Climate effects on archaic human habitats and species successions.

ABSTRACT: It has long been believed that climate shifts during the last 2 million years had a pivotal role in the evolution of our genus Homo^1-3. However, given the limited number of representative palaeo-climate datasets from regions of anthropological interest, it has remained challenging to quantify this linkage. Here, we use an unprecedented transient Pleistocene coupled general circulation model simulation in combination with an extensive compilation of fossil and archaeological records to study the spatiotemporal habitat suitability for five hominin species over the past 2 million years. We show that astronomically forced changes in temperature, rainfall and terrestrial net primary production had a major impact on the observed distributions of these species. During the Early Pleisto

SUBMITTER: Timmermann A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9021022 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature