NEW TAPHONOMIC ANALYSIS OF LARGE-BODIED PRIMATE ASSEMBLAGE FROM COOPER'S D, BLOUBANK VALLEY, SOUTH AFRICA

Cooper's D deposit has an abundant large-bodied papionin assemblage. The assemblage consists of Theropithecus, Papio and Gorgopithecus. In addition, Cooper's D has yielded fossils of the early hominin Paranthropus robustus, which raises the question of how these four large-bodied, mostly terrestrial, primates sympatrically utilised the landscape. The abundance of primate remains found in the Plio-Pleistocene caves of South Africa is often interpreted as evidence of selective predation by felids or hyaenids. Here we present results of a taphonomic analysis of the 1.5–1.4 Ma year old primate assemblage from the Cooper's D locality (Bloubank Valley, South Africa) and a description and identification of associated coprolites. The fossil faeces are attributed to Parahyaena brunnea. A few primate remains, including some specimens of P. robustus, were collected and modified by carnivores, most likely leopards and hyaenas. However, the abundance of juvenile and subadult primates, the geomorphology of the cave and the low impact of carnivore damage on the bones, argue in favour of the occupation of the cave by large-bodied cercopithecids followed by the natural death of some individuals.