The Fossil Footprints in Samburu Hills, Northern Kenya

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  • ケニア北部, サンブルヒルズ地域から発見された足跡化石について
  • ケニア ホクブ サンブルヒルズ チイキ カラ ハッケン サレタ アシアト カセキ ニ ツイテ

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Abstract

Eighty-three mammalian footprints and 14 bird claw footprints of bird were found in the fossil site (SH-23) in Samburu Hills, northern Kenya. The site was the part of the Namurungule formation and near SH-22 where the Miocene fossil ape named Samburupithecus kiptalami was found. The footprints were left in sand sediments and a thin silt layer covered the sediments. The extent of the sediment face was not large (8×1.5 meter). The study of footprints from the late Miocene period is rare in east Africa, and the footprints in Samburu hills were quite important. The main trackmakers of the footprints were Carnivora, Artiodactyla and Rhinocerotidae. The Namurungule mammalian fauna in Samburu Hills showed a savanna environment. However, the composition of trackmakers in SH-23 was different from the Namurungule fauna. The most popular fossils in Samburu Hills were Hipparion, Equidae, while the footprints of Hipparion were not found in SH-23. There were also no Proboscidea footprints. It seemed that most of the mammals, suer as the trackmakers in SH-23, lived near water. The clawprints of the birds looked like cranes or plovers. These kinds of birds were popular by the waterside. Therefore, SH-23 was characterized as a waterside environment.

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