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Early Pliocene Hominid Tooth from Galili, Somali Region, Ethiopia

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Early Pliocene Hominid Tooth from Galili, Somali Region, Ethiopia Coll. Antropol. 28 Suppl. 2 (2004) 65–76 UCD 572.4:572.77:56 Original scientific paper Early Pliocene Hominid Tooth from Galili, Somali Region, Ethiopia Roberto Macchiarelli1, Luca Bondioli2, Dean Falk3, Peter Faupl4, Bernard Illerhaus5, Ottmar Kullmer6, Wolfram Richter4, Hasen Said7, Oliver Sandrock8, Katrin Schäfer9, Christoph Urbanek4, Bence T. Viola9, Gerhard W. Weber9 and Horst Seidler9 1 Laboratoire de Géobiologie, Biochronologie et Paléontologie Humaine, CNRS UMR 6046, Université de Poitiers, France 2 Sezione di Antropologia, Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico »L. Pigorini«, Roma, Italy 3 Department of Anthropology, State University New York, Albany, USA 4 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Vienna, Austria 5 Federal Institute of Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Berlin, Germany. 6 Research Institute Senckenberg, Department of Palaeoanthropology, Frankfurt am Main, Germany 7 National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 8 Department of Geology, Paleontology and Mineralogy, Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt, Germany 9 Institute of Anthropology, University of Vienna, Austria ABSTRACT A fossil hominid tooth was discovered during survey at Galili, Somali region, Ethio- pia. The geological and faunal context indicate an Early Pliocene age. The specimen (GLL 33) consists of an almost complete lower right third molar likely representing a male individual of advanced age-at-death. Its comparative metrical, morphological and (micro)structural analysis (supported by a microtomographic record) suggests a tentative taxonomic allocation to Australopithecus cf. A. afarensis. Key words: lower molar, Australopithecus, Early Pliocene, Galili, Ethiopia Introduction The hominid tooth reported here co- Anthropological Research Team (PAR- mes from field research activity devel- Team) led by the Institute of Anthropol- oped since late 1999 in the Somali Region ogy at the University of Vienna in collab- of Ethiopia by the international Paleo- oration with the National Museum of Received for publication April 6, 2004 65 R. Macchiarelli et al.: Early Pliocene Hominid Tooth, Coll. Antropol. 28 Suppl. 2 (2004) 65–76 Ethiopia and the Mekkelle University in Two different successions, separated Ethiopia. by a steep, nearly N-S-trending normal The PAR-Team working area is loca- fault, exist in the near vicinity of the ted on the south-eastern side of the Mid- »hominid site«. In the footwall west of the dle Awash region, in the Afar depression, fault, a morphological scarp exposes about NE of the recently active northernmost 15 m flat lying sediments, which are com- segment of the Main Ethiopian Rift posed mainly of grey silty mudstones known as the Hertale Graben1, about 9 with thin sand intercalations. In the mid- km E of the Gedamaitu village (Figure 1). dle part of the sequence, a conspicuous The area, which approximates 100 km2, white limestone bed of 20 cm thickness includes two main Neogene vertebrate occurs. Immediately below and above this fossiliferous sub-areas named after their limestone, further smaller limestone in- most dominating landscape structures: tercalations, sometimes of cellular char- the Satkawhini (SKW) hill, to NE, and acter, can be observed. The sedimentary the Galili (GLL) table-top mountain, to succession is overlain by an about 5 m SW. thick ignimbrite, which forms an excel- lent stratigraphic marker horizon distrib- On the first systematic exploratory uted in the entire area. The limestone bed field survey of the area (on February and the accompanying fine clastic sedi- 2000), the isolated specimen was col- ments represent an ancient shallow lac- lected (by Mr. Abdelahi Idle) in recent al- ustrine environment. In the upper part of luvial debris at the GLL-1/A67 site (9° the section, below the ignimbrite horizon, ² ² 77 N, 40° 54 E), located in a depression an increasing fluvial influence can be rec- 2 at about 1 km to the SW of Mount Galili . ognized. In the same stratigraphic ni- veau, about 2 km towards N, fluvial chan- nels appear (Figure 1). The Geochronological and In the hanging wall east of the fault, a Paleontological Context basalt layer, tectonically adjoining the fault, represents the top of the other sedi- The succession of sediments and vol- mentary succession, which dips with c. 5° canic rocks exposed nearby Galili belongs to W. Towards the south of the depres- to the tectonically elevated eastern rift sion, the basalt forms a morphological shoulder of the Main Ethiopian Rift seg- ridge. The sediments underlying the bas- ment. The whole region suffered inten- alts mainly comprise poorly sorted, grav- sive brittle tectonic deformation, mostly elly to coarse-grained sands from which, by NNE-SSW-trending faults. Depending among other fossil remains, primate teeth on lateral facies variations, the sedimen- have been collected. On the basis of grain tary sequence is about 120–150 m thick size analyses, the sandy sediments repre- and belongs to the Plio-Pleistocene (4.5– sent a fluvial facies with high amounts of 1.6 Ma) »Upper Stratoid Series«3. sheed flood layers. Within the sands, a Seven main volcanic horizons, com- pyroclastic layer is intercalated about 3.5 prising basalts, ignimbrites and other m below the basalt. pyroclastic layers, have been used as The eastern succession with the basalt marker beds for subdividing the forma- on top is stratigraphically younger than tion. Based on biostratigraphic record, es- the sediment capped by the ignimbrite to- pecially on suids and elephants, the Early wards the west of the fault, well known to Middle Pliocene sediments represent a from regional mapping. The basalt can be relatively short accumulation time span4. correlated with the basalts on top of Mount 66 R. Macchiarelli et al.: Early Pliocene Hominid Tooth, Coll. Antropol. 28 Suppl. 2 (2004) 65–76 Fig. 1. Schematic placement map of the study region (Somali region of Ethiopia, Afar depression) and stratigraphic diagram of the investigated Mount Galili (GLL) area. Galili. Radiometric dating (40Ar/39Ar) of From only morphological considera- sanidine crystals gained from the ignim- tions, both successions, to the W and to brite gave a preliminary age of 4.1 Ma, the E of the fault, could be the source of which seems in accordance with the bio- the debris containing the hominid tooth. stratigraphic observations (Early Plioce- Nonetheless, when taking into account ne). Unfortunately, high amounts of ex- the facies types, the coarse sandy depos- cess argon in the basalt lead to analytical its below the basalt layer, which are very problems and unreliable Ar-Ar ages. rich in faunal remains, should be pre- 67 R. Macchiarelli et al.: Early Pliocene Hominid Tooth, Coll. Antropol. 28 Suppl. 2 (2004) 65–76 ferred to the succession below the igni- the appearance of the specimen as a mbrite which is, in contrast, relatively whole (enamel and cementum) testifies to poor. diffuse surface erosion, weathering and The Early Pliocene vertebrate fauna local flaking. On the distobuccal aspect, from Galili includes large mammals just below the cement-enamel junction (Equidae, Rhinoceratidae, Dinotheriidae, (CEJ), a spot-like breakage is present. Elephantidae, Bovidae, Suidae, Hippopo- The distal root, which is nearly complete, tamidae, Giraffidae, Carnivora, Cercopi- shows thin longitudinal and transversal thecidae), reptiles (Crocodylia, Chelonia), microfractures. Microscopic investigation and various species of fish2,4. of the fracture margins of the mesial root Two previous surveys carried out in evidences erosion at the outer edges, thus the region resulted in the discovery of suggesting a breakage in antiquo. three hominid teeth likely coming from a The general morphology and preser- comparable geochronological context5. vation conditions of GLL 33 are illus- trated in Figure 3 (A-I); its overall crown and root metrics are detailed in Table 1. The Hominid Tooth (GLL 33): Mor- The occlusal outline is a rectangle ta- phological and Structural Analysis pering distally to form a convex margin. The hominid specimen from Galili, The crown bears seven cusps, including a which is labeled GLL 33, is stored at the developed tuberculum intermedium (me- National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis taconulid) occurring in the lingual groove Ababa. It consists of a lower right third between metaconid and entoconid. Rela- molar (RM3) preserving a virtually com- tive cusp sizes (decreasing order) are pro- plete crown but lacking most of the me- toconid (c1), metaconid (c2), hypoconid sial root (Figure 2: A-C). The occlusal sur- (c3), hypoconulid (c5), entoconid (c4), me- face margins are slightly smoothed and taconulid (c7), entoconulid (tuberculum sextum, c6). According to the ASU coding system for nonmetric dental traits6, cusp 5 and cusp 7 (both degree 4) are proportionally large, while cusp 6 (degree 2) is slightly smaller than cusp 5. The occlusal fissural pattern is Y7, with metaconid-hypoconid contact. On the distobuccal aspect, a Ù-shaped fissure is detectable between c3 and c5; a deep distolingual groove sepa- rates c4 and c7. Secondary fissures run towards the central basin. Because of oc- clusal surface weathering at the meta- conid distal side, deflecting wrinkle oc- currence cannot be properly assessed. A smooth, faintly developed mesial trigonid crest connects protoconid and metaconid; the distolingul groove is distinct. Meta- Fig. 2. Drawing of GLL 33 in buccal (A), mesial conid and hypoconulid are rather mesial- (B), and occlusal (C) views (courtesy of Heide- ly and buccally placed, respectively; the
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