.M.), and the Smithsonian Human Origins Program (R.P.). Funding support for A.N. and K.B.S. provided by NSF awards EAR-1338322 and EAR-1462297.

PY - 2020/10

Y1 - 2020/10

N2 - Although climate change is considered to have been a large-scale driver of African human evolution, landscape-scale shifts in ecological resources that may have shaped novel hominin adaptations are rarely investigated. We use well-dated, high-resolution, drill-core datasets to understand ecological dynamics associated with a major adaptive transition in the archeological record ~24 km from the coring site. Outcrops preserve evidence of the replacement of Acheulean by Middle Stone Age (MSA) technological, cognitive, and social innovations between 500 and 300 thousand years (ka) ago, contemporaneous with large-scale taxonomic and adaptive turnover in mammal herbivores. Beginning ~400 ka ago, tectonic, hydrological, and ecological changes combined to disrupt a relatively stable resource base, prompting fluctuations of increasing magnitude in freshwater availability, grassland communities, and woody plant cover. Interaction of these factors offers a resource-oriented hypothesis for the evolutionary success of MSA adaptations, which likely contributed to the ecological flexibility typical of Homo sapiens foragers.

AB - Although climate change is considered to have been a large-scale driver of African human evolution, landscape-scale shifts in ecological resources that may have shaped novel hominin adaptations are rarely investigated. We use well-dated, high-resolution, drill-core datasets to understand ecological dynamics associated with a major adaptive transition in the archeological record ~24 km from the coring site. Outcrops preserve evidence of the replacement of Acheulean by Middle Stone Age (MSA) technological, cognitive, and social innovations between 500 and 300 thousand years (ka) ago, contemporaneous with large-scale taxonomic and adaptive turnover in mammal herbivores. Beginning ~400 ka ago, tectonic, hydrological, and ecological changes combined to disrupt a relatively stable resource base, prompting fluctuations of increasing magnitude in freshwater availability, grassland communities, and woody plant cover. Interaction of these factors offers a resource-oriented hypothesis for the evolutionary success of MSA adaptations, which likely contributed to the ecological flexibility typical of Homo sapiens foragers.

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VL - 6

JO - Science Advances

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Increased ecological resource variability during a critical transition in hominin evolution

Abstract

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