Paleoecology and Dietary Adaptation of Plio-Pleistocene Giraffes from Shungura Formation
SÉMINAIRE / SEMINAR
(2015-2016)
7ème séance / 7th session: Paleoecology and Dietary Adaptation of Plio-Pleistocene Giraffes from Shungura Formation, Lower Omo valley, Ethiopia, par/by YARED ASSEFA (ARCCH)
Mercredi 22 juin 2016 (16-17h30) / Wednesday 22 June 2016 (4:00 PM-5:30 PM). Lieu / Venue: Auditorium of the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage
Organisation: CFEE & Authority for Research and Conservation of the Cultural Heritage (Heritage Collection & Laboratory Service Directorate, Heritage Training Unit).
Paleoecology and Dietary Adaptation of Plio-Pleistocene Giraffes from Shungura Formation, Lower Omo valley, Ethiopia, par/by YARED ASSEFA (ARCCH)
Dental scores of the mesial and distal surfaces of enamel band of the upper second molars of fossil of Giraffa gracilis, Giraffa pygmaea and Sivatherium maurusium were analyzed using Mesowear III. This material was found in five member (B, C, D, E-F, and G) of the Shungura Formation, which covers a time span between 3.6 Ma and 1.05 Ma. Results indicate that the taxa G. gracilis and G. pygmaea experienced gradual changes in their dietary adaptation in accordance with the changes in habitat from that of closed to open habitats. The specimens of G. gracilis were predominantly browsers, with a broader dietary dispersion during the deposition of Members E and F. The specimens of G. pygmaea changed from a full browsing diet to a diet incorporating browses and grazes. Unlike G. gracilis, G. pygmaea was also adapted to a dominantly grazing diet during the deposition of Member G. According to the different lines of evidences from this study and other works, the possible habitats of G. gracilis & G. pygmaea was presumably a mixture between woodland, bushland, and open wooded grasslands. Sivatherium maurusium, sampled only in member F, was a full grazer and its habitat was probably grassland, in line with a maximum expansion of grasses in this member.
L’intervenant / The speaker
Yared Assefa (MA) est l’un des conservateurs des collections paléontologiques de l’Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH), Ministère de la Culture et du Tourisme, Addis-Abeba, Éthiopie. / Yared Assefa (MA) is a curator of paleontological collections at the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH), Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
Secrétaire Scientifique (16 juin 2016). Paleoecology and Dietary Adaptation of Plio-Pleistocene Giraffes from Shungura Formation. UN ŒIL SUR LA CORNE / AN EYE ON THE HORN. Consulté le 21 janvier 2025 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/mlrr
