Laetoli Locality 3 (Pliocene of Tanzania)

Where: Tanzania (3.2° S, 35.2° E: paleocoordinates 3.4° S, 34.8° E)

• coordinate estimated from map

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Upper Laetolil Beds Formation, Zanclean (5.3 - 3.6 Ma)

• 60-70 cm above Tuff 7; latest Zanclean

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: pond; unlithified, brown, calcareous claystone

• Accumulated in a shallow pond, along with a variety of organic debris. The debris was probably washed into the pond from the surrounding land surface by seasonal runoff or accumulated in a shallow depression that was subsequently flooded and inundated with sediment. It may have been a small waterhole that flooded seasonally. Based on the extent of the exposed sediments the pond was at least 40 m wide.
• A calcareous pale brown clay about 17 cm thick, which is rich in fossil dung, twigs, seeds, and insects

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Preservation: replaced with calcite

Collected by T. Harrison, Laetoli Project in 1998-2005

• Repository: National Museum of Tanzania in Dar es Salaam

Primary reference: F. T. Krell and W. Schawaller. 2011. Beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera). In T. Harrison (ed.), Paleontology and Geology of Laetoli: Human Evolution in Context. Volume 2: Fossil Hominins and the Associated Fauna 535-548 [M. Clapham/M. Clapham]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 129957: authorized by Matthew Clapham, entered by Raghav Sehtia on 03.07.2012, edited by Matthew Clapham

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
Insecta
 Coleoptera - Tenebrionidae
? Arturium sp., ? Tentyriini "indet. B", ? Tentyriini "indet. C", ? Tentyria sp.
? Arturium sp. Koch 1951 darkling beetle
EP 668/04 (Molurini species a)
? Tentyriini "indet. B" Eschscholtz 1831 darkling beetle
EP 351/03
? Tentyriini "indet. C" Eschscholtz 1831 darkling beetle
EP 2777/00
? Tentyria sp. Latreille 1802 darkling beetle
EP 734/05, 1670/00, 669/04 (Tentyriini species a)
 Lepidoptera - Saturniidae
Bunaeini indet.
Bunaeini indet. Packard 1902 moth
EP 352/03 (Bunaeini compared with Cirina fordi)