In my paper, coauthor Bernard Wood and I explore the potential impacts of a spatially limited fossil record on understanding human evolution. We do this using two "thought experiments", focusing on the Eastern African Rift Valley. (1/4)

We take modern mammals that live in the rift for part of their range. We then "blind" ourselves to each species' occurrence outside the rift, and compare the rift to the full ranges. Unsurprisingly, the rift reflects the drier, less woody part of species' ranges. (2/4)