A new species of bull from the Early Pleistocene paleoanthropological site of Buia (Eritrea): Parallelism on the dispersal of the genus Bos and the Acheulian culture

The origin of the genus Bos is a debated issue. It has traditionally been linked with that of the genera Leptobos and Bison, two Eurasian forms. The oldest record of Bos, B. primigenius, in Eurasia is at Venosa-Notarchirico, Italy (similar to 0.5 to 0.6 Ma). However, the oldest published evidence of modern Bos is a skull fragment from Asbole, Lower Awash Valley, Ethiopia (similar to 0.6 to 0.8 Ma). This paper describes a new species, Bos buiaensis, from Buia, Eritrea (1.0 Ma). B. buiaensis shows a combination of primitive characters of the African Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene form Pelorovis sensu strict and derived characters of B. primigenius. This new finding demonstrates that Bos has been part of the human ecological landscape since the beginning of the genus Homo in the African Late Pliocene. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.