Meswa Bridge locality 36 (Oligocene of Kenya)

Where: Kenya (0.1° S, 35.2° E: paleocoordinates 2.6° S, 31.5° E)

• coordinate stated in text

• local area-level geographic resolution

When: Muhroni Agglomerates Formation, Chattian (28.1 - 23.0 Ma)

• Pickford and Andrews provide radiometric dates for the Muhoroni Agglomerate: 23.5 and 23.6 Ma which they say is Miocene. Harland et al. 1989 place those ages in the late Oligocene.

Environment/lithology: "channel"; massive, volcaniclastic, yellow, calcareous sandstone

• Sediment source from volcanic activity close to a vent above base level, likely from the initial throat-widening phases of the vent
• Muhoroni Agglomerates are volcanic deposits near a vent above base level. Contemporary channel filled with unbedded partly calcified sandstone.

•"The Muhoroni Agglomerates are fine to coarse pyroclastic sands with gneissic cobbles and boulders up to 1 m in size, into which ephemeral channels were cut... The deposits range from off-white to yellow and pale brown, and they are at least 10 m in thickness and weakly bedded... Fossil root casts, leaves, and wood are common in the sediments, but vertebrate remains are rare... The channel [yielding the fossils] was filled with unbedded, partially calcified sandstone..." (Harrison and Andrews 2009)

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Collected by M. Pickford, P. Andrews, T. Harrison in 1978 - 1980

Collection methods: quarrying,

Primary reference: M. Pickford and P. Andrews. 1981. The Tinderet Miocene sequence in Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 10:11-33 [J. Alroy/J. Wertheim/J. Wertheim]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 27855: authorized by John Alroy, entered by Jill Wertheim on 14.01.2003, edited by John Alroy

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• wood and leaves also mentioned
Gastropoda
  -
Gastropoda indet. Cuvier 1795 snail
 Architaenioglossa - Maizaniidae
Maizania sp. Bourguignat 1889 snail
Aves
  -
Aves indet. Linnaeus 1758 bird
Mammalia
 Insectivora -
Insectivora indet. Bowdich 1821 insectivoran
 Tubulidentata - Orycteropodidae
Orycteropus sp. Geoffroy 1791 aardvark
 Macroscelidea - Rhynchocyonidae
Rhynchocyon sp. Peters 1847 elephant shrew
 Proboscidea - Proboscidea
Proboscidea indet. proboscidean
 Proboscidea - Mammutidae
Zygolophodon sp. Vacek 1877 mastodon
 Placentalia -
Creodonta indet. Cope 1875 creodont
 Creodonta -
Teratodon sp. Savage 1965 creodont
 Placentalia -
Carnivora indet. Bowdich 1821 carnivoran
 Artiodactyla - Anthracotheriidae
Anthracotheriidae indet. Leidy 1869 anthracothere
 Placentalia -
Rodentia indet. Bowdich 1821 rodent
 Rodentia - Bathyergidae
Bathyergoides sp. Stromer 1923 mole rat
 Rodentia - Thryonomyidae
Paraphiomys sp. Andrews 1914 cane rat
 Rodentia - Anomaluridae
Paranomalurus sp. Lavocat 1973 scaly-tailed squirrel
 Rodentia - Pedetidae
Pedetidae indet. Gray 1825 springhare
Megapedetes sp. MacInnes 1957 springhare
 Primates - Proconsulidae
Proconsul meswae n. sp. Harrison and Andrews 2009 ape