Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Paleosols

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Paleoanthropology

  • 293 Accesses

Abstract

Soils are known to be products of environmental factors such as climate, vegetation, topographic setting, parent material, and time for formation, so that paleosols, or fossil soils, can potentially reveal changing environments of the past. Evidence from paleosols for past climate and vegetation in East Africa does not support traditional narratives of human evolution during a single transition from primeval forest to dry climate and open grassland. Instead, paleosols indicate climatic oscillations between wet and dry, and alternating expansion of woodland and grassland, since at least 18 Ma (million years ago). Acquisition of dry grassland adaptations such as thick enamel by 18 Ma, adducted hallux by 14 Ma, and cursorial legs by 1.8 Ma, alternated with woodland adaptations such as short stiff back by 16 Ma, erect stance by 6 Ma, and flat face by 3.5 Ma. Our ancestors survived profoundly changing climate and vegetation, with some adaptations lasting only to the next environmental shift, but others proving to be of lasting value.

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

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Andrews P (1996) Paleoecology and hominid palaeoenvironments. Biol Rev 71:257–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andrews P, Van Couvering JAH (1975) Palaeoenvironments in the East African Miocene. In: Szalay FS (ed) Approaches to primate paleobiology. S Karger, New York, pp 62–103

    Google Scholar 

  • Anhuf D, Frankenberg P, Lauer W (1999) Die postglaziale Warmphase vor 8000 Jahren. Eine Vegetationsrekonstruction fur Afrika. Geogr Rundsch 51:454–461

    Google Scholar 

  • Bancroft H (1932) A fossil cyatheoid stem from Mount Elgon, East Africa. New Phytol 33:241–253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bancroft H (1933) A contribution to the geological history of the Dipterocarpaceae. Geol Fören Stockh Förh 55:59–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Behrensmeyer AK (2008) Palaeoenvironmental context of the Pliocene AL333 “First Family” hominin locality, Hadar, Ethiopia. In: Quade J, Wynn JG (eds) The geology of early humans in the horn of Africa, vol 446, Geol Soc Amer Spec Publ., pp 203–214

    Google Scholar 

  • Behrensmeyer AK, Deino AL, Hill A, Kingston JD (2002) Geology and geochronology of the middle Miocene Kipsaramon site complex: Muruyur Beds, Tugan Hills, Kenya. J Hum Evol 42:11–38

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bestland EA (1990) Miocene volcanicalstic deposits and paleosols of Rusinga Island, Kenya. University of Oregon, Eugene, Unpublished Ph.D. thesis

    Google Scholar 

  • Bestland EA, Krull ES (1999) Palaeoenvironments of early Miocene Kisingiri volcano Proconsul sites: evidence from carbon isotopes, palaeosols and hydromagmetic deposits. J Geol Soc Lond 156:965–976

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bobe R, Behrensmeyer AK, Chapman RE (2002) Faunal change, environmental variability and late Pliocene hominin evolution. J Hum Evol 42:475–497

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bramble DM, Lieberman BE (2004) Endurance running and the evolution of Homo. Nature 432:345–352

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brunet M, Guy F, Pilbeam D, Mackaye HT, Likius A, Ahounta D, Beauvilain A, Blondel C, Bocherens H, Boisserie JR, de Bonis L, Coppens Y, de Jax J, Denys C, Duringer P, Eisenmann V, Fanone G, Fronty P, Geraads D, Lehmann T, Lihoreau F, Louchart A, Mahamat A, Merceron G, Mouchelin G, Otero O, Campomanes PP, de Leon MP, Rage JC, Sapanet M, Schuster M, Sudre J, Tassy P, Valentin X, Vignaud P, Viriot L, Zazzo A, Zollikofer C (2002) A new hominid from the upper Miocene of Chad, central Africa. Nature 418:145–151

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carroll S (2003) Genetics and the making of Homo sapiens. Nature 422:849–857

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cerling TE (1992) Development of grasslands and savannas in East Africa during the Neogene. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 97:241–247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cerling TE, Harris JM, Ambrose SH, Leakey MG, Solounias N (1997a) Dietary and environmental reconstruction with stable isotope analysis of herbivore tooth enamel from the Miocene locality of Fort Ternan, Kenya. J Hum Evol 33:635–650

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cerling TE, Harris JM, Mac Fadden BJ, Leakey MG, Quade J, Eisenmann V, Elheringer JR (1997b) Global vegetation change through the Miocene/Pliocene boundary. Nature 389:153–158

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dart R (1926) Taung and its significance. Nat Hist 26:315–327

    Google Scholar 

  • Darwin C (1872) The descent of man and selection in relation to sex. John Murray, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Deino AL, Tauxe L, Monaghan M, Drake R (1990)40Ar/39Ar calibration of the litho- and paleomagnetic stratigraphies of the Ngorora Formation, Kenya. J Geol 96:567–587

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Menocal PB (2004) African climate change and faunal evolution during the Pliocene-Pleistocene. Earth Planet Sci Lett 220:3–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ekart DP, Cerling TE, Montañez IP, Tabor NJ (1999) A 400 million year carbon isotope record of pedogenic carbonate: implications for paleoatmospheric carbon dioxide. Am J Sci 299:805–827

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fleagle JG (1998) Primate adaptation and evolution. Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox DL, Koch PL (2003) Tertiary history of C4 biomass in the Great Plains, USA. Geology 31:809–812

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Galik K, Senut B, Pickford M, Gommery D, Treil J, Kuperavage AJ, Eckhardt RB (2004) External and internal morphology of the BAR 1002’00 Orrorin tugenensis femur. Science 305:1450–1453

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gommery D, Senut B, Pickford M, Musime E (2002) Les nouveaux restes du squelette d’Ugandapithecus major (Miocene inferieur de Napak, Ouganda). Ann Paleontol 88:167–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison T (2010) Dendropithecoidea, Proconsuloidea, and Hominoidea. In: Werdelin L, Sanders WJ (eds) Cenozoic mammals of Africa. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 429–469

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hill A, Leakey M, Kingston JD, Ward S (2002) New cercopithecoids and a hominoid from 12.5 Ma in the Tugen Hills succession, Kenya. J Hum Evol 42:75–93

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jablonski NG, Chaplin G (1993) Origin of habitual terrestrial bipedalism in the ancestor of the Hominidae. J Hum Evol 24:259–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs BF (2002) Estimation of low-latitude paleoclimates using fossil angiosperm leaves: examples from the Miocene Tugen Hills, Kenya. Paleobiology 28:399–421

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs BF, Deino AL (1996) Test of climate-leaf physiognomy regression models, their application to two Miocene floras from Kenya, and40Ar/39Ar dating of the late Miocene Kapturo site. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 123:259–271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenny HJ (1941) Factors in soil formation. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Johanson DC, Taieb M, Coppens Y (1982) Pliocene hominids from the Hadar Formation, Ethiopia (1973–1977): stratigraphic, chronologic and paleoenvironmental contexts, with notes on hominid morphology and systematics. Am J Phys Anthropol 57:373–402

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jolly C (1970) The seed-eaters, a new model of hominid differentiation based on a baboon analogy. Man 5:5–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kappelman J (1993) Book review of Miocene paleosols and ape habitats of Pakistan and Kenya by GJ Retallack. Am J Phys Anthropol 92:117–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kent PE (1944) The Miocene beds of Kavirondo, Kenya. Q J Geol Soc Lond 100:85–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kingdon J (1971) East African mammals, vol I. Introduction, primates, hyraxes, pangolins, protoungulates and sirenians. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Kingdon J (1974a) East African mammals, vol IIA. Insectivores and bats. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Kingdon J (1974b) East African mammals, vol IIB. Hares and rodents. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Kingdon J (1979) East African mammals, vol IIIB. Large mammals. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Kingdon J (2003) Lowly origins: where, when and why our ancestors first stood up. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Koch PL (1998) Isotopic reconstruction of past continental environments. Ann Rev Earth Planet Sci 26:573–613

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leakey LSB (1952) The environment of the Kenya lower Miocene apes. Actes Congr Panafr Prehist Com 18:323–324

    Google Scholar 

  • Leakey MD, Harris JM (eds) (1987) Laetoli, a Pliocene site in northern Tanzania. Clarendon Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Leakey MG, Spoor F, Brown FH, Gathogo PN, Klarie C, Leakey LN, McDougall I (2001) New hominin genus from Eastern Africa shows diverse middle Pliocene lineages. Nature 410:433–440

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lovejoy CO (1981) The origin of man. Science 211:341–350

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • MacFadden BJ (2000) Origin and evolution of the grazing guild in Cenozoic New World terrestrial mammals. In: Sues HD (ed) Evolution of herbivory in terrestrial vertebrates. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 223–244

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Martin L (1985) Significance of enamel thickness in hominoid evolution. Nature 314:260–262

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McCrossin ML, Benefit BR (1997) On the relationships and adaptations of Kenyapithecus, a large-bodied hominoid from the middle Miocene of eastern Africa. In: Begun DR, Ward CV, Rose MD (eds) Function, phylogeny, and fossils: Miocene hominoid evolution and adaptation. Plenum, New York, pp 241–267

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • McCrossin ML, Benefit BR, Gitau SR, Palmer A, Blue K (1998) Fossil evidence for the origins of terrestriality in Old World monkeys and apes. In: Strasser E, Fleagle JG, McHenry HM (eds) Primate locomotion: recent advances. Plenum, New York, pp 353–376

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Mizota C, Kawasaki I, Wakatsuki T (1988) Clay mineralogy and chemistry of seven pedons formed in volcanic ash, Tanzania. Geoderma 43:131–141

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan E (1982) The aquatic ape: a theory of human evolution. Souvenir Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterhans JLK (1993) Contribution to rain forest taphonomy: retrieval and documentation of chimpanzee remains from Kibale Forest. J Hum Evol 25:485–514

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pickford M (1986a) Sedimentation and fossil preservation in the Nyanza Rift system, Kenya. In: Frostick LE, Renaut RW, Reid I, Tiercelin TJ (eds) Sedimentation in the African Rifts. Spec Publ Geol Soc Lond 25: 345–367

    Google Scholar 

  • Pickford M (1986b) The geochronology of Miocene higher primate faunas of East Africa. In: Else JG, Lee PC (eds) Primate evolution vol 1. Cambridge University Press, London, pp 20–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Pickford M (1987) The chronology of the Cercopithecoidea of East Africa. Hum Evol 2:1–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pickford M (1995) Fossil land snails of East Africa and their paleoecological significance. J Afr Earth Sci 20:167–226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pickford M (2002a) Early Miocene grassland ecosystem at Bukwa, Mt Elgon, Uganda. C R Paleovol 1:213–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pickford M (2002b) Paleoenvironments and hominoid evolution. Z Morphol Anthropol 83:337–348

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pickford M, Senut B (2001) The geological and faunal context of late Miocene faunal remains from Lukeino. C R Acad Sci Terre Planet Paris 332:145–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pickford M, Senut B, Gommery M (1999) Sexual dimorphism in Morotopithecus bishopi, an early middle Miocene hominoid from Uganda, and a reassessment of its geological and biological contexts. In: Andrews P, Banham P (eds) Late Cenozoic environments and hominoid evolution: a tribute to Bill Bishop. Geol Soc Lond, London, pp 27–38

    Google Scholar 

  • Pickford M, Sawada Y, Tayama Y, Matsuda Y-K, Itaya H, Hyodo H, Senut B (2006) Refinement of the age of the middle Miocene Fort Ternan beds, Western Kenya: implications for Old World biochronology. C R Acad Sci Geosci Paris 338:545–555

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Potts R (1996) Evolution and climate variability. Science 273:922–923

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Radosevich SE, Retallack GJ, Taieb M (1992) A reassessment of the paleoenvironment and preservation of hominid fossils from Hadar, Ethiopia. Am J Phys Anthropol 87:15–27

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Retallack GJ (1991a) Miocene paleosols and ape habitats in Pakistan and Kenya. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Retallack GJ (1991b) Untangling the effects of burial alteration and ancient soil formation. Ann Rev Earth Planet Sci 19:183–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Retallack GJ (1992) Middle Miocene fossil plants from Fort Ternan (Kenya) and the evolution of African grasslands. Paleobiology 18:383–400

    Google Scholar 

  • Retallack GJ (1997) A colour guide to paleosols. John Wiley, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Retallack GJ (1998) Fossil soils and completeness of the rock and fossil record. In: Donovan SK, Paul CBC (eds) The adequacy of the fossil record. Wiley, Chichester, pp 131–162

    Google Scholar 

  • Retallack GJ (2001a) Soils of the past. Blackwell, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Retallack GJ (2001b) Cenozoic expansion of grasslands and climatic cooling. J Geol 109:407–426

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Retallack GJ (2005) Pedogenic carbonate proxies for amount and seasonality of precipitation in paleosols. Geology 33:333–336

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Retallack GJ (2012) Mallee model for Mesozoic and early Cenozoic mammal communities. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 342–434:111–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Retallack GJ, Dugas DP, Bestland EA (1990) Fossil soils and grasses of a middle Miocene East African grassland. Science 247:1325–1328

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Retallack GJ, Dugas DP, Bestland EA (1995) Miocene paleosols and habitats of Proconsul in Rusinga Island, Kenya. J Hum Evol 29:53–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Retallack GJ, Wynn JG, Benefit B, McCrossin M (2002) Paleosols and paleoenvironments of the middle Miocene Maboko Formation, Kenya. J Hum Evol 42:659–703

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rodman PS, McHenry HM (1980) Bioenergetics and the origin of hominid bipedalism. Am J Phys Anthropol 52:103–106

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sanford C (2003) The evolutionary key to becoming human. Houghton-Mifflin, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Senut B, Pickford M, Gommery D, Mein P, Cheboi K, Coppens Y (2001) First hominid from the Miocene (Lukeino Formation, Kenya). C R Acad Sci Paris Sci Terre Planet 332:137–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheldon ND, Retallack GJ (2001) Equation for compaction of paleosols due to burial. Geology 29:245–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheldon ND, Retallack GJ, Tanaka S (2002) Geochemical climofunctions from North American soils and application to paleosols across the Eocene-Oligocene boundary in Oregon. J Geol 110:687–696

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sikes NE (1994) Early hominid habitat preferences in East Africa: Paleosol carbon isotope evidence. J Hum Evol 27:25–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soil Survey Staff (2000) Keys to soil taxonomy. Pocahontas Press, Blacksburg

    Google Scholar 

  • Tanner NM (1981) On becoming human. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner A, Antón M (2004) Evolving Eden. Columbia University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Tuttle RH (1981) Evolution of hominid bipedalism and prehensile capabilities. Phil Trans R Soc Lond B 292:89–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veizer J, Godderis Y, François LM (2001) Evidence for decoupling of atmospheric CO2 and global climate during the Phanerozoic. Nature 408:698–701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vignaud P, Duringer P, Mackaye HT, Likius A, Blondel C, Boisserie JR, de Bonis L, Eisenmann E, Etienne ME, Geraads D, Guy F, Lehmann T, Lihoreau F, Lopez-Martinez N, Mourer-Chauviré C, Otero O, Rage JC, 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

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vrba ES (1999) Habitat theory in relation to evolution in Neogene biota and hominids. In: Bromage TG, Schrenk F (eds) African biogeography. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 19–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward SC, Duren DL (2002) Middle to Late Miocene African hominoids. In: Hartwig WC (ed) The primate fossil record. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 385–397

    Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler PE (1984) The evolution of bipedality and loss of functional body hair in humans. J Hum Evol 13:91–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White TD, Asfaw B, Beyenne Y, Haile-Selassie Y, Lovejoy CO, Suwa G, Woldegabriel G (2009) Ardipithecus ramidus and the paleobiology of early hominids. Science 326:75–86

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Woodburn J (1968) An introduction to Hadza ecology. In: Lee RB, deVore I (eds) Man the hunter. Aldine, Chicago, pp 49–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Wynn JG (2001) Paleosols, stable carbon isotopes, and paleoenvironmental interpretation of Kanapoi, Northern Kenya. J Hum Evol 39:411–432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wynn JG (2004a) Miocene paleosols of Lothagam. In: Harris JM, Leakey MG (eds) Lothagam: the dawn of humanity in eastern Africa. Columbia University Press, New York, pp 31–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Wynn JG (2004b) Influence of Plio-Pleistocene aridification on human evolution: evidence from paleosols of the Turkana Basin. Am J Phys Anthropol 123:106–118

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wynn JG, Retallack GJ (2002) Middle Miocene paleosols and paleoenvironments from the Nyakach Formation at Kaimagool, southwestern Kenya. J Hum Evol 40:263–288

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yapp C, Poths H (1994) Productivity of pre-vascular bioa inferred from Fe(CO3)OH content of goethite. Nature 368:49–51

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zachos J, Pagani M, Sloan L, Thomas E, Billups K (2001) Trends, rhythms, and aberrations in global climate. Science 292:686–693

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403-1272, USA

    Prof. Gregory Retallack

Authors
  1. Prof. Gregory Retallack
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gregory Retallack .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst. Anthropologie, Universität Mainz FB 10 (1050), Mainz, Germany

    Winfried Henke

  2. American Museum of Natural History Division of Anthropology, New York, New York, USA

    Ian Tattersall

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this entry

Cite this entry

Retallack, G. (2013). Paleosols . In: Henke, W., Tattersall, I. (eds) Handbook of Paleoanthropology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27800-6_13-5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27800-6_13-5

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27800-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation