Six Million Years of African Savanna

Six Million Years of African Savanna
Wed, 03 Aug 2011 13:39:00 -0500

Scientists using chemical isotopes in ancient soil to measure prehistoric tree cover--in effect, shade--have found that grassy, tree-dotted savannas prevailed at most East African sites where human ancestors and their ape relatives evolved during the past six million years.

"We've been able to quantify how much shade was available in the geological past," says University of Utah geochemist Thure Cerling, lead author of a paper titled "Woody cover and hominin environments ...

More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=121029&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

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