@article {331044,
	title = {Homo erectus adapted to steppe-desert climate extremes one million years ago},
	volume = {6},
	year = {2025},
	month = {2025/01/16},
	pages = {1},
	abstract = {<p>Questions about when early members of the genus Homo adapted to extreme environments like deserts and rainforests have traditionally focused on Homo sapiens. Here, we present multidisciplinary evidence from Engaji Nanyori in Tanzania\&rsquo;s Oldupai Gorge, revealing that Homo erectus thrived in hyperarid landscapes one million years ago. Using biogeochemical analyses, precise chronometric dating, palaeoclimate simulations, biome modeling, fire history reconstructions, palaeobotanical studies, faunal assemblages, and archeological evidence, we reconstruct an environment dominated by semidesert shrubland. Despite these challenges, Homo erectus repeatedly occupied fluvial landscapes, leveraging water sources and ecological focal points to mitigate risk. These findings suggest archaic humans possessed an ecological flexibility previously attributed only to later hominins. This adaptability likely facilitated the expansion of Homo erectus into the arid regions of Africa and Eurasia, redefining their role as ecological generalists thriving in some of the most challenging landscapes of the Middle Pleistocene.</p>
},
	isbn = {2662-4435},
	url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01919-1},
	author = {Mercader, Julio and Akuku, Pamela and Boivin, Nicole and Camacho, Alfredo and Carter, Tristan and Clarke, Siobh{\'a}n and Cueva Temprana, Arturo and Favreau, Julien and Galloway, Jennifer and Hernando, Raquel and Huang, Haiping and Hubbard, Stephen and Kaplan, Jed O. and Larter, Steve and Magohe, Stephen and Mohamed, Abdallah and Mwambwiga, Aloyce and Oladele, Ayoola and Petraglia, Michael and Roberts, Patrick and Saladi{\'e}, Palmira and Shikoni, Abel and Silva, Renzo and Soto, Mar{\'\i}a and Stricklin, Dominica and Mekonnen, Degsew Z. and Zhao, Wenran and Durkin, Paul}
}
