Bovid fossils sampled for the project Palaeogenomes of a lost world: Ancient bovids of the submerged Palaeo-Agulhas Plain of southern Africa (PalaeoBovids)

Study Extent

The archaelogical sites associated with the Palaeo-Agulhas Plain from which fossil specimens originated are: Boomplaas Cave, Byneskranskop 1, Die Kelders Cave 1, Elands Bay Cave, Klasies River Mouth, and Nelson Bay Cave, all of which are curated at the Iziko Museums of South Africa Archaeology Collection. Additionally, to increase the sample size of the extinct giant long-horned buffalo (Syncerus antiquus), other museums were approached and thus specimens originating from sites not associated with the Palaeo-Agulhas Plain were also obtained. These sites were: Rouxville and Parkeren-A Spitskop, which are curated at the National Museum Bloemfontein Florisbad Quaternary Research Collection. Finally, a giant long-horned buffalo specimen of unknown origin (although suspected to be Namibia) was obtained from the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History Archaeozoology Collection.

Sampling

The aim of the project was to track changes in genetic diversity of bovids through time on the Palaeo-Agulhas Plain in relation to changes in climate and habitat availability, as well as increasing human pressures. Three ancient time periods were targeted for sampling, defined by marine isotope stages (MIS): MIS3 (57,000-29,000 years ago), MIS2 (29,000-11,700 years ago), and MIS1 (11,700-approximately 1,500 years ago). Samples representing modern populations of the same species were also collected, though these are not included in this occurrence dataset. Since the present-day habitat of the Cape Floristic Region is better suited to browsers and mixed feeders than to grazers, the target species were distributed across these categories to be able to detect differential changes in genetic diversity between these broader groups. The initial grazer target species were Syncerus caffer caffer (Cape buffalo), Syncerus antiquus (giant long-horned buffalo, extinct at transition between MIS2 and MIS1), and Redunca arundinum (southern reedbuck). The brower target species were Pelea capreolus (grey rhebok) and Raphicerus melanotis (Cape grysbok). The mixed feeder target species was Tragelaphus oryx (common eland). The sampling was distributed over several archaeological sites, to reduce the pressure on each site. An ideal sample size of 20 specimens per species per time bin was initially proposed and adhered to as far as possible, but was not always reached due to specimen availability in reality, and in the case of Redunca arundinum in MIS1 the number was reduced to 10 specimens by the Heritage Western Cape committee that approved the project in that region due to the limited number of specimens of this species in that time bin. The occurences in this dataset thus represents the closest that we could come to reaching the target of 20 specimens per species per ancient time bin given the contraints described above.

Method steps

1. During sampling in the museums, species identifications made by the excavating archaeologists/palaeontologists, or those that have subsequently studied the collections, were used to identify appropriate specimens of the target species. These identifications were based on morphology and thus mainly teeth were selected (n = 308), as these can be more reliably assigned to species level than bones (n = 16). In two cases, bones that were morphologically identified as Redunca sp. (can be either R. arundinum or R. fulvorufula) were genetically shown to be Pelea capreolus, as species of the same subfamily as Redunca. In one case, the genetic data refined a Redunca sp. classification to R. fulvorufula, and in three other cases R. fulvorufula were sampled inadvertently in place of R. arundinum. Hence the presence of R. fulvorufula in the dataset despite not being part of the initial project design. Note, genetic data are not available and will not be available for all specimens, due to the poor preservation of DNA. To reduce the risk of resampling individuals, specimens of the same species were not sampled from the same storage bag where possible, with the assumption that remains considered by the excavating archaeologists/palaeontologists to be from the same individual would have been kept together.

Seven bovid species are represented in this dataset: Syncerus caffer caffer (Cape buffalo), Syncerus antiquus (giant long-horned buffalo, extinct), Tragelaphus oryx (common eland), Redunca arundinum (southern reedbuck), Redunca fulvorufula (mountain reedbuck), Pelea capreolus (grey rhebok), and Raphicerus melanotis (Cape grysbok).

1. Chordata
   rank: phylum
2. Bovidae
   rank: family
3. Artiodactyla
   rank: order
4. Mammalia
   rank: class
5. Animalia
   rank: kingdom

All known localities are in South Africa, mainly the Western and Eastern Cape provinces, with at least two from the Free State (potentially a third, but the location is near the border of the Eastern Cape and Free State, with the uncertainty covering parts of both provinces). One record has an unknown locality, but is suspected to be from Namibia.