New Australopithecus robustus fossils and associated U-Pb dates from Cooper's Cave (Gauteng, South Africa)

Journal of Human Evolution

Volumn 56, Issue 5, 2009, Pages 497-513

  de Ruiter, Darryl J ^a,b   Pickering, Robyn ^c   Steininger, Christine M ^b   Kramers, Jan D ^c   Hancox, Phillip J ^b   Churchill, Steven E ^d   Berger, Lee R ^b   Backwell, Lucinda ^b  

^a TEXAS A AND M UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND   (South Africa)

^c UNIVERSITY OF BERN   (Switzerland)

^d DUKE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Cave formation; Cooper's D; Paleoenvironment; Speleothems; Uranium lead dating

Indexed keywords

AGE DETERMINATION; DEPOSITION; FOSSIL RECORD; GEOCHRONOLOGY; HOMINID; PALEOENVIRONMENT; SPELEOTHEM; TOOTH; TYPE LOCALITY; TYPE SPECIMEN; URANIUM-LEAD DATING;

AFRICA; COOPERS CAVE; GAUTENG; SOUTH AFRICA; SOUTHERN AFRICA; SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA;

PARANTHROPUS ROBUSTUS;

EID: 67349212288     PISSN: 00472484     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.01.009     Document Type: Article

References (90)

1. Bailey G., King G., and Manighetti I. Tectonics, volcanism, landscape structure and human evolution in the African Rift. In: Bailey G.N., Charles R., and Winder N. (Eds). Human Ecodynamics (2000), Oxbow books, Oxford 31-46
2. Balter V., Blichert-Toft J., Braga J., Telouk P., Thackeray F., and Albarede F. U-Pb dating of fossil enamel from the Swartkrans Pleistocene hominid site, South Africa. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 267 (2008) 236-246
3. Berger L.R., Keyser A.W., and Tobias P.V. Gladysvale: first early hominid site discovered in South Africa since 1948. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 92 (1993) 107-111
4. Berger L.R., Lacruz R., and de Ruiter D.J. Revised age estimates of Australopithecus bearing deposits at Sterkfontein, South Africa. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 119 (2002) 192-197
5. Berger L.R., Pickford M., and Thackeray J.F. A Plio-Pleistocene hominid upper central incisor from the Cooper's site, South Africa. S. Afr. J. Sci. 91 (1995) 541-542
6. Berger L.R., de Ruiter D.J., Steininger C.M., and Hancox J. Preliminary results of excavations at the newly discovered Coopers D deposit, Gauteng, South Africa. S. Afr. J. Sci. 99 (2003) 276-278
7. Blackwell B.A. Problems associated with reworked teeth in electron spin resonance (ESR) dating. Quat. Geochronol. Quat. Sci. Rev. 13 (1994) 651-660
8. Brain C.K. The Transvaal ape-man-bearing cave deposits. Trans. Mus. Mem. no. 11 (1958) Pretoria
9. Brain C.K. Some criteria for the recognition of bone-collecting agencies in African caves. In: Behrensmeyer A.K., and Hill A.P. (Eds). Fossils in the Making (1980), University of Chicago Press, Chicago 107-130
10. Brain C.K. The Hunters or The Hunted? (1981), University of Chicago Press, Chicago
11. Brain C.K. Structure and stratigraphy of the Swartkrans cave in the light of new excavations. In: Brain C.K. (Ed). Swartkrans: A Cave's Chronicle of Early Man. Transvaal Museum, Pretoria, Monograph no. 8 (1993) 7-22
12. Brock A., McFadden P.L., and Partridge T.C. Preliminary palaeomagnetic results from Makapansgat and Swartkrans. Nature 266 (1977) 249-250
13. Broom R. A new fossil anthropoid skull from South Africa. Nature 138 (1936) 486-488
14. Broom R. The Pleistocene anthropoid apes of South Africa. Nature 142 (1938) 377-379
15. Broom R. Another new type of fossil ape-man. Nature 163 (1949) 57
16. Broom R., and Schepers G.W. The South African fossil ape-men. The Australopithecinae. Trans. Mus. Mem. no. 2 (1946) Pretoria
17. Clarke R.J. First ever discovery of a well-preserved skull and associated skeleton of Australopithecus. S. Afr. J. Sci. 94 (1998) 460-463
18. Cole J.M., Nienstedt J., Spatarob G., Rasbury E.T., Lanzirotti A., Celestian A.J., Nilsson M., and Hanson G.N. Phosphor imaging as a tool for in situ mapping of ppm levels of uranium and thorium in rocks and minerals. Chem. Geol. 193 (2003) 127-136
19. Cooke H.B.S. The Pleistocene sequence in South Africa and problems of correlation. In: Bishop W.W., and Clark J.D. (Eds). Background to Evolution in Africa (1967), University of Chicago Press, Chicago 109-122
20. Cruz-Uribe K. Distinguishing hyena from hominid bone accumulations. J. Field. Archaeol. 18 (1991) 467-486
21. Curnoe D., Grun G., Taylor L., and Thackeray J.F. Direct ESR dating of a Pliocene hominin from Swartkrans. J. Hum. Evol. 40 (2001) 379-391
22. Delson E. Cercopithecid biochronology of the African Plio-Pleistocene: correlation among eastern and southern hominid-bearing localities. Cour. Forsch.-Inst. Senckenberg 69 (1984) 199-218
23. Delson E. Chronology of South African Australopiths site units. In: Grine F.E. (Ed). Evolutionary History of the Robust Australopithecines (1988), Aldine de Gruyter, New York 317-325
24. de Ruiter D.J. A revised faunal list for the Australopithecine-bearing Members of Swartkrans. Annls. Transv. Mus. 40 (2003) 29-41
25. de Ruiter D.J. Undescribed hominin fossils from the Transvaal Museum faunal collections. Annls. Transv. Mus. 41 (2004) 29-40
26. de Ruiter D.J., Sponheimer M., and Lee-Thorp J.A. Indications of habitat association of Australopithecus robustus in the Bloubank Valley, South Africa. J. Hum. Evol. 55 (2008) 1015-1030
27. de Ruiter D.J., Steininger C.M., and Berger L.R. A cranial base of Australopithecus robustus from the Hanging Remnant of Swartkrans, South Africa. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 130 (2006) 435-444
28. Franklin, R., n.d. The recognition, frequency, and taxonomic association of skeletal pathology from selected Plio-Pleistocene-aged sites from the Cradle of Humankind, Witwatersrand, South Africa. Ph.D. Dissertation, in prep, University of the Witwatersrand.
29. Gascoyne M. Geochemistry of the actinides and their daughters. In: Ivanovich M., and Harmon R.S. (Eds). Uranium Series Disequilibrium: Applications to Environmental Problems (1982), Clarendon Press, Oxford 34-61
30. Grine F.E. Trophic differences between 'gracile' and 'robust' australopithecines: a scanning electron microscope analysis of occlusal events. S. Afr. J. Sci. 77 (1981) 203-230
31. Grine, F.E., 1984. The deciduous dentition of the Kalahari San, the South African Negro and the South African Plio-Pleistocene hominids. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand.
32. Grine F.E. New craniodental fossils of Paranthropus from the Swartkrans Formation and their significance in "robust" australopithecine evolution. In: Grine F.E. (Ed). Evolutionary History of the "Robust" Australopithecines (1988), Aldine de Gruyter, New York 223-243
33. Grine F.E. New hominid fossils from the Swartkrans formation (1979-1986 excavations): cranio-dental specimens. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 79 (1989) 409-449
34. Hill A. Faunal and environmental change in the Neogene of East Africa. In: Vrba E.S., Denton G.H., Partridge T.C., and Burckle L.H. (Eds). Paleoclimate and Evolution with Emphasis on Human Origins (1995), Yale University Press, New Haven 178-193
35. Kappelman J. The attraction of paleomagnetism. Evol. Anthropol. 2 (1993) 89-99
36. Keyser A.W. The Drimolen skull: the most complete australopithecine cranium and mandible to date. S. Afr. J. Sci. 96 (2000) 189-193
37. Keyser A.W., Menter C.G., Moggi-Cecchi J., Pickering T.R., and Berger L.R. Drimolen: a new hominid-bearing site in Gauteng, South Africa. S. Afr. J. Sci. 96 (2000) 193-197
38. Kuhn, B.F., Berger, L.R., Skinner, J.D. Examining criteria for identifying and differentiating fossil faunal assemblages accumulated by hyenas and hominins using hyenid accumulations. Int. J. Osteoarchaeol., in press. doi:10.1002/oa.996.
39. Kuman K., and Clarke R.J. Stratigraphy, artifact industries and hominid associations for Sterkfontein, Member 5. J. Hum. Evol. 38 (2000) 827-847
40. Lee-Thorp J.A., van der Merwe N.J., and Brain C.K. Diet of Australopithecus robustus at Swartkrans from stable carbon isotopic analysis. J. Hum. Evol. 27 (1994) 361-372
41. Lockwood C.A., and Tobias P.V. Morphology and affinities of new hominin cranial remains from Member 4 of the Sterkfontein Formation, Gauteng Province, South Africa. J. Hum. Evol. 42 (2002) 389-450
42. Ludwig K.R. Isoplot/Ex Version 2.2. Berkley Geochronology Centre Special Publication no.1a (2000)
43. 39Ar geochronology for the upper Koobi Fora Formation, Turkana Basin, northern Kenya. J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 163 (2006) 205-220
44. McFadden P.L. An overview of palaeomagnetic chronology with special reference to the South African hominid sites. Palaeont. Afr. 23 (1980) 35-40
45. Menter C.G., Kuykendall K.L., Keyser A.W., and Conroy G.C. First record of hominid teeth from the Plio-Pleistocene site of Gondolin, South Africa. J. Hum. Evol. 37 (1999) 299-307
46. Millard A.R., and Hedges R.E.M. A diffusion-adsorption model of uranium uptake by archaeological bone. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 60 12 (1996) 2139-2152
47. Moggi-Cecchi J., Grine F.E., and Tobias P.V. Early hominin dental remains from Members 4 and 5 of the Sterkfontein Formation (1966-1996 excavations): catalogue, individual associations, morphological descriptions and initial metrical analysis. J. Hum. Evol. 50 (2006) 239-328
48. Partridge T.C. Geomorphological dating of cave opening at Makapansgat, Sterkfontein, Swartkrans and Taung. Nature 246 (1973) 75-79
49. Partridge T.C. The chronological positions of the fossil hominids of southern Africa. In: De Lumley H., and De Lumley M.A. (Eds). Proceedings Congre International de Paleontologie Humaine. Union Internationale de Sciences Prehistorique et Protohistorique vol. 2 (1982), Nice 617-675
50. Partridge T.C. Palaeoecology of the Pliocene and lower Pleistocene hominids of southern Africa: how good is the chronological and palaeoenvironmental evidence?. S. Afr. J. Sci. 82 (1986) 80-83
51. Partridge T.C. Hominid-bearing cave and tufa deposits. In: Partridge T.C., and Maud R.R. (Eds). The Cenozoic of Southern Africa. Oxford Monographs on Geology and Geophysics (2000), Oxford University Press, Oxford 100-133
52. Partridge T.C., Bond G.C., Hartnady C.J., deMenocal P.B., and Ruddiman W. Climatic effects of Late Neogene tectonism and volcanism. In: Vrba E.S., Denton G.H., Partridge T.C., and Burckle L.H. (Eds). Paleoclimate and Evolution, with Emphasis on Human Origins (1995), Yale University Press, New Haven and London 8-23
53. Partridge T.C., Granger D.E., Caffee M.W., and Clarke R.J. Lower Pliocene hominid remains from Sterkfontein. Science 300 (2003) 607-612
54. Partridge T.C., Latham A.G., and Heslop D. Appendix on magnetostratigraphy of Makapansgat, Sterkfontein, Taung and Swartkrans. In: Partridge T.C., and Maud R.R. (Eds). The Cenozoic of Southern Africa. Oxford Monographs on Geology and Geophysics (2000), Oxford University Press, Oxford 126-129
55. Partridge T.C., and Scott L. Lakes and Pans. In: Partridge T.C., and Maud R.R. (Eds). The Cenozoic of southern Africa. Oxford Monograph on Geology and Geophysics (2000), Oxford University Press, Oxford 145-161
56. Partridge T.C., Shaw J., Heslop D., and Clarke R.J. The new hominid skeleton from Sterkfontein, South Africa: age and preliminary assessment. J. Quat. Sci. 14 (1999) 293-298
57. Partridge T.C., Wood B.A., and deMenocal P.B. The influence of global climatic change and regional uplift on large-mammalian evolution in East and southern Africa. In: Vrba E.S., Denton G.H., Partridge T.C., and Burckle L.H. (Eds). Paleoclimate and Evolution, with Emphasis on Human Origins (1995), Yale University Press, New Haven and London 331-355
58. Pickering, R., Kramers, J.D., Partridge, T.C. Uranium-lead dating of speleothems by MC ICP-MS: methodology and factors that contribute to a deposit being dateable. Quatern. Geol., submitted for publication.
59. Pickering R., Hancox P.J., Lee-Thorp J.A., Grun R., Mortimer G.E., McCulloch M., and Berger L.R. Stratigraphy, U-series chronology and palaeoenvironments at Gladysvale Cave: insights into the climatic control over South African hominin bearing cave deposits. J. Hum. Evol. 53 (2007) 602-619
60. Pickering T.R. Reconsideration of criteria for differentiating faunal assemblages accumulated by hyaenas and hominids. Int. J. Osteoarchaeol. 12 (2002) 127-141
61. Pike A.W.G., Hedges R.E.M., and Van Calsteren P. U-series dating of bone using the diffusion-absorption model. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 66 24 (2002) 4273-4286
62. Reynolds S.C. Mammalian body size changes and Plio-Pleistocene environmental shifts: implications for understanding hominin evolution in eastern and southern Africa. J. Hum. Evol. 53 (2007) 528-548
63. Richards D.A., Bottrell S.H., Cliff R.A., Ströhle K., and Rowe P.J. U-Pb dating of a speleothem of Quaternary age. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 62 (1998) 3683-3688
64. Robinson J.T. The dentition of the Australopithecinae. Trans. Mus. Mem. no. 9 (1956) Pretoria
65. Schwarcz H.P., Grun R., and Tobias P.V. ESR dating studies of the australopithecine site of Sterkfontein, South Africa. J. Hum. Evol. 26 (1994) 175-181
66. Scott R.S., Ungar P.S., Bergstrom T.S., Brown C.A., Grine F.E., Teaford M.F., and Walker A. Dental microwear texture analysis shows within-species diet variability in fossil hominins. Nature 436 (2005) 693-695
67. Shaw J.C.M. Further remains of a Sterkfontein ape. Nature 143 (1939) 117
68. Shaw J.C.M. Concerning some remains of a new Sterkfontein primate. Annls. Transv. Mus. 20 (1940) 145-156
69. Sponheimer M., Lee-Thorp J.A., de Ruiter D.J., Codron D., Codron J., Baugh A.T., and Thackeray J.F. Hominins, sedges, and termites: new carbon isotopic data from the Sterkfontein valley and Kruger National Park. J. Hum. Evol. 48 (2005) 301-312
70. Sponheimer M., Passey B.H., de Ruiter D.J., Guatelli-Steinberg D., Cerling T.E., and Lee-Thorp J.A. Isotopic evidence for dietary variability in the early hominin Paranthropus robustus. Science 314 (2006) 980-982
71. Sponheimer M., de Ruiter D.J., Lee-Thorp J.A., and Spath A. Sr/Ca and early hominin diets revisited: new data from modern and fossil tooth enamel. J. Hum. Evol. 48 (2005) 147-156
72. Steininger C.M., Berger L.R., and Kuhn B.F. A partial skull of Paranthropus robustus from Cooper's Cave, South Africa. S. Afr. J. Sci. 104 (2008) 143-146
73. Susman R.L. New hominid fossils from the Swartkrans Formation (1979-1986 excavations): postcranial specimens. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 79 (1989) 451-474
74. Susman R.L., and de Ruiter D.J. New hominin first metatarsal (SK 1813) from Swartkrans. J. Hum. Evol. 47 (2004) 171-181
75. Susman R.L., de Ruiter D.J., and Brain C.K. Recently identified postcranial remains of Paranthropus and early Homo from Swartkrans Cave, South Africa. J. Hum. Evol. 41 (2001) 607-629
76. Thackeray J.F., de Ruiter D.J., Berger L.R., and van der Merwe N.J. Hominid fossils from Kromdraai: revised list of specimens discovered since 1938. Annls. Transv. Mus. 38 (2001) 43-56
77. Tobias P.V. The Cranium and Maxillary Dentition of Australopithecus (Zinjanthropus) boisei. Olduvai Gorge Vol. 2 (1967), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
78. Tobias P.V. The Skulls, Endocasts and Teeth of Homo habilis. Olduvai Gorge Vol. 4 (1991), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
79. Villa P., and Mahieu E. Breakage patterns of human long bones. J. Hum. Evol. 21 (1991) 27-48
80. Vrba E.S. Biostratigraphy and chronology, based particularly on Bovidae, of southern hominid-associated assemblages: Makapansgat, Sterkfontein, Taung, Kromdraai, Swartkrans; also Elandsfontein (Saldanha), Broken Hill (now Kabwe) and Cave of Hearths. In: De Lumley H., and De Lumley M.A. (Eds). Proceedings Congre International de Paleontologie Humaine. Union Internationale de Sciences Prehistorique et Protohistorique vol. 2 (1982), Nice 707-752
81. Vrba E.S. Early hominids in southern Africa: updated observations on chronological and ecological background. In: Tobias P.V. (Ed). Hominid Evolution: Past, Present and Future (1985), Alan R Liss, New York 195-200
82. Vrba E.S. Ecological and adaptive changes associated with early hominid evolution. In: Delson E. (Ed). Ancestors: The Hard Evidence (1985), Alan R. Liss, New York 63-71
83. Vrba E.S. Late Pliocene climatic events and hominid evolution. In: InGrine F.E. (Ed). Evolutionary History of the "Robust" Australopithecines (1988), Aldine de Gruyter, New York 405-426
84. Walker A., and Leakey R.E.F. The Nariokotome Homo erectus skeleton (1993), Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass
85. Walker, J., 2005. Uranium-Lead dating of Hominid fossil sites in South Africa, Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Leeds.
86. Walker J., Cliff R.A., and Latham A.G. U-Pb isotopic age of the Stw 573 hominid from Sterkfontein, South Africa. Science 314 (2006) 1592-1594
87. White T.D. African omnivores: global climatic change and Plio-Pleistocene hominids and suids. In: Vrba E.S., Denton G.H., Partridge T.C., and Burckle L.H. (Eds). Paleoclimate and Evolution with Emphasis on Human Origins (1995), Yale University Press, New Haven 369-384
88. White T.D., and Harris J.M. Suid evolution and correlation of African hominid localities. Science 198 (1977) 13-21
89. Wood B.A. Hominid Cranial Remains. Koobi Fora Research Project Vol. 4 (1991), Clarendon Press, Oxford
90. Woodhead J.D., Hellstrom J., Maas R., Drysdale R., Zanchetta G., Devine P., and Taylor E. U-Pb geochronology of speleothems by MC-ICPMS. Quat. Geochronol. 1 (2006) 208-221