Early Pleistocene Faunal Connections Between Africa and Eurasia: An Ecological Perspective

Abstract

During the Early Pleistocene, hominins dispersed from Africa to Eurasia via the Levant. The presence of African taxa in higher latitudes has been interpreted as indicative of an Africa savanna habitat in the Early Pleistocene of the Levant and as support for the hypothesis that the spread of grasslands into higher latitudes promoted the dispersal of hominins into Eurasia. To infer the paleoenvironment of the Levant during the Early Pleistocene, a multivariate analysis based on abundance and presence-absence data of mesoherbivores was used. Results indicate that in the Early Pleistocene, the Levant was situated in a Mediterranean woodland habitat. The presence of African taxa in novel environments may be explained using a long distance dispersal model and suggests that the spatial and temporal abundance pattern of African taxa in the Levant is consistent with the early stages of dispersal and is not indicative of the presence of savanna habitats in higher latitudes. The ecological success of hominins in higher latitudes as attested to by their widespread geographic distribution is consistent with their adaptation to novel environments and suggests that they may have been pre-adapted to variable environments.