TY  - JOUR
A1  - Gosling, William D.
A1  - Scerri, Eleanor
A1  - Kaboth-Bahr, Stefanie
T1  - The climate and vegetation backdrop to hominin evolution in Africa
T2  - Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London : B, Biological sciences
N2  - The most profound shift in the African hydroclimate of the last 1 million years occurred around 300 thousand years (ka) ago. 
This change in African hydroclimate is manifest as an east-west change in moisture balance that cannot be fully explained through linkages to high latitude climate systems. 
The east-west shift is, instead, probably driven by a shift in the tropical Walker Circulation related to sea surface temperature change driven by orbital forcing. Comparing records of past vegetation change, and hominin evolution and development, with this breakpoint in the climate system is challenging owing to the paucity of study sites available and uncertainties regarding the dating of records. Notwithstanding these uncertainties we find that, broadly speaking, both vegetation and hominins change around 300 ka. 
The vegetative backdrop suggests that relative abundance of vegetative resources shifted from western to eastern Africa, although resources would have persisted across the continent. 
The climatic and vegetation changes probably provided challenges for hominins and are broadly coincident with the appearance of Homo sapiens (ca 315 ka) and the emergence of Middle Stone Age technology. 
The concomitant changes in climate, vegetation and hominin evolution suggest that these factors are closely intertwined. 
This article is part of the theme issue 'Tropical forests in the deep human past'.
KW  - hominid
KW  - pollen
KW  - El Nino Southern Oscillation
KW  - habitat
KW  - human evolution
KW  - Homo sapiens
Y1  - 2022
UR  - https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/63721
SN  - 0962-8436
SN  - 1471-2970
VL  - 377
IS  - 1849
PB  - Royal Society
CY  - London
ER  -