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17 Paleoecology: An Adequate Window on the Past?

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Handbook of Paleoanthropology

Abstract

Starting from Ernst Haeckel's famous definition of ecology, our review considers the premises and the meaning of paleoecological research. Unlike current ecology, paleoecology has to pay more attention when dealing with “facts”: the concept of uniformitarianism is presented and demonstrates the importance of philosophical constructs for scientific work. The middle-range theory attempts to filter out false conclusions. Abiotic factors have had a strong influence on adaptive evolution; volcanism, tectonism, and climate are exemplified. Subsequently we discuss the biotic viewpoint with regard to aspects of fossil findings and in this context taphonomy, stratigraphic research, and interactions between floral and faunal environment. In a synthesis, we present three cross sections in human evolution in different time horizons (early–middle–late) to exemplify the multidisciplinarity of paleoecology and present some key events that probably altered the direction of radiations among hominids. Obviously, human evolution is not a special kind of evolution; it follows strictly the rules of evolutionary biology and hence depends undoubtedly on environmental influences.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “Unter Oecologie verstehen wir die gesamte Wissenschaft von den Beziehungen des Organismus zur umgebenden Aussenwelt, wohin wir im weiteren Sinne alle Existenz-Bedingungen rechnen können. Diese sind theils organischer, theils anorganischer Natur; sowohl diese als jene sind ... von grösster Bedeutung für die Form der Organismen, weil sie dieselbe zwingen, sich ihnen anzupassen. Zu den anorganischen Existenz-Bedingungen, welchen sich jeder Organismus anpassen muss, gehören zunächst die physikalischen und chemischen Eigenschaften seines Wohnortes, das Klima (Licht, Wärme, Feuchtigkeits- und Electricitäts-Verhältnisse der Atmosphäre), die anorganischen Nahrungsmittel, Beschaffenheit des Wassers und des Bodens etc. Als organische Existenz-Bedingungen betrachten wir die sämmtlichen Verhältnisse des Organismus zu allen übrigen Organismen, mit denen er in Berührung kommt, und von denen die meisten entweder zu seinem Nutzen oder zu seinem Schaden beitragen. Jeder Organismus hat unter den übrigen Freunde und Feinde, solche, welche seine Existenz begünstigen und solche, welche sie beeinträchtigen. Die Organismen, welche als organische Nahrungsmittel für Andere dienen, oder welche als Parasiten auf ihnen leben, gehören ebenfalls in diese Kategorie der organischen Existenz-Bedingungen” (Haeckel 1866 p 286).

  2. 2.

    “Nur durch Zusammenfassung aller Geo-Wissenschaften dürfen wir hoffen, die ‘Wahrheit’ zu ermitteln, d.h. dasjenige Bild zu finden, das die Gesamtheit der bekannten Tatsachen in der besten Ordnung darstellt und deshalb den Anspruch auf größte Wahrscheinlichkeit hat; und auch dann müssen wir ständig darauf gefasst sein, dass jede neue Entdeckung, aus welcher Wissenschaft immer sie hervorgehen möge, das Ergebnis modifizieren kann.” (Wegener 2005 p 222)

  3. 3.

    Facies: the sum of all primary rock characteristics; incorporates inorganic (lithofacies) and organic (biofacies) elements.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to Ian Tattersall and Winfried Henke, first for inviting us to contribute to their extraordinary compendium, second for encouragement, and last but not least for proofreading; Hartmut Rothe for initiating the conception of this Handbook; Holger Herlyn and Uwe Hoβfeld for useful ideas on literature and citation.

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  1. Thorolf Hardt
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  2. Britta Hardt
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  3. Peter R. Menke
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Hardt, T., Hardt, B., Menke, P.R. (2007). 17 Paleoecology: An Adequate Window on the Past?. In: Handbook of Paleoanthropology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-33761-4_17

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