[4] In 2008, a pelite (a type of sedimentary rock) recovered from the same sediments as Abel was radiometrically dated (using the 10Be/9Be ratio) to have been deposited 3.58 million years ago.

[5] However, Beauvilain responded that Abel was not found in situ but at the edge of a shallow gulley, and it is impossible to figure out from what stratigraphic section the specimen (or any other fossil from Koro Toro) was first deposited in, in order to accurately radiometrically date it.

Koro Toro is situated about 2,500 km (1,600 mi) from the Rift Valley, and the remains suggest australopithecines were widely distributed in grassland and woodland zones across the continent.

The lack of other Central and West African australopithecines may be due to sampling bias, as similarly aged fossil-bearing sediments are more or less unknown beyond East Africa.

In an attempt to resolve this, in 2003, Spanish writer Camilo José Cela Conde and evolutionary biologist Francisco J. Ayala proposed splitting off the genus "Praeanthropus" and including A. bahrelghazali alongside Sahelanthropus (the only other fossil ape known from Chad), A. anamensis, A. afarensis, and A.

[14] However, despite 55–80% of δ13C deriving from C4 sources similar to Paranthropus boisei and the modern gelada (and considerably more than any tested A. afarensis population), A. bahrelghazali lacks the specialisations for such a diet.

[15] Koro Toro has yielded several large mammals, including several antelopes, of which some were endemic, the elephant Loxodonta exoptata, the white rhinoceros Ceratotherium praecox, the pig Kolpochoerus afarensis, a Hipparion horse, a Sivatherium, and a giraffe.

[14] In addition, the area featured aquatic creatures, predominantly catfish, and also 10 other kinds of fish, the hippo Hexaprotodon protamphibius, an otter, a Geochelone tortoise, a Trionyx softshell turtle, a false gharial, and an anatid waterbird.

These aquatic animals indicate Koro Toro had open-water lakes or streams with swampy grassy margins, connected to the Nilo-Sudan waterways (including the Nile, Chari, Niger, Senegal, Volta, and Gambia Rivers).