Thriving rodent population in prehistoric Africa could shed
light on human evolutionDecember 22nd, 2010 - 5:35 pm ICT by ANI
Washington, Dec 22 (ANI): Rodents have been one of the most
common mammals in Africa for the past 50 million years. From
deserts to rainforests, they flourished in prehistoric Africa,
making them a stable and plentiful source of food. Now, rodent
fossils are proving useful in shedding light on human evolution.
A new study has pointed out that rodents were diverse and
abundant in prehistoric Africa when our human ancestors evolved.
“Rodents are often known in abundance, and there are many
different kinds from a number of famous hominid and hominoid
localities. Many paleoanthropologists are very interested in the
faunal and ecological context in which our own species evolved,”
said palaeontologist Alisa J. Winkler, an expert on rodent and
rabbit fossils and a research professor at Southern Methodist
University. Rodents - rats, mice, squirrels, porcupines, gerbils
and others - are the larg