Geology and palaeontology of the Upper Miocene Toros-Menalla hominid locality, Chad

• Published in: Nature (London) Vol. 418; no. 6894; pp. 152 - 155
• Main Authors: Vignaud, Patrick, Duringer, Philippe, Mackaye, Hassane Taïsso, Likius, Andossa, Blondel, Cécile, Boisserie, Jean-Renaud, de Bonis, Louis, Eisenmann, Véra, Etienne, Marie-Esther, Geraads, Denis, Guy, Franck, Lehmann, Thomas, Lihoreau, Fabrice, Lopez-Martinez, Nieves, Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile, Otero, Olga, Rage, Jean-Claude, Schuster, Mathieu, Viriot, Laurent, Zazzo, Antoine, Brunet, Michel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing 11-07-2002; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Animals; Aquatic reptiles; Archaeology; Chad; Deserts; Earth Sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Ecosystem; Exact sciences and technology; Fauna; Fossils; Fresh Water; Geography; Geologic Sediments - analysis; Geology; Hominidae; Humans; Lakes; Miocene; Neogene; Paleontology; Sciences of the Universe; Stratigraphy; Time Factors; Vertebrate paleontology; Chad; Central Africa; West Africa; Chad (country); Africa; sedimentology; Neogene; Diapsida; Chordata; flora; upper Tertiary; vegetation; Crocodilia; Ruminantia; Eutheria; Hippomorpha; paleontology; Pisces; savanna; Primates; Theria; lakes; Cenozoic; Bovidae; Tetrapoda; Hominidae; biochronology; Proboscidea; Tertiary; Africa; stratigraphic columns; faunal list; Rodentia; Archosauria; Equidae; forests; paleoenvironment; Vertebrata; Mammalia; paleoecology; discoveries; Elephantidae; upper Miocene; Reptilia; Artiodactyla; Miocene; Perissodactyla; Phanerozoic; Elephantoidea; Néogène; Eukaryotae; végétaux; Afrique centrale; Metazoa; Tchad; Arthropoda; sédimentologie; Miocène récent; liste faunique; (paléo)environnement; Djourab; Toros-Ménalla; Afrique; biochronologie; Cénozoïque
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/nature00880

All six known specimens of the early hominid Sahelanthropus tchadensis come from Toros-Menalla site 266 (TM 266), a single locality in the Djurab Desert, northern Chad, central Africa. Here we present a preliminary analysis of the palaeontological and palaeoecological context of these finds. The rich fauna from TM 266 includes a significant aquatic component such as fish, crocodiles and amphibious mammals, alongside animals associated with gallery forest and savannah, such as primates, rodents, elephants, equids and bovids. The fauna suggests a biochronological age between 6 and 7 million years. Taken together with the sedimentological evidence, the fauna suggests that S. tchadensis lived close to a lake, but not far from a sandy desert, perhaps the oldest record of desert conditions in the Neogene of northern central Africa.