RT Journal Article
T1 From meat availability to hominin and carnivore biomass: A paleosynecological approach to reconstructing predator-prey biomass ratios in the Pleistocene
A1 Rodríguez-Gómez, Guillermo
A1 Martín-González, Jesús A.
A1 Espigares-Ortiz, María Patrocinio
A1 Bermúdez de Castro, José María
A1 Martínez-Navarro, Bienvenido
A1 Arsuaga, Juan Luis
A1 Palmqvist-Barrena, Carlos Paul
A2 Iurino, David
K1 Evolución humana
K1 Paleoecología --Pleistoceno
AB Reconstructing the conditions and circumstances under which the human lineage evolved is of great interest to those disciplines related to human evolution, especially in fields such as archaeoecology and human paleoecology. A mathematical model was presented almost a decade ago aimed to reconstructing the human populations that the Pleistocene paleoecosystems could support. This model followed a paleosynecological perspective, being focused on: (i) estimating the availability of meat resources in the paleoecosystems, as these resources are vital for human survival; and (ii) measuring the level of competition for these resources among the members of the carnivore guild, including hominins. The model has been applied since then to several Pleistocene localities of Europe, with particular emphasis on the Orce and Sierra de Atapuerca sites. In this study, we use the model for estimating predator-prey biomass ratios and compare the model outputs with the values measured in present-day African ecosystems. The results obtained confirm that our paleosynecological approach provides estimates of predator-prey biomass ratios that are broadly similar to those measured in the extant ecosystems. However, our estimates tend to be slightly higher than expected, which is probably due to the weight of species that satisfy part of their nutritional requirements with resources other than the meat from large herbivores. This allows us to assume that our model performs relatively well, although it has room for methodological improvements.
PB Elsevier
YR 2024
FD 2024
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10630/36279
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10630/36279
LA eng
NO Rodríguez-Gómez, G., Martín-González, J.A., Espigares, M.P., Bermúdez de Castro, J.M., Martínez-Navarro, B., Arsuaga, J.L., Palmqvist, P. From meat availability to hominin and carnivore biomass: A paleosynecological approach to reconstructing predator-prey biomass ratios in the Pleistocene, Quaternary Science Reviews 328,108474 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108474.
NO Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades:Spanish Ministry of Science: Refs.: CGL2016-78577-P,CGL2016-80975-P, PGC2018-093925-B-C31, PGC2018-093925-B-C33,PID2019-111185GB-I00, PID2021-122355NB-C31.Junta de Andalucía: Refs: UMA18-FEDERJA-188, P18-FR-3193Generalitat de Catalunya: Ref.: 2021SGR 01238 (AGAUR))Grupo de investigación RNM-146 de la Junta de Andalucía. Beca Atracción de Talento de la Comunidad de Madrid” (Ref. 2019-T2/HUM-13370)
DS RIUMA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga
RD 13 abr 2026