Soil and plant phytoliths from the mosaics at Oldupai Gorge (Tanzania).

This article studies soil and plant phytoliths from the Eastern Serengeti Plains, specifically the mosaics from Oldupai Gorge, Tanzania, as present-day analogue for the environment that was contemporaneous with the emergence of the genus . We investigate whether phytolith assemblages from recent soil surfaces reflect plant community structure and composition with fidelity. The materials included 35 topsoil samples and 29 plant species (20 genera, 15 families).