Mammalian Community Structure Analysis (MCSA) is a widely used paleoecological method for reconstructing environments in fossil sites where apes and hominins are present. However, any fossil assemblage is the result of complex ecological and taphonomic processes that may obscure biological interpretation. In this work, we test the validity of the MCSA for the reconstruction of African rain forest environments through an actualistic approach. For this purpose, we compare the living Mammalian Community Structure of the National Park of Monte Alen (MA) and surrounding areas (Equatorial Guinea, Río Muni) with the one inferred from associations of skeletal remains (ASRs) collected in villages of the area. It was found that in equatorial rain forest contexts, humans are a significant accumulating agent of skeletal remains, in contrast to other accumulating organisms, which are absent. In villages where hunting of wild animals (bushmeat) is regular, a good number of osteological remains from food residues are deposited near the houses. We collected six samples from five villages and treated each of them as “skeletal associations.” We also considered a cumulative deposit composed by the total sample of 3153 skeletal remains. Mammalian Community Structure was estimated using three ecovariables: weight, locomotor adaptation, and diet. Cluster and Correspondence Analysis of the three ecological variables validated the fauna of MA as that of an African tropical forest. Next, the ASRs were compared with the fauna of MA. Some of the localities allowed accurate environmental reconstruction; however, three “skeletal associations” do not provide the minimum amount of data needed for their characterization, ecological biases being evident. The skeletal assemblage that best matches the living reference community is the composite sample. From a paleoecological reconstruction viewpoint, the tropical forest signal is conserved when evaluating percentage relationships between the most diagnostic ecovariables, particularly fruit-eating mammals versus carnivores and arboreal mammals. Taken together, the MCSA is effective in detecting African tropical ecosystems.

中文翻译：

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来自大西洋非洲雨林（赤道几内亚）的丛林肉骨骼废物作为古生态学中哺乳动物群落结构分析的测试

哺乳动物群落结构分析 (MCSA) 是一种广泛使用的古生态学方法，用于重建存在猿和人类的化石遗址中的环境。然而，任何化石组合都是复杂的生态和埋藏过程的结果，可能会掩盖生物学解释。在这项工作中，我们通过实际方法测试了 MCSA 对非洲雨林环境重建的有效性。为此，我们将蒙特阿伦国家公园 (MA) 和周边地区（赤道几内亚，里奥穆尼）的活哺乳动物群落结构与从该地区村庄收集的骨骼遗骸 (ASR) 协会推断出的结构进行比较。发现在赤道雨林环境中，人类是骨骼遗骸的重要积累剂，与其他不存在的累积生物相反。在经常捕猎野生动物（丛林肉）的村庄，大量食物残渣留下的骨骸沉积在房屋附近。我们从五个村庄收集了六个样本，并将每个样本都视为“骨骼关联”。我们还考虑了由 3153 具骨骼遗骸的总样本组成的累积沉积物。使用三个生态变量估计哺乳动物群落结构：体重、运动适应和饮食。三个生态变量的聚类和对应分析验证了 MA 的动物群是非洲热带森林的动物群。接下来，将 ASR 与 MA 的动物群进行比较。一些地方允许进行精确的环境重建；然而，三个“骨骼关联”没有提供表征其特征所需的最少数据量，生态偏差很明显。与活体参考群落最匹配的骨骼组合是复合样本。从古生态重建的角度来看，在评估最具诊断性的生态变量之间的百分比关系时，热带森林信号是保守的，特别是吃水果的哺乳动物与食肉动物和树栖哺乳动物。总之，MCSA 在探测非洲热带生态系统方面是有效的。在评估最具诊断性的生态变量之间的百分比关系时，热带森林信号是保守的，特别是吃水果的哺乳动物与食肉动物和树栖哺乳动物之间。总之，MCSA 在探测非洲热带生态系统方面是有效的。在评估最具诊断性的生态变量之间的百分比关系时，热带森林信号是保守的，特别是吃水果的哺乳动物与食肉动物和树栖哺乳动物之间。总之，MCSA 在探测非洲热带生态系统方面是有效的。