Community evolution of Neogene micromammals from Langebaanweg ‘E’ Quarry and other west coast fossil sites, south-western Cape, South Africa

This paper provides an overview of the micromammalian palaeocommunities found in fossil bearing palaeontological and archaeological west coast sites dating from the Mio-Pliocene, as represented by the site of Langebaanweg ‘E’ Quarry, and other sites dating from the late Middle Pleistocene, until the late Holocene. Recent excavations at Langebaanweg have resulted in the addition of more murid genera to previously compiled faunal lists. An updated faunal list is presented, and a comparison is made on a generic level between the micromammals from Langebaanweg, and the considerably younger west coast fossil sites of Elands Bay Cave, Steenbokfontein Cave, the Saldanha Bay Yacht Club site and Hoedjiespunt 1, and some modern owl pellet collections. The palaeobiogeographical and palaeoenvironmental significance of the different west coast micromammal communities, and the evolution of the west coast rodent community is examined. Nine of the micromammal genera found at LBW are present in some, or all, of the west coast fossil sites dating from the late Middle Pleistocene until the Holocene. This indicates the endurance of many of the genera present at LBW, and in the Kalahari South West Arid and Namib Regions, from the Mio-Pliocene, up until the present.