Fossil evidence shows stable environment in Cradle of Humankind

A NEW study on fossil antelope teeth from South Africa’s Cradle of Humankind challenges the long-held belief that the area transformed from woodland to grassland 1.7 million years ago, a shift thought to have influenced early human evolution.

- STAFF REPORTER

Published in international journal for the geo-sciences, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, the research by UCT and the University of Zürich suggests a stable environment for nearly 2 million years, remaining a mosaic of open and wooded areas.

For years, scientists believed around 1.7 million years ago, the Cradle of Humankind - a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) World Heritage Site famed for its rich fossil record of our early prehuman relatives transformed from a closed woodland into open grassland.

According to UCT, this idea was based largely on the types of herbivore fossils found at cave sites and on chemical signatures in their tooth enamel that reflect diet and vegetation.