Birds and the First Humans

August 26, 2008

The Kibish Formation of the Omo Valley in southwestern Ethiopia was home to the world's first known humans. Over the past few days we've mentioned the fish and mammals that lived at the site 200,000 years ago. Here we'll discuss the birds that likely flew over the heads of some of the planet's first people.

Antoine Louchart in the department of Paleoenvironments and Paleobiosphere at Claude Bernard University in Lyon, France, analyzed fossils found in the Omo region. Although bird fossils are generally quite rare for eastern Africa (scientists aren't sure why), Louchart found bones for the following:

Pink-Backed Pelican

Eastern White Pelican
(Click here for a sweet little video proving that ballet and synchronized swimming aren't human-only activities.)

Oriental Darter

Blue Heron

Guineafowl

Like clues mentioned in a good mystery novel, the presence of these birds, according to Louchart, reveals at least three things about the place where the earliest known humans lived.

1. The terrestrial landscape was not treeless.

2. Freshwater bodies were present.

3. These bodies of water must have been "rather large with abundant fish."

All good news for humans and wildlife. It's enough to make a bird want to dance to a traditional Ethiopian tune. (If you're short on time, click on the 1:40 second or so mark and watch for a very cool head-banging move complete with feather visual.)

Comments

[Human]

South Asia Continent People Analysis
-------------------------------------
Gorah European 1M
Kalah African 1M
Chaptha East Asian 20M
Bhoorha South Asian 1300M
Arabie West Asian 20M
Adiwashi Jungle 50M
Manushay Earth 108M
Total Earth 1500M

North America Continent People Analysis
----------------------------------------
Gorah European 350M
Kalah African 60M
Chaptha East Asian 20M
Bhoorha South Asian 5M
Arabie West Asian 5M
Adiwashi Jungle 50M
Manushay Earth 35M
Total Earth 525M

Manushay or human, are usually people that are mixed, hybrid, interracial or the sort, where we cannot specifically identify their physological identity.

5M mean 5 Million people, 1M means 1 Million people and so on.

[elizabeth]

just awsome

[Jen Viegas]

Thanks, Elizabeth. The overall story about the world's first known humans struck me as one of the more important ones I've covered all year. Glad you found the related animal/bird info.