Beticha (Miocene of Ethiopia)

Where: Oromīya, Ethiopia (8.9° N, 40.3° E: paleocoordinates 8.4° N, 39.3° E)

• coordinate stated in text

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Chorora Formation, MN 9 (11.1 - 9.7 Ma)

• "underlain by a conspicuous rhyolitic ignimbrite, previously dated to 10.7 ± 0.2 (20) or 11.0 ± 0.45 (17) by the K-Ar method" and "overlain by resistant pyroclastic flow deposits dated by the K-Ar method to 10.10 ± 0.30 Ma" (= MN 9)

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: marine; poorly lithified, paleosol/pedogenic, concretionary, silty, sandy conglomerate

• "sediments [were] formed by a braided river system with intermittent palaeosol formation"
• "silty to sandy conglomerate beds, including paleosol horizons with root casts and calcite concretions"

Size class: macrofossils

Collected in 2005 - 2007

Collection methods: surface (float)

• "fossils are scarce, with fragmentary and rarely identifiable fossils inconspicuously scattered on the surface"

Primary reference: G. Suwa, R. T. Kono, S. Katoh, B. Asfaw, and Y. Beyene. 2007. A new species of great ape from the late Miocene epoch in Ethiopia. Nature 448:921-924 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 92148: authorized by John Alroy, entered by John Alroy on 02.11.2009, edited by Mark Uhen

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Mammalia
 Primates - Cercopithecidae
Cercopithecidae indet. Gray 1821 monkey
 Primates -
Chororapithecus abyssinicus n. gen. n. sp. Suwa et al. 2007 ape
 Perissodactyla - Rhinocerotidae
Rhinocerotidae indet. Gray 1821 rhinoceros
 Perissodactyla - Equidae
"Hipparion" sp. de Christol 1832 hipparionine horse
 Artiodactyla - Suidae
Suidae indet. Gray 1821 pig
 Artiodactyla - Hippopotamidae
Hippopotamidae indet. Gray 1821 hippopotamus
Chororatherium roobii n. gen. n. sp. Boisserie et al. 2003 hippopotamus
cf. Chororatherium roobii Boisserie et al. 2003 hippopotamus
cf. Kenyapotamus sp. Pickford 1983 hippopotamus
 Artiodactyla - Bovidae
Bovidae indet. Gray 1821 antelope
"small-sized"
 Artiodactyla - Giraffidae
cf. Palaeotragus sp. Gaudry 1861 giraffe
 Placentalia -
Carnivora indet. Bowdich 1821 carnivoran
 Proboscidea - Elephantidae
cf. Elephantidae indet. Gray 1821 elephant