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- Title
Geology and palaeontology of the Upper Miocene Toros-Menalla hominid locality, Chad.
- Authors
Vignaud, Patrick; Duringer, Philippe; Mackaye, Hassane Taïsso; Likius, Andossa; Blondel, Cécile; Boisserie, Jean-Renaud; De Bonis, Louis; Eisenmann, Véra; Etienne, Marie-Esther; Geraads, Denis; Guy, Franck; Lehmann, Thomas; Lihoreau, Fabrice; Lopez-Martinez, Nieves; Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile; Otero, Olga; Rage, Jean-Claude; Schuster, Mathieu; Viriot, Laurent; Zazzo, Antoine; Brunet, Michel
- Abstract
All six known specimens of the early hominid Sahelanthropus tchadensis come from Toros-Menalla site 266 (TM 266), a single locality in the Djurab Desert, northern Chad, central Africa. Here we present a preliminary analysis of the palaeontological and palaeoecological context of these finds. The rich fauna from TM 266 includes a significant aquatic component such as fish, crocodiles and amphibious mammals, alongside animals associated with gallery forest and savannah, such as primates, rodents, elephants, equids and bovids. The fauna suggests a biochronological age between 6 and 7 million years. Taken together with the sedimentological evidence, the fauna suggests that S. tchadensis lived close to a lake, but not far from a sandy desert, perhaps the oldest record of desert conditions in the Neogene of northern central Africa.
- Publication
Nature, 2002, Vol 418, Issue 6894, p152
- ISSN
0028-0836
- Publication type
Journal Article
- DOI
10.1038/nature00880