Byneskranskop - What palaeontology can tell conservationists about species potential
Byneskranskop (BNK1, 34°34’41.88"S 19°28’13.92" E) is an archaeological site consisting of three caves that were excavated between 1973 and 1976 by Franz Schweitzer and M. L. Wilson, and was revealed to have been occupied by humans for the past 12,500 years. It is one of many prominent sites in the region; most notably Die Kelders Cave, the first archaeological site in the area, and Blombos Cave, the site of some of the oldest(*embed url* https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0514-3) forms of human art ever found. What makes Byneskranskop stand out, and of particular interest to conservation, however, is an ungulate species that could make a comeback in the region, if reintroduced: the Roan Antelope.
The original purpose of excavating the BNK1 site was to try and bridge a gap in timelines associated with human occupation between the Middle Stone Age and Late Stone Age, based on
findings at Die Kelders Cave, some 10km southwest of BNK1. Artefacts and remains seemed to vanish between 57,000 B.P.(before present) and 2,000 B.P.
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BNK1 helped fill the gap, with the earliest dates pointing to 13,000 B.P.
Of the findings at BNK1, artifacts included scrapers made of stone, bone, and marine shells; beads made from ostrich shell; elaborate shell pendants, and pottery shards. There were also human remains, as well as bones of 600 individual organisms. These included Mammals, Shellfish, Birds, Reptiles, Plant remains, Fish, and the subject of later study, and our focus today, Hippotragus equinus. The Roan Antelope.
One specimen was found in a layer with carbon dating pointing to ~3000 B.P., which was cited in a later 2012 journal, Palaeontology in Ecology and Conservation. The authors of that journal speculated that the climatic conditions of today would be sufficient to sustain the Roan once again, if reintroduced, since the species was found relatively recently, alongside domesticated sheep.
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Despite the Roan Antelope being disregarded by other researchers in their range maps, as well as the general historical lack of this species roaming freely, the fact that the Roan Antelope was found in
association with domesticated sheep, only thought to have arrived in southern Africa 1900 years ago, tells another story.
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I say "general" lack of historical representation, because as I was researching this article, I found this depiction by Robert Jacob Gordon, dating to 177,8 of a "Bastergemsbok (Hippotragus equinus), cross between a gemsbok and a bloubok...at Plettenbergsbaaij found in the woods...". More on this later.
Back to digging..the other species found in BNK1 in the same layer as H. eguinus were Cape Buffalo and Hartebeest, both included in the range maps of Boschoff and Kerley, and the subject of recent
re-introductory success.
The Cape Buffalo has made a comeback in the Nuwejaars Wetlands Special Management Area in the form of a small herd, with the first calves being born in over 200 years in the area. Since their reintroduction, they have been serving a vital role, as bulk grazers, in clearing waterways and helping the wetlands of the Agulhas plain stay healthy. Eco-tourism has also been a great new source of income to farming communities who have relied on the land for generations, and now serve as custodians of the unique ecosystem that is the Agulhas plain. The success of the Cape Buffalo in Agulhas thus paves the way for more species to be reintroduced.
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Interestingly enough, I came across modern distribution maps of H. eguinus on iNaturalist and found a few pings in South Africa. Although it's unclear whether any of the animals are wild, their presence just further shows their survivability in the area, especially in the southern Cape. I reached out to Herentia Vermeulen from Rooiberg Private Nature Reserve, who has Roan on the land, and she told me that, with the exception of very dry periods when feed is given, the veld sustains the Roan herd throughout the year. Another interesting find is that the taxon ascribed to most of the sightings in southern Africa is that of the Southern Roan Antelope (H. equinus ssp. equinus).
What I have written here in layman's terms was beautifully articulated and further researched by J. Tyler Faith in the paper Conservation Implications of Fossil Roan Antelope (Hippotragus equinus) in Southern Africa’s Cape Floristic Region In this paper, Robert Gordon's 1778 depiction of the "Bastergemsbok" stood as one of the anchoring arguments for The Roan Antelope's southern Cape nativity. I am happy to have independently stumbled upon the same drawing during my research.
The importance of palaeontology and palaeoecology in modern conservation efforts spans much further than single species reintroduction(as wonderful and successful as it has been). As climate change shifts our understanding of ecosystems, being able to look at landscapes through the lens of deep time, back to when similar big shifts were happening, will be an invaluable tool moving forward. What more lies beneath our feet, in caves and cracks of the Earth?
