TY - JOUR
T1 - The earliest Ethiopian wolf
T2 - implications for the species evolution and its future survival
AU - Martínez-Navarro, Bienvenido
AU - Gossa, Tegenu
AU - Carotenuto, Francesco
AU - Bartolini-Lucenti, Saverio
AU - Palmqvist, Paul
AU - Asrat, Asfawossen
AU - Figueirido, Borja
AU - Rook, Lorenzo
AU - Niespolo, Elizabeth M.
AU - Renne, Paul R.
AU - Herzlinger, Gadi
AU - Hovers, Erella
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the Ethiopian Heritage Authority (EHA), the Culture and Tourism Bureaus of the Oromia Regional State, the West Arsi zone, and the Gadeb-Hasasa woreda for their support during the field and post-excavation phases of the study. We are grateful to the people of Aluba village for their hospitality and help in the field. We thank B. Van Valkenburgh for facilitating us the measurements of several canid mandibles housed in different institutions. Finally, we thank P. Raia, L. Werdelin, and I. A. Lazagabaster for their insightful comments that helped to improve the manuscript. This research was supported by the Palarq Foundation, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the “María de Maeztu” excellence accreditation (CEX2019-000945-M) and the Generalitat de Catalunya, 2021SGR 01238 (AGAUR) (B.M.N.); the Gerda Henkel Foundation and Glynn Isaac post-doctoral Fellowship of HERC at the University of California, Berkeley (T.G.); this contribution is framed within a wider project on late Neogene vertebrate evolution granted with “Fondi di Ateneo” by the Earth Sciences Department of the University of Florence (L.R., S.B.L.); the field geological and stratigraphic work was supported by the National Geographic Society (Grant #9801-15) and the Fritz Thyssen Foundation (E.H), and the School of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University (A.A.); the Spanish Ministry of Science (grants CGL2017-92166-EXP and PID2019-111185GB-I00) and The Junta de Andalucía (grants P18-FR-3193 and UMA18-FEDERJA-188) (B.F., P.P.); the Ann and Gordon Getty and John Templeton Foundations, the National Science Foundation (Grant BCS-2020044) (P.P.R., E.M.N.); and the Braginsky Center for the Interface between Science and the Humanities at the Weizmann Institute of Science, the Israel Academy of Science and Humanities COVID-19 emergency postdoctoral fellowship, and the Israel Science Foundation research grant 1745/21 awarded to U. Smilansky (G.H.).
Funding Information:
We thank the Ethiopian Heritage Authority (EHA), the Culture and Tourism Bureaus of the Oromia Regional State, the West Arsi zone, and the Gadeb-Hasasa woreda for their support during the field and post-excavation phases of the study. We are grateful to the people of Aluba village for their hospitality and help in the field. We thank B. Van Valkenburgh for facilitating us the measurements of several canid mandibles housed in different institutions. Finally, we thank P. Raia, L. Werdelin, and I. A. Lazagabaster for their insightful comments that helped to improve the manuscript. This research was supported by the Palarq Foundation, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the “María de Maeztu” excellence accreditation (CEX2019-000945-M) and the Generalitat de Catalunya, 2021SGR 01238 (AGAUR) (B.M.N.); the Gerda Henkel Foundation and Glynn Isaac post-doctoral Fellowship of HERC at the University of California, Berkeley (T.G.); this contribution is framed within a wider project on late Neogene vertebrate evolution granted with “Fondi di Ateneo” by the Earth Sciences Department of the University of Florence (L.R., S.B.L.); the field geological and stratigraphic work was supported by the National Geographic Society (Grant #9801-15) and the Fritz Thyssen Foundation (E.H), and the School of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University (A.A.); the Spanish Ministry of Science (grants CGL2017-92166-EXP and PID2019-111185GB-I00) and The Junta de Andalucía (grants P18-FR-3193 and UMA18-FEDERJA-188) (B.F., P.P.); the Ann and Gordon Getty and John Templeton Foundations, the National Science Foundation (Grant BCS-2020044) (P.P.R., E.M.N.); and the Braginsky Center for the Interface between Science and the Humanities at the Weizmann Institute of Science, the Israel Academy of Science and Humanities COVID-19 emergency postdoctoral fellowship, and the Israel Science Foundation research grant 1745/21 awarded to U. Smilansky (G.H.).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).
PY - 2023/12
Y1 - 2023/12
N2 - In 2017, a hemimandible (MW5-B208), corresponding to the Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis), was found in a stratigraphically-controlled and radio-isotopically-dated sequence of the Melka Wakena paleoanthropological site-complex, on the Southeastern Ethiopian Highlands, ~ 2300 m above sea level. The specimen is the first and unique Pleistocene fossil of this species. Our data provide an unambiguous minimum age of 1.6–1.4 Ma for the species’ presence in Africa and constitutes the first empirical evidence that supports molecular interpretations. Currently, C. simensis is one of the most endangered carnivore species of Africa. Bioclimate niche modeling applied to the time frame indicated by the fossil suggests that the lineage of the Ethiopian wolf faced severe survival challenges in the past, with consecutive drastic geographic range contractions during warmer periods. These models help to describe future scenarios for the survival of the species. Projections ranging from most pessimistic to most optimistic future climatic scenarios indicate significant reduction of the already-deteriorating territories suitable for the Ethiopian Wolf, increasing the threat to the specie’s future survival. Additionally, the recovery of the Melka Wakena fossil underscores the importance of work outside the East African Rift System in research of early human origins and associated biodiversity on the African continent.
AB - In 2017, a hemimandible (MW5-B208), corresponding to the Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis), was found in a stratigraphically-controlled and radio-isotopically-dated sequence of the Melka Wakena paleoanthropological site-complex, on the Southeastern Ethiopian Highlands, ~ 2300 m above sea level. The specimen is the first and unique Pleistocene fossil of this species. Our data provide an unambiguous minimum age of 1.6–1.4 Ma for the species’ presence in Africa and constitutes the first empirical evidence that supports molecular interpretations. Currently, C. simensis is one of the most endangered carnivore species of Africa. Bioclimate niche modeling applied to the time frame indicated by the fossil suggests that the lineage of the Ethiopian wolf faced severe survival challenges in the past, with consecutive drastic geographic range contractions during warmer periods. These models help to describe future scenarios for the survival of the species. Projections ranging from most pessimistic to most optimistic future climatic scenarios indicate significant reduction of the already-deteriorating territories suitable for the Ethiopian Wolf, increasing the threat to the specie’s future survival. Additionally, the recovery of the Melka Wakena fossil underscores the importance of work outside the East African Rift System in research of early human origins and associated biodiversity on the African continent.
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85159414869&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s42003-023-04908-w
DO - 10.1038/s42003-023-04908-w
M3 - Article
C2 - 37193884
AN - SCOPUS:85159414869
SN - 2399-3642
VL - 6
JO - Communications Biology
JF - Communications Biology
IS - 1
M1 - 530
ER -