Denise F. Su, Stanley H. Ambrose, David Degusta, and Yohannes Haile-Selassie
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520254404
- eISBN:
- 9780520942509
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520254404.003.0017
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
This chapter considers the paleoenvironment of the Middle Awash study area in the Afar Rift of Ethiopia. Different aspects of the large mammalian faunal communities from the Asa Koma and Kuseralee ...
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This chapter considers the paleoenvironment of the Middle Awash study area in the Afar Rift of Ethiopia. Different aspects of the large mammalian faunal communities from the Asa Koma and Kuseralee Members are examined. The chapter examines the community structure based on locomotor and dietary variables, relative abundances of indicator taxa, and ecomorphology. Independent verification of the results based on large mammalian fauna have been derived from fish, bird, and small mammal faunas and from geological and stable isotopic data.Less
This chapter considers the paleoenvironment of the Middle Awash study area in the Afar Rift of Ethiopia. Different aspects of the large mammalian faunal communities from the Asa Koma and Kuseralee Members are examined. The chapter examines the community structure based on locomotor and dietary variables, relative abundances of indicator taxa, and ecomorphology. Independent verification of the results based on large mammalian fauna have been derived from fish, bird, and small mammal faunas and from geological and stable isotopic data.
Yohannes Haile-Selassie and Giday Woldegabriel
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520254404
- eISBN:
- 9780520942509
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520254404.003.0020
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
This concluding chapter summarizes the importance of the Middle Awash late Miocene faunal assemblages in terms of their contribution toward our understanding of the diversity, evolutionary history, ...
More
This concluding chapter summarizes the importance of the Middle Awash late Miocene faunal assemblages in terms of their contribution toward our understanding of the diversity, evolutionary history, and evolutionary tempo and mode of eastern African late Miocene mammals. It also summarizes the results from the paleoenvironmental and paleobiogeographic analyses in relation to regional and global climatic changes and their impact on the speciation and extinction of various mammalian taxa and the formation of the modern African mammalian fauna. Finally, it addresses future plans for continued paleontological work on the late Miocene of the Middle Awash paleontological study area, highlighting the significance of the site and the need for a long-term maintenance and protection program.Less
This concluding chapter summarizes the importance of the Middle Awash late Miocene faunal assemblages in terms of their contribution toward our understanding of the diversity, evolutionary history, and evolutionary tempo and mode of eastern African late Miocene mammals. It also summarizes the results from the paleoenvironmental and paleobiogeographic analyses in relation to regional and global climatic changes and their impact on the speciation and extinction of various mammalian taxa and the formation of the modern African mammalian fauna. Finally, it addresses future plans for continued paleontological work on the late Miocene of the Middle Awash paleontological study area, highlighting the significance of the site and the need for a long-term maintenance and protection program.
