Editing Australopithecus afarensis (section)

==Palaeoecology==
''A. afarensis'' was extremely adaptable in its environmental preferences.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bedaso |first=Zelalem K. |last2=Wynn |first2=Jonathan G. |last3=Alemseged |first3=Zeresenay |last4=Geraads |first4=Denis |date=January 2013 |title=Dietary and paleoenvironmental reconstruction using stable isotopes of herbivore tooth enamel from middle Pliocene Dikika, Ethiopia: Implication for Australopithecus afarensis habitat and food resources |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248412001649?casa_token=IZ46CjY4Gv8AAAAA:VWmJ3z1bX717bIAJlHufl2DNpPuKu1ySAaKc8Dwy3u4OdVH55zkFZQba8da9w2hG2jv12CmvnYs |journal=[[Journal of Human Evolution]] |language=en |volume=64 |issue=1 |pages=21–38 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.05.015 |access-date=29 November 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }}</ref> It does not appear to have had a preferred environment and it inhabited a wide range of habitats such as open grasslands or woodlands, shrublands, and lake- or riverside forests.<ref name="Behrensmeyer2013">{{cite book |last1=Behrensmeyer |first1=A. K. |title=The Paleobiology of ''Australopithecus'' |last2=Reed |first2=K. E. |author-link2=Kaye Reed |publisher=Springer Science and Business Media |year=2013 |isbn=978-94-007-5919-0 |editor1-last=Reed |editor1-first=K. E. |editor-link=Kaye Reed |pages=53–54 |chapter=Reconstructing the Habitats of Australopithecus: Paleoenvironments, Site Taphonomy, and Faunas |editor2-last=Fleagle |editor2-first=J. G. |editor3-last=Leakey |editor3-first=R. E. |editor3-link=Richard Leakey}}</ref> Likewise, the animal assemblage varied widely from site to site. The Pliocene of East Africa was warm and wet compared to the preceding [[Miocene]], with the [[dry season]] lasting about four months based on floral, faunal, and geological evidence. The extended [[rainy season]] would have made more desirable foods available to hominins for most of the year.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Reed |first1=K. E. |author-link=Kaye Reed |title=Evolution of the Human Diet: The Known, the Unknown, and the Unknowable |last2=Rector |first2=A. L. |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-19-534601-5 |chapter=African Pliocene Palaeoecology}}</ref> During the Late Pliocene around 4–3 million years ago, Africa featured a greater diversity of large carnivores than today, and australopithecines likely fell prey to these dangerous creatures, including [[hyena]]s, ''[[Panthera]]'', [[Acinonyx|cheetah]]s, and the [[saber-toothed cats]]: ''[[Megantereon]]'', ''[[Dinofelis]]'', ''[[Homotherium]]'' and ''[[Machairodus]]''.<ref>{{cite book|first1=D.|last1=Hart|first2=R.|last2=Sussman|year=2011|chapter=The Influence of Predation on Primate and Early Human Evolution: Impetus for Cooperation|title=Origins of Altruism and Cooperation|pages=19–40|publisher=Springer Science and Business Media|doi=10.1007/978-1-4419-9520-9_3|isbn=978-1-4419-9519-3}}</ref> The extinct hyena ''[[Chasmaporthetes]]'' is believed to have eaten ''A. afarensis'', while it was an unlikely prey item for the species ''Crocuta venustula''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Robinson |first1=Joshua R. |last2=Lazagabaster |first2=Ignacio A. |last3=Rowan |first3=John |last4=Lewis |first4=Margaret E. |last5=Werdelin |first5=Lars |last6=Campisano |first6=Christopher J. |last7=Reed |first7=Kaye E. |date=May 2025 |title=Palaeoecology of the Pliocene large carnivore guild at Hadar, Lower Awash Valley, Ethiopia |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248425000065?casa_token=GddfMOel-pEAAAAA:Xy6Ek24opWhwQgCuX3VgpnUihb95cGbp4ozmHykhU0gKaptOMnvw67hgWngZqOhMwZI7RMdkjgc |journal=[[Journal of Human Evolution]] |language=en |volume=202 |pages=103653 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103653 |access-date=10 April 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref>

Australopithecines and early ''Homo'' likely preferred cooler conditions than later ''Homo'', as there are no australopithecine sites that were below {{cvt|1000|m}} in elevation at the time of deposition. This would mean that, like chimpanzees, they often inhabited areas with an average diurnal temperature of {{cvt|25|C}}, dropping to {{cvt|10|or|5|C}} at night.<ref name=David2016>{{cite journal|first1=T.|last1=Dávid-Barrett|first2=R. I. M.|last2=Dunbar|year=2016|title=Bipedality and hair loss in human evolution revisited: The impact of altitude and activity scheduling|journal=Journal of Human Evolution|volume=94|doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.02.006|pmc=4874949|pmid=27178459|pages=72–82|bibcode=2016JHumE..94...72D }}</ref> At Hadar, the average temperature from 3.4 to 2.95 million years ago was about {{cvt|20.2|C}}.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=B.|last1=Raymonde|first2=R.|last2=Potts|first3=F.|last3=Chalie|first4=D.|last4=Jolly|year=2004|title=High-Resolution Vegetation and Climate Change Associated with Pliocene ''Australopithecus afarensis''|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=101|issue=33|pages=12125–12129|doi=10.1073/pnas.0401709101|pmid=15304655|pmc=514445|bibcode=2004PNAS..10112125B|doi-access=free}}</ref>