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Research Abstract
The distribution of species as well as geologic, stratigraphic and taphonomic evidence point toward
a complex, mosaic environment during accumulation of the Upper Laetolil Beds. This is inconsistent
with the open savanna-like environmental models previously suggested. Results from the
classification of femoral and metapodial characters place the Laetoli bovids into an array of open
country, light cover, heavy cover habitats indicating that Pliocene Laetoli, was of mosaic-like
environments (localities 8 and 9) characterized by light cover vegetation with galleries of
woodland and open grassland.
This research was funded by the Wenner-Gren Foundation Small Grants (grant #GR 5980), the
Dahlberg Memorial Fund of the University of Chicago, the Hinds Funds of the University of
Chicago, the Travel Grant from the Center for International Studies of the University of
Chicago, and the Exploratory Grant from the National Geographic Society.
The full dissertation text may be obtained from UMI's Online
Dissertation Services at http://www.umi.com/hp/Products/Dissertations.html.
Click here to view Dr. Musiba's dissertation
presentation slides in .pdf format.
Charles Musiba's research efforts were featured in a recent edition of the Argonne
National Laboratory publication Frontiers.Laetoli Pliocene Paleoecology: A reanalysis via morphological and behavioral
approaches
Laetoli, a Pliocene paleoanthropological site in the northern Tanzania, contains abundant fossil
mammalian remains that enhance our understanding of both the environments and the morphological and
behavioral adaptations of early hominids. The presence of Australopithecus afarensis,
footprint impressions and other faunal remains in the Upper Laetolil Beds at Laetoli offer a basis
for modeling past ecological settings that shaped early human ancestry. We are especially
interested in factors that might have contributed to the evolution of upright posture and bipedal
locomotion in humans.About the Author
Charles M. Musiba is a Research Associate with the Center for Environmental Restoration Systems
at Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, and the Field Museum of Natural History,
Chicago, Illinois. He holds a Ph.D. in anthropology with specialization in physical anthropology
from the University of Chicago. His main research interest is in human ecology and evolution,
particularly the evolution of upright posture (bipedal gait) and paleoecology. Currently,
Dr. Charles Musiba is finishing a paleoanthropological survey of the Pliocene Laetoli site in
northern Tanzania, where he is preparing a GIS-based digital map of the site and a first digital
catalog of hominid remains discovered in Tanzania, for educational use only.