TY - JOUR
T1 - Systematics and biogeography of middle Miocene rodents from the Muruyur Beds, Baringo District, Kenya
AU - Winkler, A. J.
N1 - Funding Information:
Financial support for this study was generously provided by the Institute for the Study of Earth and Man at Southern Methodist University, and by Sigma Xi. Collection Study Grants were courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., and the American Museum of Natural History, New York. I am grateful to the government of Kenya, and to Richard Leakey (former Director of the National Museums of Kenya) and staff(in particular Kiptalam Cheboi) at the National Museums of Kenya, for permission and assistance in working in their beautiful country. This paper benefited from discussions on African mammals and Kipsaramon stratigraphy/paleoecology with Larry flynn, Louis Jacobs, John Barry, and Andrew Hill. I thank Louis Jacobs, Larry flynn, and Everett Lindsay for their comments on the manuscript. This research was in partial fulfillment for a Doctorate in Philosophy in Geology at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, under the supervision of Louis Jacobs.
Copyright:
Copyright 2016 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 1992/6/10
Y1 - 1992/6/10
N2 - Preliminary excavations in western Kenya from the middle Miocene Muruyur Beds, in particular from the Kipsaramon site complex (15.5 Ma), are yielding a diverse rodent fauna from a poorly documented period of African prehistory. Seven families (?sciurids, pedetids, anomalurids, thryonomyids, diamantomyids, myophiomyids, and cricetodontids) are represented. Thryonomyoids are dominant; cricetids and murids of modern aspect are currently unknown. The fauna includes a mixture of primitive early Miocene taxa (e.g., Diamantomys and Notocricetodon) and also more derived taxa (i.e., Thryonomyidae genus and species large). A new small anomalurid, Anomalurus parvus, sp. nov., is reported. Faunal composition and the distribution of rodent taxa from the Muruyur Beds show similarities with early and middle Miocene sites in East Africa, Namibia, and Saudi Arabia. Comparison of early and middle Miocene African rodent faunas suggests a period of relative faunal stability among rodent taxa during this time.
AB - Preliminary excavations in western Kenya from the middle Miocene Muruyur Beds, in particular from the Kipsaramon site complex (15.5 Ma), are yielding a diverse rodent fauna from a poorly documented period of African prehistory. Seven families (?sciurids, pedetids, anomalurids, thryonomyids, diamantomyids, myophiomyids, and cricetodontids) are represented. Thryonomyoids are dominant; cricetids and murids of modern aspect are currently unknown. The fauna includes a mixture of primitive early Miocene taxa (e.g., Diamantomys and Notocricetodon) and also more derived taxa (i.e., Thryonomyidae genus and species large). A new small anomalurid, Anomalurus parvus, sp. nov., is reported. Faunal composition and the distribution of rodent taxa from the Muruyur Beds show similarities with early and middle Miocene sites in East Africa, Namibia, and Saudi Arabia. Comparison of early and middle Miocene African rodent faunas suggests a period of relative faunal stability among rodent taxa during this time.
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U2 - 10.1080/02724634.1992.10011453
DO - 10.1080/02724634.1992.10011453
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0027071116
SN - 0272-4634
VL - 12
SP - 236
EP - 249
JO - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
JF - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
IS - 2
ER -