Repository | Book | Chapter

The habitat of the Middle and Late Miocene hominoids from western Europe, like Dryopithecus , was characterized by the prevalence of subtropical conditions. As a consequence, those environments were mainly dominated by fruit eaters and browsers, including a large variety of suids, cervids, rhinos, chalicotheres, and proboscideans. In contrast, in large parts of Eurasia, from eastern Europe (Greek-Iranian province) and northern Africa to China, the Middle Miocene climatic crisis led to the development of a xerophilous woodland, dominated by bovids, giraffids, and pursuit carnivores. At first, the worldwide dispersal of the hipparionine horses changed this scenario very little. However, at 9.6 Ma, a significant event, the Vallesian Crisis, led to the extinction of most of the fruit eaters that had prevailed in the Middle Miocene European faunas. Hominoids persisted for a time in the Tusco-Sardinian Island and in the low latitudes of southwestern Asia. The worldwide spread of grasses between 8 and 7 Ma led to the final extinction of those hominoids. Hominoid evolution continued in eastern and southeastern Africa, in a habitat that strongly resembles that of the Greek-Iranian province.

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-39979-4_33

Full citation: