Mammal evolution in Africa, including that of modern human ancestors, through the late Cenozoic (Plio-Pleistocene, ~5.3 million years ago) may not have been driven by the expansion of grasslands as previously thought, new research has suggested.
The measurements do not take into account the precise height of vegetation and homogenizes certain types, for example combining woodland with bushland and grassland with deserts over scales of 100–1,000km. However, Sokolowski and colleagues are able to discern that the expansion of grasslands through the late Cenozoic may not have been a significant factor impacting mammal speciation and extinction in Africa.
Only four species of gemsbok, springbok, red-fronted gazelle and mountain zebra expressed a distinct preference for open habit in the models, with the probability of decline as woody cover increases highly likely. Conversely, 11 species exhibited a probability of occurrence decline with a shift to open grassland from closed woodland, these including duikers and some antelope.
Meanwhile, 21 species modeled within the middle ground of grassland and woodland cover , including impala, buffalo and wildebeest, and 22 exhibited no sensitivity to changing vegetation cover, such as warthogs and bush elephants. Dietary preference also played a role for frugivorous species, which peak within areas of high woodland cover, though browsers, grazers and mixed feeders seemed to prefer mixed grassland and woodland environments.
Examples of the four main responses expressed in mean fraction of woody cover: a) unimodal blue wildebeest with preference for mixed grassland and woodland, b) insensitivity of the bushpig to changing vegetation, c) closed woodland preference of sitatunga antelope, and d) open grassland preference of springbok. Credit: Sokolowski et al, 2023.
Considering grazers, browsers and mixed feeders predominate in the unimodal range of both grassland and woodland, the research team conclude that savannah ecosystems are the most likely ecosystem to have proliferated in the late Cenozoic, with grass carpeting a large proportion of the landscape, interspersed by shrubs and trees.
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