Ancient Macaque Fossil Reveals Diet and Habitat in 2.5-Million-Year-Old Morocco

After several analyses carried out on the internal and external structure of the fossils, the researchers found that these animals lived in different spaces, wooded or more open, for survival reasons. This information on the feeding ecology of the genus Macaca is also very important for understanding the paleoecology of hominins and their adaptive abilities in changing environments. This is the conclusion reached by researchers Iván Ramírez-Pedraza from IPHES-CERCA and Laura Martínez from UB.

These macaque remains currently being analyzed were discovered during excavations carried out in 2018 and 2019, as part of a collaboration between Spanish and Moroccan researchers. This research has led to the recovery of more than 3,200 vertebrate fragments (amphibians, reptiles and small and large mammals, including elephants, rhinoceroses and hippopotamuses, among others) dating back about 2.5 million years.

The sample studied corresponds to four teeth whose morphology leads to their attribution to the genus Macaca. Based on the size of the teeth, the researchers estimate that it should be macaques weighing around 12 kilos. The same researchers had previously indicated in a previous study that the size and morphology of the teeth were compatible with those of North African species (the Barbary macaque, Macaca sylvanus). But it is the first time that a combined multi-proxy analysis has been carried out on fossil dental remains of the genus Macaca dating back 2.5 million years in Africa.

These techniques have provided information on both the diet and the paleoecological conditions of this primate, from birth to the last months before its death. "We have carried out a very comprehensive study," said Iván Ramírez-Pedraza, recalling that three analyses were carried out on the primate: an isotopic analysis of the teeth, an analysis of dental microwear and an analysis of oral microwear, more specifically of the tooth’s microtexture.