Search

Rodentia is the most species-rich order among mammals. The Republic of South Africa harbours a high rodent diversity whose taxonomy and phylogeny have been extensively studied using genetic tools. Such advances have led to the establishment of new faunal lists for the country. Because rodents are frequently recovered from archaeological cave site material and owl pellets, and constitute prime material for studying both past and present environmental conditions, it is necessary to characterize their osteological remains. The skull and teeth are the most useful diagnostic skeletal elements preserved in modern and fossil accumulations. This key provides updated craniodental criteria for identifying rodent genera found in Quaternary deposits, and modern material from the Republic of South Africa, thus facilitating research on past and present rodent diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This preliminary report concerns the micromammalian remains recovered from the Pleistocene strata in Excavation 1 at Wonderwerk Cave by Peter B. Beaumont during the 1980s and early 1990s. Because of the large size of the samples (170 656 specimens representing a minimum of 71 304 individuals), identification has so far only been taken to the generic level. Remains belonging to 34, and possibly 36, genera in five Orders have been identified, and there could be as many as 48 species represented. The uneven horizontal distribution of material throughout the excavation indicates probable roost or nest sites of Barn owls (Tyto alba), which is the most likely predator responsible for their accumulation. There is also considerable vertical variation in the amount of material in the different levels, which indicates that the predators were not consistently present in the area throughout the period represented by the deposits. In the majority of the samples, Gerbillinae (Gerbillis c us , gerbils) are best represented when supra-generic groupings are used. This suggests that conditions were reasonably arid during the periods represented by the samples but not necessarily throughout the entire period spanned by the deposits. When original groupings (genus and above) are considered, Otomyinae (Otomys spp., vlei rats) predominate in nearly half the samples. Secondarily important prey taxa are shrews (Soricidae), rats and mice (Murinae) and elephant shrews (Macroscelididae). This implies some variation in environmental conditions over time but more detailed interpretations must await further analysis. In particular it is imperative to identify the species of Gerbilliscus and Otomys before progress can be made. A range of techniques is now available to assist with interpreting the samples to their full potential once this has been done. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improvements in excavation methods, dating, analytical techniques and statistical applications have all led to a substantial increase in recoverable environmental evidence from micromammals. Because these animals are so small the information they provide is on a smaller geographical scale than that afforded by most other lines of evidence. However, with increasing amounts of data and greater interpretational precision in all spheres, the chances are improving of being able to mesh information from different scales. Blombos, Pinnacle Point and Klasies River on the southern coast of South Africa have clearly demonstrated that micromammalian data can contribute to multidisciplinary interpretations of past conditions, in this case during MIS 5 and 6. Little attention has been paid to the generally small samples from Iron Age sites but the presence of the House rat Rattus rattus may provide important information about human movements and may also contribute to our understanding of the Anthropocene once this has been formally defined. Micromammals have not yet been used as chronostratigraphic indicators in southern Africa but it may be possible to develop biochronologies using them and to incorporate this material into African Land Mammal Ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanisation radically changes habitats and alters available resources. Populations of large, highly mobile species are often extirpated at the urban-wildland interface, while species like mesocarnivores may thrive by capitalising on changes in prey abundance. We investigated the diet of the caracal (Caracal caracal), a medium-sized felid inhabiting patchy natural habitat isolated within the dense urban matrix of South Africa's second largest city, Cape Town. We systematically integrated two classic dietary methods (scat and GPS clusters) by accounting for gut transit times. As part of a larger caracal ecology study, we GPS-collared 26 individuals over a two-year period (2014–2016) to generate coarse (3-hour) and fine-scale (20-minute) GPS movement data. Using the movement data, we investigated 677 GPS-clusters for prey remains. We collected 654 scats, half of which were found at GPS-clusters and were linked with the individual sampled. By systematically correcting for a range of gut transit times, we determined whether scat at cluster sites was from the same or an earlier feeding event, thereby increasing the overall detection of feeding events by > 50%. Avian prey dominated GPS cluster findings while micromammals were overwhelmingly represented in scat. Although > 40% of feeding events occurred within 200 meters of the urban edge, caracals largely preyed on native species. Our findings have implications for understanding the ability of some species to persist in the face of rapid environmental change, human-wildlife conflict, pathogen transmission, and bioaccumulation of pesticides. Further, this approach could be incorporated into studies that estimate foraging-explicit resource selection and habitat preference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The southern Cape of South Africa is important to understanding regional climate because it straddles the transition between the winter and summer rainfall zones. We examine late Quaternary changes in rainfall seasonality and aridity through analysis of micromammal assemblages from three sites: Boomplaas Cave and Nelson Bay Cave in the aseasonal rainfall zone and Byneskranskop 1 in the winter rainfall zone. Our interpretation is based on analysis of 123 modern micromammal assemblages accumulated by barn owls (Tyto alba), which empirically links species composition to climate. The Pleistocene record (∼65 to 12 ka) from Boomplaas Cave, together with the last glacial maximum (LGM) samples from Nelson Bay Cave, indicates enhanced winter rainfall, especially during the LGM. Boomplaas Cave documents progressive aridification from the LGM to the earliest Holocene, followed by a return to moderately humid conditions through the Holocene. Byneskranskop 1 indicates a dominance of winter rains over the last 17 ka and a shift from an arid middle Holocene to a humid later Holocene. Agreement between the micromammal record and other local and regional proxies reinforces the potential of southern African micromammal assemblages as paleoclimate indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wonderwerk Cave has produced exceptionally large micromammalian samples that provides a range of information pertaining to taphonomy, and prey-predator ecology, which will improve the precision of environmental interpretation. Here, we examine these aspects for mid-Pleistocene strata 12 and 11, and conclude from the taphonomic evidence that the main predator responsible for the small mammal assemblages in the two lower-most strata at the site, was a category 1 predator, likely the barn owl Tyto alba. There is some slight influence of another predator in stratum 12 but this evidence is insufficient to significantly modify the taphonomic indication from the major predator. Differential horizontal and vertical distribution of prey skeletal remains within these strata indicates that there could have been two main roost areas, and that the predators occupied the cave seasonally, more intensively at times of good food availability under relatively benign conditions, and more ephemerally during harsher times. At present, this line of evidence does not provide any indication of the duration and nature of either conditions. Indications of exposure to fire have been distinguished in the microfaunal remains, with bones exhibiting calcination as well as being restricted spatially. None of these traits apparently fit with natural fires. Further modern comparative work will be required to develop a better understanding of those aspects related to fire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micromammals from archaeological cave sites have provided considerable information on environmental (vegetational and climatic) conditions during the Quaternary in southern Africa. The material basis is jaws of small mammals below 150 g mass. An underlying principle of palaeoenvironmental reconstruction is that each taxon carries with it, or can be said to represent, a more or less detailed suite of environmental information. More explicitly, members of a given taxon may be known to inhabit certain habitats, aspects of which may include vegetation, landform and climate, and to have certain biological or ecological characteristics. Palaeoenvironmental interpretation borrows extensively from ecology and biology, both for methods and data. For this reason, it is opportune to re-consider the validity of some previous assumptions in the light of significant improvements in understanding of modern processes as well as the constraints implicit in palaeoecological studies. With knowledge has come increased difficulty in extracting reliable information. Advances in identification of modern taxa, especially at the species level, make it more difficult to equate identifications based on bones with those based on microbiological material. The development of the field of taphonomy has greatly impacted on interpretation of fossil samples. The environmental correlates of mean individual size, life-history adaptations of species richness and diversity are harder to separate from the suite of factors now known to be involved but are still worth investigating. Currently, micromammal studies can probably be characterised as being in an intermediate, rather conservative, phase of development but can be expected to progress once more information and understanding from modern ecological studies is incorporated into palaeo studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study that examined barn owl pellets from Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa for their micromammalian prey remains. Methodology; Results; Discussion.

Wonderwerk Cave, in South Africa, is an exceptional site that has yielded a large collection of small mammal fossils in a stratigraphic sequence reaching back ca. 2 million years. Taphonomic studies undertaken to date, show that Tytonidae (likely Tyto alba) was the dominant predator during the Earlier Stone Age. They produced masses of pellets that formed a dense carpet-like surface that covered the cave floor at intervals throughout the sequence. This paper compares the taphonomic signatures of five different Earlier Stone Age small mammal assemblages from Wonderwerk Cave, including assemblages not studied before, as well as a modern pellet assemblage collected from inside the cave. These samples were examined using taphonomic signatures, bone density and spatial distribution which confirm that the main predator in all periods of cave occupation were members of the Family Tytonidae, most likely Barn owls. The Wonderwerk small mammals have enabled us to clarify site formation processes and confirm that there was no transport or mixing of fossils, neither spatially (re-sedimentation) nor chronologically (reworking). This has confirmed the integrity of the stratigraphic sequence in the cave, reinforcing interpretations of palaeoecology, and elucidating intensity of occupation by hominins versus predators, and the behaviour of the predators vis a vis their prey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micromammalian remains from Oldowan and Acheulean horizons in Sterkfontein Member 5E (M5E-O and M5E-A) and Swartkrans Members 1-3 (SKX1-3) provide information for the period between about 2 and 1 Ma. Another small sample from Sterkfontein Member 4 (M4) refers to a short period around 2.8-2.6 Ma and material from Sterkfontein post Member 6 infill (post-M6) relates to the Middle Stone Age occupation around 100 ka. Virtual absence of evidence of digestion on in situ lower molars of the major prey species, Mystromys albicaudatus, indicates that one of the owls Tyto alba, T. capensis or Asio capensis was the responsible predator. Over-emphasis on riverine grassland supports this suggestion, as does faunal resemblance between the Sterkfontein Valley samples and modern prey samples for the three owl species concerned. The location of the roost and the range of prey species point to the barn owl T. alba. There is no indication of differential bias between samples. South African species of eagle owl (Bubo spp.) are ruled out. All samples appear to represent interglacial conditions. The Grassland-Savanna ecotone probably lay nearby, as did the border between Moist and Arid Savanna. Possible modern analogues occur about 200 km west and southwest of the valley more than 250 m lower in altitude. South of Mafikeng all three vegetation types intergrade but the rainfall is higher than that postulated for some of the units in the Sterkfontein Valley. Similar climatic conditions occur near Kuruman and Kimberley where Arid Savanna merges into Grassland. Landscape information indicates a succession from riverine grassland, sometimes with Acacia trees, through hillsides with bush, grass and some trees, to plains with open savanna woodland. The suggested climate for the Sterkfontein Valley varied between +/-310 mm and possibly 550 mm mean annual precipitation, summer aridity index 3.8-4.1 and percentage winter rainfall 23-24. Minimum and maximum monthly temperatures would have been higher than they are today but with the temperature range reduced., (Copyright 2001 Academic Press.)