Sulawesi's southwest peninsula, that part of the province of South Sulawesi on which this paper concentrates, has been subject to intensive archaeological study, so that paucity of research cannot be cited as a reason for the lack of evidence of pre-sapient hominids. Macaques and tarsiers are the two groups of primates endemic to Sulawesi, but of these only one macaque, Macaca maura, has been recorded in South Sulawesi faunal assemblages. However, species introduced to South Sulawesi during the upper Holocene, comprising domesticates and non-domesticates in about equal number, are responsible for up to 20-40% of identifications in the most recent assemblages. The steady proportional decrease in anoa identifications over time is in agreement with the pattern observed in the South Sulawesi lowlands. In summary, the empirical data reviewed here suggest a general model for faunal succession with two extreme expressions.