New murid (Mammalia, Rodentia) fossils from a late Pliocene (2.4 Ma) locality, Hadar A.L. 894, Afar Region, Ethiopia

摘要

This paper describes a new assemblage of fossilmurids (Mammalia: Rodentia) from anOldowan archeological site, Hadar, A.L. 894. The dates for the site are well constrained to between 2.35 and 2.9 Ma and the site itself has an estimated age of 2.4Ma. The A.L. 894 assemblage is the first described from the younger Busidima Formation at Hadar and extends the time range for micromammals at Hadar by 800 ka. The assemblage of 28 specimens has eight taxa represented, a surprising diversity given the sample size. The specimens include a fossil skull of Thallomys, a poorly documented African endemic rodent, as well as one of the earliest occurrences of a small gerbilid, such as Gerbillus in East Africa. Fossil rodents from this time period are important for the interpretation of hominid paleoecology as well as understanding the processes underlying the evolution of ecological communities through shallow, deep-time.