BOVIDS AS INDICATORS OF PLIOPLEISTOCENE PALEOENVIRONMENTS IN EAST-AFRICA

Reconstructions of the paleoenvironments of early hominids offer a fra mework for understanding hominid ecological and behavioral adaptations . Habitat reconstructions typically rely upon various biological or ph ysical habitat indicators, and here we present reconstructions of the Plio-Pleistocene paleohabitats of Koobi Fora and Olduvai Gorge as base d on fossil bovids (Artiodactyla: Bovidae). Bovids are the most common faunal element at most Neogene hominid and hominoid fossil localities and have been widely studied. This study addresses the funtional morp hology of the bovid femur through discriminant function analysis and p rovides additional support for the observation that certain features o f the femur demonstrate clear correlations with the amount of vegetati ve cover in different modern habitats. The reconstructions for both Ko obi Fora and Olduvai Gorge suggest that the Full range of environments inhabited by living bovids was present during the Plio-Pleistocene. K oobi Fora appears to have had a somewhat higher percentage of more clo sed habitats than the relatively more open habitats of Olduvai Gorge. These habitat reconstructions are in broad agreement with other recons tructions based on a purely taxonomic approach to the bovid remains. G rounding our reconstructions of paleoenvironments in studies of functi onal morphology can help to develop a richer idea of the habitats and resources available to early hominids. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited .