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1. A preliminary reconstruction of the paleoecological context of Galili, Ethiopia using bovid dental metrics

   Slotter, A.; Simpson, S. W. (January 2018, American journal of physical anthropology)

   Paleoanthropological and geological field research at Galili, Afar Regional State, Ethiopia was reinitiated in 2016. The site has been established as encompassing sediments ranging between 2.5-4.5± Ma and includes early Australopithecus and perhaps Ardipithecus. While preliminary paleoenvironmental analyses have suggested open woodland to bushland-woodland and shrubland, we present here additional evidence of the diet and functional anatomy of the Early Pliocene bovids from Galili. Fossil bovids have been recognized as a crucial tool in understanding ancient environments and serve as an important ecological indicator. Establishing the habitats of Galili is important for both understanding the environment in which the fauna, including hominins, resided and providing comparison to other contemporaneous sites. Taxonomic identification and metric analyses were performed on bovid teeth (n=93) from the 3.9-4.4 Ma Shabeley Laag and Dhidinley members to reconstruct the paleoenvironment. The sample was dominated by Reduncini, a riparian-associated tribe, and Tragelaphini, a browsing-associated tribe. Hypsodonty index was calculated for each tribe and results suggest the most abundant bovid taxa trend towards the brachydont category. Only three tribes: Alcelaphini, Antilopini, and Hippotragini fell within the mesodont category, and no tribes had hypsodont indices. Mesowear analysis of the sample indicated high occlusal relief and rounded cusp shapes were most common. Taken together, our results indicate a trend in bovid diet towards mixed feeding and browsing at Galili. 

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2. A preliminary reconstruction of the paleoecological context of Galili, Ethiopia using bovid dental metrics.

   Slotter, A.; Simpson, S.W. (April 2018, American journal of physical anthropology)

   Paleoanthropological and geological field research at Galili, Afar Regional State, Ethiopia was reinitiated in 2016. The site has been established as encompassing sediments ranging between 2.5-4.5± Ma and includes early Australopithecus and perhaps Ardipithecus . While preliminary paleoenvironmental analyses have suggested open woodland to bushland-wood - land and shrubland, we present here additional evidence of the diet and functional anatomy of the Early Pliocene bovids from Galili. Fossil bovids have been recognized as a crucial tool in understanding ancient environments and serve as an important ecological indicator. Establishing the habitats of Galili is important for both understanding the environment in which the fauna, including hominins, resided and providing comparison to other contemporaneous sites. Taxonomic identification and metric analyses were performed on bovid teeth (n=93) from the 3.9-4.4 Ma Shabeley Laag and Dhidinley members to reconstruct the paleoenvironment. The sample was dominated by Reduncini, a riparian-associated tribe, and Tragelaphini, a browsing-associated tribe. Hypsodonty index was calculated for each tribe and results suggest the most abundant bovid taxa trend towards the brachydont category. Only three tribes: Alcelaphini, Antilopini, and Hippotragini fell within the mesodont category, and no tribes had hypso - dont indices. Mesowear analysis of the sample indicated high occlusal relief and rounded cusp shapes were most common. Taken together, our results indicate a trend in bovid diet towards mixed feeding and browsing at Galili. We thank Prof. H Seidler and his team for allowing access to the fossils they collected. 

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3. Reference database of teeth images from the Family Bovidae

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01501-4  

   Brophy, Juliet K.; Matthews, Gregory J. (December 2022, Scientific Data)

   Abstract Researchers typically rely on fossils from the Family Bovidae to generate African paleoenvironmental reconstructions due to their strict ecological tendencies. Bovids have dominated the southern African fauna for the past four million years and, therefore, dominate the fossil faunal assemblages, especially isolated teeth. Traditionally, researchers reference modern and fossil comparative collections to identify teeth. However, researchers are limited by the specific type and number of bovids at each institution. B.O.V.I.D. (Bovidae Occlusal Visual IDentification) is a repository of images of the occlusal surface of bovid teeth. The dataset currently includes extant bovids from 7 tribes and 20 species (~3900). B.O.V.I.D. contains two scaled images per specimen: a color and a black and white (binarized) image. The database is a useful reference for identifying bovid teeth. The large sample size also allows one to observe the natural variation that exists in each taxa. The binarized images can be used in statistical shape analyses, such as taxonomic classification. B.O.V.I.D. is a valuable supplement to other methods for taxonomically identifying bovid teeth. 

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4. African bovid tribe classification using transfer learning and computer vision

   https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.15067  

   Domínguez‐Rodrigo, Manuel; Brophy, Juliet; Mathews, Gregory J; Pizarro‐Monzo, Marcos; Baquedano, Enrique (December 2023, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences)

   Abstract Objective analytical identification methods are still a minority in the praxis of paleobiological sciences. Subjective interpretation of fossils and their modifications remains a nonreplicable expert endeavor. Identification of African bovids is a crucial element in the reconstruction of paleo‐landscapes, ungulate paleoecology, and, eventually, hominin adaptation and ecosystemic reconstruction. Recent analytical efforts drawing on Fourier functional analysis and discrimination methods applied to occlusal surfaces of teeth have provided a highly accurate framework to correctly classify African bovid tribes and taxa. Artificial intelligence tools, like computer vision, have also shown their potential to be objectively more accurate in the identification of taphonomic agency than human experts. For this reason, here we implement some of the most successful computer vision methods, using transfer learning and ensemble analysis, to classify bidimensional images of African bovid teeth and show that 92% of the large testing set of images of African bovid tribes analyzed could be correctly classified. This brings an objective tool to paleoecological interpretation, where bovid identification and paleoecological interpretation can be more confidently carried out. 

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5. New Field Research at Galili, Afar State, Ethiopia

   Simpson, S.W.; Quade, J.; Said, H. (January 2017, American journal of physical anthropology)

   The paleoanthropological research potential of the sediments surrounding Mt. Galili in the Afar State of Ethiopia was first established by Y. Haile-Selassie in the late 1990s. Subsequently, a team led by H. Seidler conducted a series of field campaigns through 2010. Together, these projects discovered a number of valuable fossils, including hominins, that verified the importance of the area and provided a biochronological and geochronological framework for the sediments that span the ca. 2.5 Ma to >4.5 Ma period. Field research of the Mt. Galili Formation was reinitiated by our team in 2016. We conducted a short 13-day field survey of the area with the goals of collecting additional paleontological, geological, and archeological materials to better understand the biotic context during this period and provide additional age constraints on the deposits. Much of the survey focused on sediments on the middle Pliocene-aged Shabeley Laag Member with short surveys of the older Dhidinley and Lasdanan Mbrs. Altogether, a diverse array of terrestrial non-hominin (especially monkeys, suids, proboscideans, and bovids) and hominin fauna were collected. As noted by previous workers, the sediments are dominated by fluvial and lacustrine deposits with numerous intercalated air-fall tuffs and intrusive basalts. A number of geological specimens were collected and exported and await radiometric dating and tephrostratigraphic correlation analysis. Here, we will present preliminary results from the 2016 field survey. 

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