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Early Evidence For Complex Social Structure In Proboscidea From A Late Miocene Trackway Site In The United Arab Emirates, Faysal Bibi, Brian Kraatz, Nathan M. Craig, Mark Beech, Mathieu Schuster

Nathan M Craig

Many living vertebrates exhibit complex social structures, evidence for the antiquity of which is limited to rare and exceptional fossil finds. Living elephants possess a characteristic social structure that is sex-segregated and multitiered, centred around a matriarchal family and solitary or loosely associated groups of adult males. Although the fossil record of Proboscidea is extensive, the origin and evolution of social structure in this clade is virtually unknown. Here, we present imagery and analyses of an extensive late Miocene fossil trackway site from the United Arab Emirates. The site of Mleisa 1 preserves exceptionally long trackways of a herd of …