Fort Ternan (Miocene of Kenya)

Also known as ETE Locality 139, Fort Ternan,

Where: Central Nyanza, Kenya (0.2° S, 35.3° E)

• Paleocoordinates: 4.1° S, 35.0° E (Wright 2013)

When: Fort Ternan "B" Beds Member (Upper Koru Series Formation), Serravallian (13.8 - 11.6 Ma)

• ETE dating method: absolute, ETE age comment: MinBFA - 13.9 +/- 0.03 - stepwised degassing isochron methodMaxBFA - 14.0 +/- 0.02 - total fusion method;both on biotite radiometric intage_min

•bed: Soil #1/ Soil #2

Environment/lithology: terrestrial; siltstone

• ETE sed env 1: volcanic, ETE sed env 2: paleosol ETE event: ., ETE env comment: small-scale channel cuts through paleosols
• ETE rock type adj: tuffaceous, ETE lithology comments: .

Collection methods: quarrying

• ETE Size: both; ETE reference list: 6, ; ETE museum list: KNM

Primary reference: W. W. Bishop, J. A. Miller, and F.J. Fitch. 1969. New Potassium-Argon Age Determinations Relevant to the Miocene Fossil Mammal Sequence in East Africa. American Journal of Science 267:669-699 [A. Behrensmeyer/A. Behrensmeyer/M. Kosnik]more details

Purpose of describing collection: biostratigraphic analysis

PaleoDB collection 21340: authorized by Anna Behrensmeyer, entered by Anna Behrensmeyer on 11.06.1991, edited by Mark Uhen and Graham Slater

Creative Commons license: CC0 (CC0)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
unclassified
  -
Caprotragoides potwaricus, Afrocricetodontidae indet., Propaleoryx sp., Hyainailourinae indet.2
Caprotragoides potwaricus
ETE minimum number of individuals; species: =to Pseudotragus
Afrocricetodontidae indet.
ETE minimum number of individuals; species: afrocricetodontid
Mammalia
 Tubulidentata - Orycteropodidae
Orycteropus sp., Myorycteropus sp.
Orycteropus sp. Geoffroy 1791 aardvark
Myorycteropus sp. MacInnes 1955 aardvark
 Macroscelidea - Myohyracidae
Myohyrax sp.
Myohyrax sp. Andrews 1914 elephant shrew
 Macroscelidea - Macroscelididae
Macroscelididae indet.
Macroscelididae indet. Bonaparte 1838 elephant shrew
ETE minimum number of individuals; species: Macroscelididae
 Macroscelidea - Rhynchocyonidae
cf. Rhynchocyon sp.
cf. Rhynchocyon sp. Peters 1847 elephant shrew
 Proboscidea - Deinotheriidae
Deinotherium sp.
Deinotherium sp. Kaup 1829 deinothere
 Proboscidea - Gomphotheriidae
Gomphotheriidae indet.
Gomphotheriidae indet. Hay 1922 gomphothere
ETE occurrence; species: Gomphotheriidae
 Rodentia -
Diamantomys sp.
Diamantomys sp. Stromer 1922 rodent
 Rodentia - Thryonomyidae
Paraphiomys pigotti
Paraphiomys pigotti Andrews 1914 cane rat
 Rodentia - Bathyergidae
Bathyergidae indet.
Bathyergidae indet. Waterhouse 1841 mole rat
ETE minimum number of individuals; species: Bathygeridae
 Rodentia - Sciuridae
Sciuridae indet.
Sciuridae indet. Gray 1821 squirrel
ETE minimum number of individuals; species: Sciuridae
 Rodentia - Cricetidae
Leakeymys ternani
 Rodentia - Pedetidae
Megapedetes sp.
Megapedetes sp. MacInnes 1957 springhare
 Rodentia - Anomaluridae
Anomaluridae indet.
Anomaluridae indet. Gill 1872 scaly-tailed squirrel
ETE minimum number of individuals; species: Anomaluridae
 Rodentia - Muridae
Myocricetodontinae "indet.-sm.", Myocricetodontinae "indet.-lg."
Myocricetodontinae "indet.-sm." Lavocat 1961 mouse
ETE minimum number of individuals; species: myocricetodontid-sm.
Myocricetodontinae "indet.-lg." Lavocat 1961 mouse
ETE minimum number of individuals; species: myocricetodontid-lg.
 Primates - Lorisidae
Lorisidae indet.
Lorisidae indet. Gray 1821 loris
ETE minimum number of individuals; species: Lorisini
 Primates - Proconsulidae
Proconsul cf. africanus
Proconsul cf. africanus Hopwood 1933 ape
 Primates -
"Proconsul cf. nyanzae" = Ekembo nyanzae
"Proconsul cf. nyanzae" = Ekembo nyanzae Le Gros Clark and Leakey 1950 ape
 Primates - Hominidae
Limnopithecus legetet, "Ramapithecus wickeri" = Sivapithecus
Limnopithecus legetet Hopwood 1933 ape
"Ramapithecus wickeri" = Sivapithecus ape
 Hyaenodonta - Hyainailouridae
Megistotherium osteothlastes
Megistotherium osteothlastes Savage 1973 placental
originally entered as "Megistotherium osteothalastes"
 Hyaenodonta -
Dissopsalis sp., Dissopsalis pyroclasticus2
Dissopsalis sp. Pilgrim 1910 placental
Dissopsalis pyroclasticus2 Savage 1965 placental
 Carnivora - Viverridae
Kanuites lewisae2, cf. Kanuites lewisae2, Viverrinae indet.2, Genetta sp., Tugenictis indet.2
Kanuites lewisae2 Dehghani and Werdelin 2008 civet
cf. Kanuites lewisae2 Dehghani and Werdelin 2008 civet
Viverrinae indet.2 Gray 1821 civet
Genetta sp. Cuvier 1816 civet
Tugenictis indet.2 Morales and Picford 2005 civet
 Carnivora - Nimravidae
"Barbourofelidae indet." = Barbourofelinae2
"Barbourofelidae indet." = Barbourofelinae2 Schultz et al. 1970 false sabre-tooth
 Carnivora - Percrocutidae
Percrocuta sp., Percrocuta tobieni2
Percrocuta sp. Kretzoi 1938 carnivoran
Percrocuta tobieni2 Crusafont-Pairo and Aguirre 1971 carnivoran
 Carnivora - Amphicyonidae
Amphicyonidae "indet.-large", Amphicyonidae "indet.-small", Myacyon peignei2
Amphicyonidae "indet.-large" Trouessart 1885 bear-dog
ETE minimum number of individuals; species: amphicyonid-large
Amphicyonidae "indet.-small" Trouessart 1885 bear-dog
ETE minimum number of individuals; species: amphicyonid-small
Myacyon peignei2 Werdelin 2019 bear-dog
 Artiodactyla - Hippopotamidae
Kenyapotamus ternani n. gen. n. sp.1
Kenyapotamus ternani n. gen. n. sp.1 Pickford 1983 hippopotamus
 Artiodactyla - Suidae
Bunolistriodon kidogosana, Listriodon sp.
Listriodon sp. von Meyer 1846 pig
 Artiodactyla - Tragulidae
"Dorcatherium parvum" = Afrotragulus parvus, Dorcatherium chappuisi
"Dorcatherium parvum" = Afrotragulus parvus Whitworth 1958 chevrotain
Dorcatherium chappuisi Arambourg 1933 chevrotain
 Artiodactyla - Giraffidae
Samotherium africanum, "Palaeotragus primaevus" = Giraffokeryx primaevus
"Palaeotragus primaevus" = Giraffokeryx primaevus Churcher 1970 giraffe
 Artiodactyla - Bovidae
Oioceros tanyceras, Gazella sp., Eotragus sp., "Kipsigicerus labidotus" = Protragocerus labidotus
Gazella sp. Blaineville 1816 gazelle
Eotragus sp. Pilgrim 1939 antelope
"Kipsigicerus labidotus" = Protragocerus labidotus Gentry 1970 antelope
 Artiodactyla -
Walangania africanus
Walangania africanus Whitworth 1958 ruminant
 Perissodactyla - Rhinocerotidae
Paradiceros mukirii
Paradiceros mukirii Hooijer 1968 rhinoceros
 Tribosphenida - Erinaceidae
Amphechinus sp.
Amphechinus sp. Aymard 1850 hedgehog
 Chiroptera -
Chiroptera indet.
Chiroptera indet. Blumenbach 1779 bat
ETE minimum number of individuals; species: Chiroptera
Aves
 Struthioniformes - Struthionidae
Struthio sp.
Struthio sp. Linnaeus 1758 ostrich
 Accipitriformes - Accipitridae
Accipitridae indet.
Accipitridae indet. Viellot 1816 hawk
ETE minimum number of individuals; species: Accipitridae
Reptilia
 Crocodylia - Crocodylidae
Crocodylus sp.
Crocodylus sp. Laurenti 1768 crocodile
 Squamata - Chamaeleonidae
Chameleontidae indet.
Chameleontidae indet. Gray 1825 chameleon
ETE minimum number of individuals; species: Chameleontidae
1Pickford 1983; 2Werdelin 2019