New ruminants (Mammalia) from the Pliocene of Kanapoi, Kenya, and a revision of previous collections, with a note on the Suidae

Denis Geraads (1) , René Bobe (2) , Fredrick Kyalo Manthi (3)

1 CR2P - Centre de recherche sur la Paléobiodiversité et les Paléoenvironnements
2 Department of Anthropology [New York University]
3 NMK - National Museums of Kenya

We describe here new ruminant material and revise previous collections from the Pliocene site of Kanapoi in northwestern Kenya, at c. 4 Ma., leading to substantial changes in the identifications and faunal list. Tragelaphins are the most common bovids; reduncins are quite rare if present; hippotragins are probably represented by a form previously unknown from Kenya; the alcelaphin Damalacra is represented by a new species; and an antilopin is possibly related to Dytikodorcas. We remove the suid Notochoerus cf. euilus from the list. Similarities with the South African site of Langebaanweg are more distant than previously implied, but the Kanapoi ruminant fauna bears no close relationship with other eastern African Pliocene assemblages.

Mots clés: Pliocene; Kanapoi; Bovidae; Suidae; Giraffidae; Africa

Domaines: Paléontologie; Etudes de l'environnement

Denis Geraads, René Bobe, Fredrick Kyalo Manthi. New ruminants (Mammalia) from the Pliocene of Kanapoi, Kenya, and a revision of previous collections, with a note on the Suidae. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 2013, 85, pp.53-61. ⟨10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2013.04.006⟩. ⟨hal-01455164⟩