The large mammal fossil fauna of the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa: a review

A review of the large mammal fossil fauna from South Africa's Cradle of Humankind reveals that while hominin fossils have been extensively studied, the site's abundant non-hominin faunal assemblages have been largely overlooked despite their potential for Plio-Pleistocene palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. The study highlights a trend across eight radiometrically dated sites—Bolt's Farm, Cooper's Cave, Drimolen, Haasgat, Hoogland, Malapa, Sterkfontein, and Swartkrans—that shows wooded landscapes transitioning to grasslands over time, primarily based on faunal abundance data. The review also underscores the need for more precise dating and comprehensive faunal reporting to better contextualize these sites, many of which have not been revisited or reanalyzed in decades.

Malherbe, M., Pickering, R., Stynder, D., & Haeusler, M. (2025). The large mammal fossil fauna of the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa: a review. PeerJ, 13, e18946. Portico. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.18946