Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Proboscidea

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Paleontology and Geology of Laetoli: Human Evolution in Context

Part of the book series: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series ((VERT))

Abstract

Paleontological fieldwork between 1998–2005 by the Eyasi Plateau Expedition at Laetoli and nearby sites produced a large collection of proboscidean fossils from the early to mid Pliocene Lower and Upper Laetolil Beds and late Pliocene Upper Ndolanya Beds, and possibly older sediments at Endolele, that substantially enlarges the sample of proboscidean material recovered earlier by Louis Leakey in 1935, Kohl-Larsen in 1938–1939, and Mary Leakey in the 1970s and early 1980s. The present study of the combined proboscidean sample confirms the presence of deinotheres and loxodont elephants, and provides the first description of anancine gomphotheres from the area. In addition, the first stegodont from the Eyasi Plateau is identified. The study also suggests that gomphotheres and loxodont elephants evolved locally in the Eyasi Plateau during the early Pliocene. Inference from stratigraphic distribution of proboscidean taxa, isotopic analyses, and dental morphology corresponds with paleoecological reconstruction depicting the Eyasi Plateau during the early-mid Pliocene as covered with abundant shrub- and grassland, with more restricted gallery forest, and as drier during the late Pliocene. Age-grade mortality profiles of elephants and deinotheres from the Laetolil and Upper Ndolanya Beds indicate a chronic lack of standing water or cyclical incidences of drought in the region for a sustained interval of time.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alemseged, Z. (2003). An integrated approach to taphonomy and faunal change in the Shungura Formation (Ethiopia) and its implication for hominid evolution. Journal of Human Evolution, 44, 451–478.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ambrose, S. H., Hlusko, L. J., Kyule, D., Deino, A., & Williams, M. (2003). Lemudong’o: A new 6 Ma paleontological site near Narok, Kenya rift valley. Journal of Human Evolution, 44, 737–742.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andrews, C. W. (1911). On a new species of Dinotherium from British East Africa. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1911, 943–945.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andrews, P., & Bamford, M. (2008). Past and present vegetation ecology of Laetoli, Tanzania. Journal of Human Evolution, 54, 78–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous. (1827). A review of Frédéric Cuvier and Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire Histoire Naturelle des Mammifères. The Zoological Journal (London), 3, 140–143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arambourg, C. (1934). Le Dinotherium des gisements de l’Omo (Absyssinie). Bulletin de la Societe Geologique de France, 4, 305–309.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arambourg, C. (1943). Mission scientifique de l’Omo 1932–1933. Museum National Histore naturelle, Géologique. Anthropologie, Paris 1, 157–230.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arambourg, C. (1945). Anancus osiris, un mastodonte nouveau du Pliocène inférieur d’Egypte. Bulletin de la Societe Geologique de France, 15, 479–495.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arambourg, C. (1947). Mission scientifique de l’Omo 1932–1933. Museum National Histoire naturelle, Géologique. Anthropologie, Paris 1, 231–562.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arambourg, C. (1970). Les Vertébrés du Pléistocène de l’Afrique du Nord. Archives du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 7e Serie, 10, 1–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aymard, A. (1855). Anancus Aymard. Anancus macroplus Aymard. In M.J. Dorlhac, (Ed.), Notice géologique sur le cratère de Coupet et sur son gisement de gemmes et d’ossements fossiles. Annales de la Societé d’Agriculture. Sciences, Arts et Commerce du Puy (Procès-Verhaux, Janvier), 19, 497–517.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bachmann, I. (1875). Beschreibung eines Unterkiefers von Dinotherium bavaricum H. v. Meyer. Abhandlungen der Schweizerischen Paläontologischen Gesellschaft, 2, 1–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beden, M. (1975). A propos des Proboscidiens Plio-Quaternaires des Gisements de l’Omo (Ethiopie). Colloque international CNRS no 218 (Paris 4–9 juin 1973). Problèmes Actuels de Paléontologie-Évolution des Vertébrés (pp. 693–705).

    Google Scholar 

  • Beden, M. (1976). Proboscideans from Omo Group Formations. In Y. Coppens, F. C. Howell, G. L. Isaac, & R. E. F. Leakey (Eds.), Earliest man and environments in the Lake Rudolf Basin (pp. 193–208). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beden, M. (1980). Elephas recki Dietrich, 1915 (Proboscidea, Elephantidae). Évolution au cours du Plio-Pléistocène en Afrique orientale. Geobios, 13, 891–901.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beden, M. (1983). Family Elephantidae. In J. M. Harris (Ed.), Koobi Fora research project (Vol. 2, pp. 40–129). Oxford: Clarendon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beden, M. (1985). Les Proboscidiens des grands gisements à Hominidés Plio-Pléistocènes d’Afrique Orientale. In M. Beden, A. K. Behrensmeyer, N. T. Boaz, R. Bonnefille, C. K. Brain, H. B. S. Cooke, Y. Coppens, R. Dechamps, V. Eisenmann, A. Gentry, D. Geraads, R. Geze, C. Guerin, J. Harris, J.-C. Koeniguer, R. Letouzey, G. Petter, A. Vincens, & E. Vrba (Eds.), L’Environnement des Hominidés au Plio-Pléistocène (pp. 21–44). Paris: Masson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beden, M. (1987a). Fossil Elephantidae from Laetoli. In M. D. Leakey & J. M. Harris (Eds.), Laetoli: A Pliocene site in northern Tanzania (pp. 259–294). Oxford: Clarendon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beden, M. (1987b). Les Faunes Plio-Pléistocènes de la Vallée de l’Omo (Éthiopie). Tome 2. Les Elephantidés (Mammalia, Proboscidea). Paris, CNRS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Behrensmeyer, A. K., Potts, R., Plummer, T., Tauxe, L., Opdyke, N., & Jorstad, T. (1995). The Pleistocene locality of Kanjera, western Kenya: Stratigraphy, chronology and paleoenvironments. Journal of Human Evolution, 29, 247–274.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boaz, N. T. (1994). Significance of the western rift for hominid evolution. In R. S. Corruccini & R. L. Ciochon (Eds.), Integrative paths to the past. Paleoanthropological advances in honor of F. Clark Howell (pp. 321–343). Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boaz, N. T., Gaziry, A. W., & El-Arnauti, A. (1979). New fossil finds from the Libyan upper Neogene site of Sahabi. Nature, 280, 137–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonaparte, C.L. (1845). Catalogo Metodico dei Mammiferi Europei. Milan: Valenciennes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonnefille, R., Potts, R., Chalié, F., Jolly, D., & Peyron, O. (2004). High resolution vegetation and climate change associated with Pliocene Australopithecus afarensis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 101, 12125–12129.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bromage, T. G., Schrenk, F., & Juwayeyi, Y. M. (1995). Paleobio­geography of the Malawi rift: Age and vertebrate paleontology of the Chiwondo beds, northern Malawi. Journal of Human Evolution, 28, 37–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, F. H. (1994). Development of Pliocene and Pleistocene chronology of the Turkana basin, east Africa, and its relation to other sites. In R. S. Corruccini & R. L. Ciochon (Eds.), Integrative paths to the past. Paleoanthropological advances in honor of F. Clark Howell (pp. 285–312). Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brunet, M. (2001). Chadian australopithecines: Biochronology and environmental context. In P. V. Tobias, M. A. Raath, J. Moggi-Cecchi, & G. A. Doyle (Eds.), Humanity from African naissance to coming Millennia (pp. 103–106). Florence: Firenze University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brunet, M., Beauvilain, A., Billiou, D., Bocherens, H., Boisserie, J.-R., de Bonis, L., Branger, P., Brunet, A., Coppens, Y., Daams, R., Dejax, J., Denys, C., Duringer, P., Eisenmann, V., Fanoné, F., Fronty, P., Gayet, M., Geraads, D., Guy, F., Kasser, M., Koufos, G., Likius, A., Lopez- Martinez, N., Louchart, A., Maclatchy, L., Mackaye, H. T., Marandat, B., Mouchelin, G., Mourer-Chauviré, C., Otero, O., Peigné, S., Campomanes, P. P., Pilbeam, D., Rage, J. C., de Ruitter, D., Schuster, M., Sudre, J., Tassy, P., Vignaud, P., Viriot, L., & Zazzo, A. (2000). Chad: Discovery of a vertebrate fauna close to the Mio-Pliocene boundary. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 20, 205–209.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brunet, M., Beauvilain, A., Coppens, Y., Heintz, E., Moutaye, A. H. E., & Pilbeam, D. (1995). The first australopithecine 2,500 kilometres west of the rift valley (Chad). Nature, 378, 273–275.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brunet, M., Beauvilain, A., Geraads, D., Guy, F., Kasser, M., Mackaye, H. T., MacLatchy, L. M., Mouchelin, G., Sudre, J., & Vignand, P. (1998). Tchad: Découverte d’une faune de mammifères du Pliocène inferieur. Comptes Rendus de l’Academie des Sciences, Paris. Sciences de la Terre et des Planètes, 326, 153–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cerling, T. E., Harris, J. M., & Leakey, M. G. (1999). Browsing and grazing in elephants: The isotope record of modern and fossil proboscideans. Oecologia, 120, 364–374.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cerling, T. E., Harris, J. M., & Leakey, M. G. (2003). Isotope paleoecology of the Nawata and Nachukui Formations at Lothagam, Turkana Basin, Kenya. In M. G. Leakey & J. M. Harris (Eds.), Lothagam: The dawn of humanity in eastern Africa (pp. 605–624). New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cerling, T. E., Harris, J. M., & Leakey, M. G. (2005). Environmentally driven dietary adaptations in African mammals. In J. R. Ehleringer, M. D. Dearing, & T. E. Cerling (Eds.), History of atmospheric CO 2 and its effects on plants, animals, and ecosystems (pp. 258–272). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christiansen, P. (2004). Body size in proboscideans, with notes on elephant metabolism. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 140, 523–549.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, H. B. S. (1960). Further revision of the fossil Elephantidae of southern Africa. Palaeontologia Africana, 5, 46–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, H. B. S. (1993). Fossil proboscidean remains from Bolt’s Farm and other Transvaal cave breccias. Palaeontologia Africana, 30, 25–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, H. B. S., & Coryndon, S. (1970). Fossil mammals from the Kaiso Formation and other related deposits in Uganda. In L. S. B. Leakey & R. J. G. Savage (Eds.), Fossil vertebrates of Africa (pp. 107–224). Edinburgh: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, H. B. S., & Maglio, V. J. (1972). Plio-Pleistocene stratigraphy in East Africa in relation to proboscidean and suid evolution. In W. W. Bishop & J. A. Miller (Eds.), Calibration of hominoid evolution. Recent advances in isotopic and other dating methods applicable to the origin of man (pp. 303–329). New York: Scottish Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, C. F. (1922). Miocene Proboscidia [sic] from Baluchistan. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 42, 606–626.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coppens, Y. (1965). Les Proboscidiens du Tchad. Actes du Ve Congrés Panafricain de Préhistoire et de l’Étude du Quaternaire (Santa Cruz de Tenerife), I(5), 331–387.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coppens, Y., Maglio, V. J., Madden, C. T., & Beden, M. (1978). Proboscidea. In V. J. Maglio & H. B. S. Cooke (Eds.), Evolution of African mammals (pp. 336–367). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cuvier, F. (1825). Eléphant d’Afrique. In E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire & F. Cuvier (Eds.), Histoire naturelle des Mammifères (Vol. 3, pp. 1–2). Paris: Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle.

    Google Scholar 

  • Day, M. H., & Wickens, E. H. (1980). Laetoli Pliocene hominid footprints and bipedalism. Nature, 286, 385–387.

    Google Scholar 

  • Day, M. H., Leakey, M. D., & Magori, C. (1980). A new hominid fossil skull (L.H.18) from the Ngaloba Beds, Laetoli, northern Tanzania. Nature, 284, 55–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Heinzelin, J. (1983). The Omo Group. Volume One – Text. Archives of the International Omo Research Expedition. Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, Belgique, Annales Série in-8o, Sciences Géologiques no 85, 1–365.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deino, A. L. (2011). 40Ar/39Ar dating of Laetoli, Tanzania. In T. Harrison (Ed.), Paleontology and geology of Laetoli: Human evolution in context (Geology, geochronology, paleoecology and paleoenvironment, Vol. 1, pp. 77–97). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deino, A. L., Tauxe, L., Monaghan, M., & Hill, A. (2002). 40Ar/39Ar geochronology and paleomagnetic stratigraphy of the Lukeino and lower Chemeron Formations at Tabarin and Kapcheberek, Tugen Hills, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution, 42, 117–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Depéret, C., Lavauden, L., & Solignag, M. (1925). Sur la découverte du Mastodon arvernensis dans le Pliocène de Ferryville (Tunisie). Comptes Rendus Sommaire des Séances, Société Géologique de France, 1–2, 21–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dietrich, W. O. (1941). Die Säugetierpaläontologischen Ergebnisse der Kohl-Larsen’shen expedition 1937–1939 im nördlichen Deutsch-Ostafrika. Zentralblatt für Mineralogie, Geologie und Palaeontologie, Stuttgart, B, 1941, 217–223.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dietrich, W. O. (1942). Ältestquartäre Säugetiere aus der südlichen Serengeti, Deutsch-Ostafrika. Palaeontographica, 94, 43–133.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drake, R., & Curtis, G. H. (1987). K-Ar geochronology of the Laetoli fossil localities. In M. D. Leakey & J. M. Harris (Eds.), Laetoli: A Pliocene site in northern Tanzania (pp. 48–61). Oxford: Clarendon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dudley, J. P., Craig, G. C., St, C., Gibson, D., Haynes, G., & Klimowicz, J. (2001). Drought mortality of bush elephants in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. African Journal of Ecology, 39, 187–194.

    Google Scholar 

  • Éhik, J. (1930). Prodinotherium humgaricum n. g., n. sp. Geological Hungarica. Series Palaeontologica, 6, 1–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Falconer, H., & Cautley, P. T. (1847). Fauna Antiqua Sivalensis, being the fossil zoology of the Sewalik hills, in the north of India. Part II. London: Smith, Elder.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fara, E., Likius, A., Mackaye, H. T., Vignaud, P., & Brunet, M. (2005). Pliocene large-mammal assemblages from northern Chad: Sampling and ecological structure. Die Naturwissenschaften, 92, 537–541.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feibel, C. S. (2003). Stratigraphy and depositional setting of the Pliocene Kanapoi Formation, lower Kerio Valley, Kenya. In J. M. Harris & M. G. Leakey (Eds.), Geology and vertebrate paleontology of the early Pliocene site of Kanapoi, northern Kenya (Contributions in science, Vol. 498, pp. 9–20). Los Angeles: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foley, C., Pettorelli, N., & Foley, L. (2008). Severe drought and calf survival in elephants. Biology Letters, 4, 541–544.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fournet, A. (1971). Les gisements a faune Villafranchienne de Tunisie. Notes Service Geologique Tunisie, 34, 53–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Franz-Odendaal, T. A., Lee-Thorp, J. A., & Chinsamy, A. (2002). New evidence for the lack of C4 grassland expansions during the early Pliocene at Langebaanweg, South Africa. Paleobiology, 28, 378–388.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaziry, A. W. (1976). Jungtertiäre Mastodonten aus Anatolien (Türkei). Geologisches Jahrbuch, 22, 3–143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geraads, D. (2002). Plio-Pleistocene mammalian biostratigraphy of Atlantic Morocco. Quaternaire, 13, 43–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geraads, D., & Amani, F. (1998). Bovidae (Mammalia) du Pliocène final d’Ahl al Oughlam, Casablanca, Maroc. Paläontologische Zeitschrift, 72, 191–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geraads, D., & Metz-Muller, F. (1999). Proboscidea (Mammalia) du Pliocène final d’Ahl al Oughlam (Casablanca, Maroc). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Palaeontologie, Monatshefte, 1999(1), 52–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gräf, I. E. (1957). Die prinzipien der Arbestimmung bei Deinotherium. Palaeontographica, 180(A), 131–185.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray, J. E. (1821). On the natural arrangements of vertebrose animals. London Medical Repository, 15, 296–310.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haile-Selassie, Y. (2001). Late Miocene mammalian fauna from the Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haile-Selassie, Y., WoldeGabriel, G., White, T. D., Bernor, R. L., Degusta, D., Renne, P. R., Hart, W. K., Vrba, E., Ambrose, S., & Howell, F. C. (2004). Mio-Pliocene mammals from the middle Awash, Ethiopia. Geobios, 37, 536–552.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J. M. (1973). Prodeinotherium from Gebel Zelten, Libya. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Bristol, Bristol.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J. M. (1975). Evolution of feeding mechanisms in the family Deinotheriidae. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 56, 332–362.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J. M. (1977). Deinotheres from southern Africa. South African Journal of Science, 73, 282–282.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J. M. (1978). Deinotherioidea and Barytherioidea. In V. J. Maglio & H. B. S. Cooke (Eds.), Evolution of African Mammals (pp. 315–332). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J. M. (1983). Background to the study of the Koobi Fora fossil faunas. In J. M. Harris (Ed.), Koobi Fora Research Project (The Fossil ungulates: Proboscidea, Perissodactyla, and Suidae, Vol. 2, pp. 1–21). Oxford: Clarendon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J. M. (1987a). Fossil Deinotheriidae from Laetoli. In M. D. Leakey & J. M. Harris (Eds.), Laetoli: A Pliocene site in northern Tanzania (pp. 294–297). Oxford: Clarendon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J. M. (1987b). Summary. In M. D. Leakey & J. M. Harris (Eds.), Laetoli: A Pliocene site in northern Tanzania (pp. 524–531). Oxford: Clarendon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J.M., & Leakey, M.G. (2003). Geology and vertebrate paleontology of the early Pliocene site of Kanapoi, northern Kenya. Contributions in Science, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 498, 1–132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J. M., Brown, F. H., & Leakey, M. G. (1988). Geology and palaeontology of Plio-Pleistocene localities west of Lake Turkana, Kenya. Contributions in Science, 399, 1–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J. M., Leakey, M. G., & Cerling, T. E. (2003). Early Pliocene tetrapod remains from Kanapoi, Lake Turkana Basin, Kenya. In J. M. Harris & M. G. Leakey (Eds.), Geology and vertebrate paleontology of the early Pliocene site of Kanapoi, northern Kenya (Contributions in science, Vol. 498, pp. 39–113). Los Angeles: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, T. (2002). The first record of fossil hominins from the Ndolanya Beds, Laetoli, Tanzania. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 119, 83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, T. (2011). Hominins from the Upper Laetolil and Upper Ndolanya Beds, Laetoli. In T. Harrison (Ed.), Paleontology and geology of Laetoli: Human evolution in context (Fossil hominins and the associated fauna, Vol. 2, pp. 141–188). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, T., & Baker, E. (1997). Paleontology and biochronology of fossil localities in the Manonga Valley, Tanzania. In T. Harrison (Ed.), Neogene paleontology of the Manonga Valley, Tanzania (pp. 361–393). New York: Plenum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hautier, L., Mackaye, H. T., Lihoreau, F., Tassy, P., Vignaud, P., & Brunet, M. (2009). New material of Anancus kenyensis (Proboscidea, Mammalia) from Toros-Menalla (late Miocene, Chad): Contribution to the systematics of African anancines. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 53, 171–176.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hay, O. P. (1922). Further observations on some extinct elephants. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 35, 97–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hay, R. L. (1987). Geology of the Laetoli area. In M. D. Leakey & J. M. Harris (Eds.), Laetoli: A Pliocene site in northern Tanzania (pp. 23–47). Oxford: Clarendon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hendey, Q. B. (1978). The age of the fossils from Baard’s Quarry, Langebaanweg, South Africa. Annals of the South African Museum, 75, 1–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hendey, Q. B. (1981). Palaeoecology of the late Tertiary fossil occurrences in ‘E’ Quarry, Langebaanweg, South Africa, and a reinterpretation of their geological context. Annals of the South African Museum, 84, 1–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, A. (1994). Late Miocene and early Pliocene hominoids from Africa. In R. S. Corruccini & R. L. Ciochon (Eds.), Integrative paths to the past: Paleoanthropological advances in honor of F. Clark Howell (pp. 123–145). Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, A. (2002). Paleoanthropological research in the Tugen Hills, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution, 42, 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, A., Drake, R., Tauxe, L., Monaghan, M., Barry, J. C., Behrensmeyer, A. K., Curtis, G., Fine Jacobs, B., Jacobs, L., Johnson, N., & Pilbeam, D. (1985). Neogene palaeontology and geochronology of the Baringo Basin, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution, 14, 759–773.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, A., Curtis, G., & Drake, R. (1986). Sedimentary stratigraphy of the Tugen Hills, Baringo, Kenya. In L. E. Frostick, R. W. Renaut, I. Reid, & J.-J. Tiercelin (Eds.), Sedimentation in the African rifts (pp. 285–295). Oxford: Blackwell & Geological Society of London Special Publication 25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hooijer, D. A. (1963). Miocene Mammalia of Congo. Koninklijk museum voor Midden-Afrika, Tervuren, Belgie, Annalen, Reeks IN-80. Geologische Wetenschappen, 46, 1–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopwood, A. T. (1936). New and little-known fossil mammals from the Pleistocene of Kenya colony and Tanganyika Territory. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, London, 17, 636–641.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopwood, A. T. (1939). The mammalian fossils. In T. P. O’Brien (Ed.), The prehistory of Uganda Protectorate (pp. 308–316). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huttunen, K. J. (2000). Deinotheriidae (Proboscidea, Mammalia) of the Miocene of lower Austria, Burgenland and Franzensbad, Czech Republic: Systematics, odontology and osteology. Dr. Rer. Nat. thesis, University of Vienna, Vienna.

    Google Scholar 

  • Illiger, C. D. (1811). Prodromus systematis mammalium et avium additis terminis zoographicis attriusque classis. Berlin: Salfeld.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johanson, D. C., White, T. D., & Coppens, Y. (1978). A new species of the genus Australopithecus (Primates: Hominidae) from the Pliocene of eastern Africa. Kirtlandia, 28, 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalb, J. E. (1995). Fossil elephantoids, Awash paleolake basins, and the Afar triple junction, Ethiopia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 114, 357–368.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalb, J. E., & Froehlich, D. J. (1995). Interrelationships of late Neogene elephantoids: New evidence from the Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia. Geobios, 28, 727–736.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalb, J. E., & Mebrate, A. (1993). Fossil elephantoids from the hominid-bearing Awash group, Middle Awash Valley, Afar depression, Ethiopia. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 83, 1–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalb, J. E., Froehlich, D. J., & Bell, G. L. (1996). Phylogeny of African and Eurasian Elephantoidea of the late Neogene. In J. Shoshani & P. Tassy (Eds.), The Proboscidea: Evolution and Palaeoecology of elephants and their relatives (pp. 101–116). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaup, J. J. (1829). Deinotherium giganteum. Isis, 22, 401–404.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kent, P. E. (1941). The recent history and Pleistocene deposits of the plateau north of lake Eyasi, Tanganyika. Geological Magazine, 78, 173–184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kingston, J. D., & Harrison, T. (2007). Isotopic dietary reconstructions of Pliocene herbivores at Laetoli: Implications for early hominin paleoecology. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 243, 272–306.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kingston, J., Jacobs, B. F., Hill, A., & Deino, A. (2002). Stratigraphy, age and environments of the late Miocene Mpesida Beds, Tugen Hills, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution, 42, 95–116.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kovarovic, K., Andrews, P., & Aiello, L. (2002). The palaeoecology of the Upper Ndolanya Beds at Laetoli, Tanzania. Journal of Human Evolution, 43, 395–418.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kullmer, O., Sandrock, O., Viola, T. B., Hujer, W., Said, H., & Seidler, H. (2008). Suids, elephantoids, paleochronology, and paleoecology of the Pliocene hominid site Galili, Somali region, Ethiopia. Palaios, 23, 452–464.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laws, R. M. (1966). Age criteria for the African elephant. East African Wildlife Journal, 4, 1–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leakey, M. D. (1987a). Introduction. In M. D. Leakey & J. M. Harris (Eds.), Laetoli: A Pliocene site in northern Tanzania (pp. 1–22). Oxford: Clarendon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leakey, M. D. (1987b). The hominid footprints. In M. D. Leakey & J. M. Harris (Eds.), Laetoli: A Pliocene site in northern Tanzania (pp. 490–495). Oxford: Clarendon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leakey, M. D., & Hay, R. L. (1979). Pliocene footprints in the Laetoli beds at Laetoli, northern Tanzania. Nature, 278, 317–323.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindeque, P. M., & Turnbull, P. C. B. (1994). Ecology and epidemiology of anthrax in the Ethosha National Park, Namibia. The Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 61, 71–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loveridge, A. J., Hunt, J. E., Murindagomo, F., & Macdonald, D. W. (2006). Influence of drought on predation of elephant calves by lions in an African wooded savannah. Journal of Zoology, 270, 523–530.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacInnes, D. G. (1942). Miocene and post-Miocene Proboscidia [sic] from East Africa. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, 25, 33–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mackaye, H. T., Brunet, M., & Tassy, P. (2005). Selenetherium kolleensis nov. gen. nov. sp.: un nouveau Proboscidea (Mammalia) dans le Pliocène Tchadien. Geobios, 38, 765–777.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maglio, V. J. (1969). The status of the East African elephant “Archidiskodon exoptatus” Dietrich 1942. Breviora, 336, 1–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maglio, V. J. (1970). Four new species of Elephantidae from the Plio-Pleistocene of northwestern Kenya. Breviora, 341, 1–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maglio, V. J. (1973). Origin and evolution of the Elephantidae. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 63, 1–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mebrate, A., & Kalb, J. E. (1985). Anancinae (Proboscidea: Gomphotheriidae) from the Middle Awash Valley, Afar, Ethiopia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 5, 93–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moss, C. (1992). Elephant calves: The story of two sexes. In J. Shoshani (Ed.), Elephants (pp. 106–115). New York: Simon and Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niven, L. (2005). The role of mammoths in Upper Palaeolithic economies of southern Germany. In G. Cavarretta, P. Gioia, M. Mussi, & M. R. Palambo (Eds.), Proceedings of the First International Congress of La Terra degli Elefanti, The World of Elephants (pp. 323–327). Rome: Consiglio Nazionale delle Recerche.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osborn, H. F. (1918). A long-jawed mastodon skeleton from South Dakota and phylogeny of the Proboscidea. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, 29, 133–137.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osborn, H. F. (1921). The evolution, phylogeny and classification of the Proboscidea. American Museum Novitates, 1, 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osborn, H. F. (1942). Proboscidea. A monograph of the discovery, evolution, migration and extinction of the Mastodonts and Elephants of the World. Stegodontoidea, Elephantoidea (Vol. II). New York: American Museum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, R. W. (1924). An incomplete skull of Dinotherium, with notes on the Indian forms. Palaeontologia Indica, 7, 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmqvist, P., Martinez-Navarro, B., & Arribas, A. (1996). Prey selection by terrestrial carnivores in a lower Pleistocene paleocommunity. Paleobiology, 22, 514–534.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petrocchi, C. (1943). Il giacimento fossilifero di Sahabi. Collezione Scientifica e documentaria a cura del Ministero dell’ Africa Italiana, Verbania, 12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petrocchi, C. (1954). Paleontologia di Sahabi. Parte I. Probosidati di Sahabi. Rendiconti Accademia nazionale dei XL 4–5, 8–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pickford, M., Senut, B., & Hadoto, D. (1993). Geology and Palaeobiology of the Albertine Rift Valley, Uganda-Zaire. Volume I: Geology. Occasional Publication 24, Centre International pour la Formation et les Echanges Géologiques, Orleans.

    Google Scholar 

  • Renne, P. R., WoldeGabriel, G., Hart, W. K., Heiken, G., & White, T. D. (1999). Chronostratigraphy of the Miocene-Pliocene Sagantole Formation, Middle Awash Valley, Afar rift, Ethiopia. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 111, 869–885.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roger, O. (1886). Ueber Dinotherium bavaricum, H. v. Meyer. Palaeontographica, 32, 215–225.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rohland, N., Malaspinas, A. S., Pollack, J. L., Slatkin, M., Matheus, P., & Hofreiter, M. (2007). Proboscidean mitogenomics: Chronology and mode of elephant evolution using mastodon as outgroup. PLoS Biology, 5(8), e207. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0050207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sach, V. V. J., & Heizmann, E. P. J. (2001). Stratigraphie und Säugetierfaunen der Brackwassermolasse in der Umgebung von Ulm (Südwestdeutschland). Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde Serie B (Geologie und Paläontologie), 310, 1–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saegusa, H. (1987). Cranial morphology and phylogeny of the stegodonts. The Compass, 64, 221–243.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saegusa, H. (1996). Stegodontidae: Evolutionary relationships. In J. Shoshani & P. Tassy (Eds.), The Proboscidea: Evolution and palaeoecology of elephants and their relatives (pp. 178–190). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saegusa, H., & Hlusko, L. J. (2007). New late Miocene elephantoid (Mammalia: Proboscidea) fossils from Lemudong’o, Kenya. Kirtlandia, 56, 140–147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sahni, M. R., & Tripathi, C. (1957). A new classification of the Indian deinotheres and description of D. orlovii sp. nov. Memoirs of the geological society of India. Paleontologia India, 33, 1–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sahnouni, M., Hadjouis, D., van der Made, J., Derradji, A., Canals, A., Medig, M., Belahrech, H., Harichane, Z., & Rabhi, M. (2002). Further research at the Oldowan site of Aïn Hanech, north-eastern Algeria. Journal of Human Evolution, 43, 925–937.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, W. J. (1990). Fossil Proboscidea from the Pliocene Lusso Beds of the Western Rift, Zaïre. In N. T. Boaz (Ed.), Evolution of environments and Hominidae in the African Western Rift Valley (Virginia Museum of Natural History Memoir, Vol. 1, pp. 171–187). Martinsville: Virginia Museum of Natural History.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, W. J. (1997). Fossil Proboscidea from the Wembere-Manonga formation, Manonga Valley, Tanzania. In T. Harrison (Ed.), Neogene paleontology of the Manonga Valley, Tanzania (pp. 265–310). New York: Plenum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, W. J. (1999). Oldest record of Stegodon (Mammalia: Proboscidea). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 19, 793–797.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, W. J. (2003). Proboscidea. In M. Fortelius, J. Kappelman, S. Sen, & R. L. Bernor (Eds.), Geology and Paleontology of the Miocene Sinap Formation, Turkey (pp. 202–219). New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, W. J. (2005). New Pliocene fossil proboscidean specimens from Laetoli, Tanzania. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 25(Suppl. 3), 109A.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, W. J. (2006). Comparative description and taxonomy of proboscidean fossils from Langebaanweg, South Africa. African Natural History, 2, 196–197.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, W. J. (2007). Taxonomic review of fossil Proboscidea (Mammalia) from Langebaanweg, South Africa. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa, 62, 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, W.J. (2008). Review of fossil Proboscidea from the late Miocene-early Pliocene site of As Sahabi, Libya. Garyounis Scientific Bulletin, Special Issue No. 5, 245–260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, W. J., Kappelman, J., & Rasmussen, D. T. (2004). New large-bodied mammals from the late Oligocene site of Chilga, Ethiopia. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 49, 365–392.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, W. J., Gheerbrant, E., Harris, J., Saegusa, H., & Delmer, C. (2010). Proboscidea. In L. Werdelin & W. J. Sanders (Eds.), Cenozoic mammals of Africa (pp. 161–251). Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Semaw, S., Simpson, S. W., Quade, J., Renne, P. R., Butler, R. F., McIntosh, W. C., Levin, N., Dominguez-Rodrigo, M., & Roger., M. J. (2005). Early Pliocene hominids from Gona, Ethiopia. Nature, 433, 301–304.

    Google Scholar 

  • Servant-Vildary, S. (1973). Stratigraphie et néotectonique du Plio-Pléistocène ancien du Tchad d’après l’étude des Diatomées. Comptes Rendus de l’Academie des Sciences, Série D, 276, 2633–2636.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sikes, S. K. (1967). The African elephant, Loxodonta africana: A field method for the estimation of age. Journal of Zoology, London, 154, 235–248.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smart, C. (1976). The Lothagam I fauna: Its phylogenetic, ecological, and biogeographic significance. In Y. Coppens, F. C. Howell, G. L. Isaac, & R. E. Leakey (Eds.), Earliest man and environments in the Lake Rudolf Basin (pp. 361–369). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Su, D. F., & Harrison, T. (2007). The paleoecology of the Upper Laetolil Beds at Laetoli. In R. Bobe, Z. Alemseged, & A. K. Behrensmeyer (Eds.), Hominin environments in the East African Pliocene: An assessment of the faunal evidence (pp. 273–313). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Su, D. F., & Harrison, T. (2008). Ecological implications of the relative rarity of fossil hominins at Laetoli. Journal of Human Evolution, 55, 672–681.

    Google Scholar 

  • Symeonidis, N. K. (1970). Ein Dinotherium-Fund in Zentralmakedonien (Griechenland). Annales Géologiques des Pays Helléniques, 3, 1153–1165.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tassy, P. (1985). La place des mastodontes miocènes de l’ancien monde dans la phylogénie des Proboscidea (Mammalia): Hypothèses et conjectures. Thèse Doctorat de Etat ès Sciences Naturelles, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, Volumes I–III.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tassy, P. (1986). Nouveaux Elephantoidea (Mammalia) dans le Miocène du Kenya. Cahiers de Paleontologie. Paris: CNRS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tassy, P. (1988). The classification of Proboscidea: How many cladistic classifications? Cladistics, 4, 43–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tassy, P. (1995). Les Proboscidiens (Mammalia) fossiles du Rift Occidental, Ouganda. Geology and palaeobiology of the Albertine Rift Valley, Uganda-Zaire. Vol. II: Palaeobiology. CIFEG Occasional Publications, 1994/29 (pp. 217–257). Orléans: CIFEG.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tassy, P. (2003). Elephantoidea from Lothagam. In M. G. Leakey & J. M. Harris (Eds.), Lothagam: The dawn of humanity in eastern Africa (pp. 331–358). New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tobien, H. (1988). Les Proboscidiens Deinotheriidae. Palaeovertebrata, Mémoire extraordinaire, 1988, 135–175.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsoukala, E. S., & Melentis, J. K. (1994). Deinotherium giganteum Kaup (Proboscidea) from Kassandra Peninsula (Chalkidiki), Macedonia, Greece. Geobios, 27, 633–640.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vignaud, P., Duringer, P., Mackaye, H. T., Likius, A., Blondel, C., Boisserie, J.-R., de Bonis, L., Eisenmann, V., Etienne, M.-E., Geraads, D., Guy, F., Lehmann, T., Lihoureau, F., Lopez-Martinez, N., Mourer-Chauviré, C., Otero, O., Rage, J.-C., Schuster, M., Viriot, L., Zazzo, A., & Brunet, M. (2002). Geology and palaeontology of the upper Miocene Toros-Menalla hominid locality, Chad. Nature, 418. 152–155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weinsheimer, O. (1883). Über Dinotherium giganteum Kaup. Palaeontologische Abhandlungen, 1, 205–282.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, T. D., Moore, R. V., & Suwa, G. (1984). Hadar biostratigraphy and hominid evolution. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 4, 575–583.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wittemeyer, G., Daballen, D., Rasmussen, H., Kahindi, O., & Douglas-Hamilton, I. (2005). Demographic status of elephants in the Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves, Kenya. African Journal of Ecology, 43, 44–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woolley, L.-A., Mackey, R. L., Page, B. R., & Slotow, R. (2008). Modelling the effect of age-specific mortality on elephant Loxodonta africana populations: Can natural mortality provide regulation? Oryx, 42, 49–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yasui, K., Kunimatsu, Y., Kuga, N., Bajope, B., & Ishida, H. (1992). Fossil mammals from the Neogene strata in the Sinda basin, Eastern Zaire. African Study Monographs, Suppl. 17, 87–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zazzo, A., Bocherens, H., Brunet, M., Beauvilain, A., Billiou, D., Mackaye, H. T., Vignand, P., & Mariotti, A. (2000). Herbivore paleodiet and paleoenvironmental changes in Chad during the Pliocene using stable isotope ratios of tooth enamel carbonate. Paleobiology, 26, 294–309.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Terry Harrison for his invitation to contribute to this volume, for including me in fieldwork at Laetoli and other sites in North-Central Tanzania, and for his generous support of my research on the proboscidean fossil material. Many thanks to the following individuals and institutions for permissions to study fossil specimens in their care: Meave Leakey and Emma Mbua (National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi), Graham and Margaret Avery (Iziko South African Museum, Cape Town), Leonard Ginsburg (Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris), Mohammed Arif (Geological Survey of Pakistan, Islamabad), Muluneh Mariam (National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa), Amandus Kweka, Michael Mbago and Paul Msemwa (Tanzanian National Museums, Dar es Salaam), Ezra Musiime (Ugandan Museum, Kampala), Mohammed el-Bedawi (Cairo Geological Museum, Cairo), Noel Boaz (International Institute for Human Evolutionary Research, Ashland, Oregon), and Jerry Hooker (The Natural History Museum, London). I am especially thankful to Bonnie Miljour (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) for composing the figures and the illustrations, and to many colleagues in Tanzania for their kind hospitality and friendship, especially Amandus Kweka, Michael Mbago, Avelin Malyango, Charles Msuya, and the late Christine Kiyembe. Invaluable help with local logistics and accessing museum collections was provided by Mary Muungu (Kenya National Museums, Nairobi), Amandus Kweka (Tanzanian National Museums, Dar es Salaam), Zelalem Assefa, Samson Tsegaye, and Alemu Admasu (in Addis Ababa and at the National Museum of Ethiopia), and Thalassa Matthews and Kerwin van Willingh (Iziko South African Museum, Cape Town). I am very grateful for constructive comments on the manuscript by Pascal Tassy, Andrew Hill, Terry Harrison, and an anonymous reviewer. This research was generously supported by several Scott Turner Grants from the Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, and through grants to Terry Harrison (New York University, New York, NSF Grant BCS-0309513), John Kappelman (University of Texas, Austin), and Laura MacLatchy (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Museum of Paleontology, The University of Michigan, 1109 Geddes Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    William J. Sanders

Authors
  1. William J. Sanders
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to William J. Sanders .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for the Study of Human Origins Department of Anthropology, New York University, 25 Waverly Place, New York, NY, 10003, USA

    Terry Harrison

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Sanders, W.J. (2011). Proboscidea. In: Harrison, T. (eds) Paleontology and Geology of Laetoli: Human Evolution in Context. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9962-4_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation