Vulpes skinneri is a species of extinctfox in thegenusVulpes[1] from the earlyPleistocene, identified based on fossil remains dated to about 2 million years ago.[2] The species is known from a single partial skeleton discovered in theMalapa Fossil Site at theCradle of HumankindWorld Heritage Site inSouth Africa and is associated with the fossilhominin remains ofAustralopithecus sediba.[3] The fossils have been dated to between 1.977 and 1.980 million years ago.[2] Hartstone-Rose and colleagues described the remains as a newly discovered species of fox, which they namedskinneri after the African mammalogist John Skinner.[1]
Matthew Berger displays the fossil he found on the Malapa Nature Reserve
The type specimen ofV. skinneri was discovered during preparation of fossil bearing blocks from Malapa. The find was announced to the public on January 16, 2013.Also found at theMalapa archeological site were a variety of animal fossils, includingsaber-toothed cats, mongooses, and antelopes.[2] Berger and geologist Paul Dirks speculated that the animals might have fallen into a deep, 100–150-foot (30–46 m) "death-trap", perhaps lured by the scent of water.[2] The bodies may have then been swept into a pool of water rich with lime, and with sand at the bottom, making it possible for the remains to become fossilized.
The partial skeleton of the type specimen ofVulpes skinneri
The fossil was dated using a combination ofpalaeomagnetism anduranium-lead (U-Pb) dating which showed that the fossils are not older than ~2.0 Ma. The occurrence of species of animal that became extinct at ~1.5 Ma indicate the deposit is not younger than 1.5 Ma. The sediments have a 'normal' magnetic polarity and the only major period between 2.0 and 1.5 Ma when this occurred is the Olduvai sub-Chron between 1.95 and 1.78 Ma.[2] As such, the fossils were originally dated to ~1.95 Ma. Recent dating of a capping flowstone illustrated this was not possible and the normal magnetic polarity sediments have since been correlated to the 3000-year-long Pre-Olduvai event at ~1.977 Ma.
A scaled picture of the mandible ofVulpes skinneri
Three associated small canid specimens (an M2, a rib and a posterior mandibular fragment including the P4, M1, coronoid, condylar and angular processes) that were originally attributed toVulpes cf.V. chama are reassigned toV. skinneri. In the paper describing the new specimens, the authors argue that “we compare these specimens to a broad sample of modern and fossil foxes and conclude that these specimens are distinct enough to be referred to a new species”[1] of the earlyPleistocene, identified based on fossil remains dated to about 2 million years ago.[2]
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