Landscape, climate and human evoluti

Landscape
Evolution

Volcanism
rifting

Climate
Evolution

Rain forest

East African
rift flank
uplift

Lake formation

woodland

grassland

Hominin
Evolution

20

15
10
5
Time: million years before present

Grasses (Poaceae) %

80
60

land ry)
s
s
a
r
g
ed
v
i
t
a
l
40
(re

40
20 nforest

Rai
(wet)

20
0
nd
a
l
s
s
y)
r
gra
d
e
iv
(relat

-22

rest
o
f
n
i
Ra
Pollen and molecular records
e t)
extracted from lake/marine (w

-24
13

-26

sediment indicate that an

expansion of grassland at
expense of rainforest areas

-28
-30
9

Desert &
sem-desert (%)

East African climate evolution

African climate inferred from pollen and molecular re

Pollen

7
6
5
4
Million years ago

C
12
C

The African climate inferred molecular records

he emergence and expansion of aridity-adapted plants around 5-7 million years

glucose

Organic acid

CO2
Calvin
Cycle

glucose

Spatial separation of steps

Calvin
Cycle

Bundle-sheath Mesophyll
cell
cell

Mesophyll
cell

CO2

Crassulacean acid metabolism:

(CAM photosynthesis)
CO2

Temporal separation of steps

C4 photosynthetic pathway:
CO2

Enzymatic
reaction

East African climate evolution

C3 photosynthetic pathway:

Organic acid

Night

CO2
Calvin
Cycle

Day

glucose

The photosynthetic pathways of C4 and CAM plants reduce the loss of water. For
example: When grown in the same environment, at 30C, C 3 grasses lose
approximately 833 molecules of water per CO 2 molecule that is fixed, whereas C4
grasses lose only 277 water molecules. Therefore C 4 plans CAM are more competitive
in semi- arid and arid area. Because the photosynthesis in C4 and CAM plants occurs
in closed/separated system, the ability of plants to preferential incorporate 12CO2 is

Changes in vegetation in East African Rift Valle

Vegetation
changes

Fraction of wood cover (areal

Awash
Valley

2
Million years
BP

East African climate evolution

The African climate inferred from animal habitat

The African climate inferred from animal habitat

20 %
10 %
0%

Wet
woodland

Grassland

Shrubland

30 %

Woodland

40 %

Bushland

Ecotone

50%

Forest

East African climate evolution

Food types and habitats of mammal: indicator of vegetation and climate

grazing
Tree-liv
ing

Fruite

ating

Variation in the ratio of adaptations (food types and

habitats) in modern mammal communities for different
ecosystems in Africa.

23
-1
16 6
-1
1.
6
11
.6
-5
.3
5.
32.
6
2.
61.
8
1.
80.
8
0.
80.
01
7
pr
es
en
t

34
-2
8
28
-2
4

38
-3
4

East African climate evolution

The African climate inferred from animal remains

Evolution of African
Megafauna

Million years
ago

The African climate inferred from animal remains

East African climate evolution

Evolution and shift in the composition of East African mammals

Bovidae are all mammals that are clovenhoofed and ruminant with characteristic
unbranching horns (at least the males)
Suidae the biological family to which pigs
belongs

Cercopithecoidea (Old World monkeys)

are monkeys native to Africa and Asia today,
inhabiting a range of environments from
tropical rains forest to savanna, shrubland
and mountainous terrain

The African climate inferred from animal remains

East African climate evolution

Grasser as % of Bovidae*

Hippotragini

Antilopini

Alcelaphini

The graph shows en increase of

animals that are adapted to
grassland.

Bovidae are all mammals that are clovenhoofed, ruminant mammals with
characteristic unbranching horns (at least
the males)

East African climate evolution

Climate proxies: dusts

Africa

Atlantic
Ocean

West
Africa

The Dust: Indicator of Climate changes

East African climate evolution

In crease of African dust in marine sediments

More
dust

Less
dust

Million years ago

The Climate Archives: Lake sediments

East African climate evolution

Fluctuation of East African lakes

East African climate evolution

Summery:

In response to global and regional long-term

climate changes, East Africa experienced
more or less continuous aridification starting fro
5.5 million years ago.
This climate change led to fundamental shifts
In the vegetation and mammal comminities