Turkana
Basin
Paleo Community
The Turkana Basin Paleo Community is an effort to facilitate
communication among researchers interested in the Neogene record of the
Turkana Basin. Postings include news from the field and lab,
recent presentations and publications, and contact information.
News
Turkana Basin
Institute
As reported in Science on 3
March: "Famous fossil hunters Richard and Meave Leakey have
joined forces with
Stony Brook University in New York to build a research institute in the
remote desert of Lake Turkana in northern Kenya. The Leakeys and
their colleagues have unearthed a stunning series of fossils of early
human ancestors at the lake over the past 40 years. Now they aim to set
up a modern facility comprising at least two year-round field stations
that will serve as a staging ground for fieldwork in the vast badlands
around the lake, where fossils date as far back as 65 million years.
With a permanent institute, “we could triple the amount of time spent
in the field and establish an international educational outreach
program through satellite links,” says Richard Leakey, a visiting
professor of anthropology at Stony Brook since 2002. Another goal is to
train and hire African postdoctoral researchers and graduate students.
Leakey has raised $1.5 million toward a $20 million goal from three
wealthy donors, including Mexican telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim.
The university has pledged so far to hire two new faculty members."
Turkana Malacology
Workshop
On 16-17 February, nine malacologists –in the broad sense- met in
Amsterdam to discuss systematics, evolution and
paleoenvironmental/paleoclimatological significance of the fossil
molluscs in the Turkana Basin. The workshop was organised by Jose
Joordens and Hubert Vonhof (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) and
participants included Craig Feibel (Rutgers University), Matthias
Glaubrecht (Humboldt University Berlin), Dirk van Damme (Ghent
University), Frank Wesselingh (National Museum of Natural History,
Leiden), Bert van Bocxlaer (Ghent University), Henning Scholz (Humboldt
University Berlin), and as observer Stephen Munro (Australian National
University). The participants presented an overview of their relevant
research, followed by an outlook to plans for upcoming research on
molluscs in the Turkana Basin. It quickly became evident that the
different experiences and approaches meshed together very well, so that
a range of information will be gathered from these molluscan
assemblages. The joint research effort -which starts this summer
with a fieldwork campaign in the Turkana Basin- will cover taxonomy and
morphological change over time (ecophenotypy / polymorphism /
speciation); oxygen and strontium isotopes as proxy for climate,
seasonality and hydrology; taphonomy and community ecology of
assemblages; relation to cyclicity on orbital timescales, and
comparison with molluscan evolution in paleolakes Albert and Malawi. We
thank the Netherlands Research School of Sedimentary Geology (NSG) who kindly sponsored a
pleasant social evening with canal cruise and Surinam dinner!
Workshop Participants (front row)
Matthias Glaubrecht, Henning Scholz, Frank Wesselingh; (back row)
Bert van Bocxlaer, Jose Joordens, Craig Feibel, Hubert Vonhof, Stephen
Munro; (not pictured) Dirk VanDamme
Congratulations!
Sonia Harmand successfully defended her dissertation "Matières
premières
lithiques et comportements techno-économiques des
homininés
Plio-Pléistocenes du Turkana Occidental, Kenya" under the
direction of
Hélène Roche on 16 December in Paris.
Congratulations!
Rhonda Quinn successfully defended her dissertation "Stable isotopic
evidence for
Plio-Pleistocene hominin paleoenvironments of the Koobi Fora Formation,
Turkana Basin, northern Kenya" under the
direction of Craig Feibel on 19 December in New Brunswick.
Workshop on Climate and Hominin
Evolution, November 2005
A four-day workshop, sponsored by NSF and DOSECC, was held at the
Smithsonian Institution's research station in Front Royal, VA, on
17 - 20 November. Researchers involved in the Turkana Basin
were well represented among the 41 participants. Craig Feibel and
Kay Behrensmeyer were among the co-conveners of the workshop, which
focused on the integration of environmental records from outcrops and
drilling targets, with evidence from the marine realm, terrestrial
communities, and hominin evolution. Othere familiar faces
among the participants were René Bobe, Chris Campisano, Thure
Cerling, Peter deMenocal, Sarah Feakins, Chris
Lepre, Naomi Levin, Rhonda Quinn, and old hands from the Turkana
limnology community Tom Johnson and Andy Cohen.
More details on the workshop can be found at www.geo.arizona.edu/web/HumanEvolutionWorkshop/index.htm
EOS published a report on the workshop in its 18 April 2006 edition (pdf)
From the Field
Koobi Fora
Geology, Paleoclimate and Environment 2006
In the summer of 2006, an international team settled at Koobi For a to
study geology, paleoclimate and paleoenvironment at the Koobi Fora
ridge deposits. The team consisted of Craig Feibel, Rhonda Quinn, Chris
Lepre (all Rutgers University); Kamoya Kimeu; Jose Joordens,
Hubert Vonhof, Jeroen van der Lubbe (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam); and
Henning Scholz (Humboldt University Berlin). In the last week of their
stay they were joined by Dick Kroon, Bert Boekschoten (VUA), Matthias
Glaubrecht (HU-Berlin) and Anne Schulp (science journalist/mosasaur
specialist), and overlapped with Fred Spoor and his team. All together,
this made for a very lively camp and lots of interesting discussions.
Jose Joordens, Hubert Vonhof (Jose’s supervisor) and van der Lubbe
(Hubert’s Msc student) focussed their activities on the upper Burgi and
KBS Members in Area 102. With the invaluable help of the Rutgers team,
they could systematically describe and sample almost 200 m of
stratigraphic column at 0.5 m intervals, from the Unconformity up to
Marker Bed C6. The sediment samples are now being analyzed for grain
size and bulk O and Sr isotope ratios of carbonates and/or apatites
washed from the sample. It is expected that these data will provide
information on temporal changes of the magnitude of the Omo River
input and thus of the intensity of the monsoon in the Ethiopean
Highlands. Also, the data will give an indication of local paleoclimate
and seasonality in the Turkana Basin in the time period around ca.
2-1.7 Ma. Within this precise stratigraphic framework in Area 102,
mollusc experts Henning Scholz and Matthias Glaubrecht systematically
sampled every shell layer and thus obtained a very well constrained
shell collection wich can be compared taxonomically and isotopically
with the shell collection previously assembled by the late Peter
Williamson. As announced in the report of the Malacology Workshop
(Amsterdam, March 2006), there is an enormous amount of work to be done
on taxonomy, taphonomy and paleoecology of the Turkana Basin shells.
This is now being tackled by the Berlin team (se next item) in close
co-operation with
Bert van Bocxlaer and Dirk van Damme (U. Ghent) and Frank Wesselingh
(Naturalis, Leiden).
Koobi
Fora Malacology 2006
Between
July 17 and August 17 2006 H. Scholz and M. Glaubrecht from the Museum
für Naturkunde, Berlin, were in Kenya for a first visit of the
mollusc collection in the National Museum of Kenya in Nairobi and the
Koobi Fora Formation east of Lake Turkana. Several localities and
sections were visited and some samples were taken. It is obvious that
shells are concentrated in lateral continuous shell beds that are
marker beds in the Koobi Fora Formation. Shell preservation in these
shell beds is remarkably high and diversity is high too. However,
shells are also present between these marker beds. Lateral extension,
shell abundance, diversity, and preservation of shells are highly
variable in these intercalated shell beds or shell patches. It is also
obvious that diversity and disparity pattern are changing through time.
However, more quantitative samples, taphonomic analyses and
morphometric analyses are necessary to study the diversity and
disparity changes of molluscs in the Koobi Fora Formation in
detail.
Eventually, the combined evaluation
of these data and the paleoclimatological data of J. Joordens may help
to better understand the evolution of hominins in that area.
Koobi Fora
Research Project 2005
The Koobi Fora Research Project (KFRP) carried out
field research for three months between June 1st and September 1st.
This was a continuation of the ongoing re-survey of the fossil sites on
the eastern shores of the lake that were originally worked in the 70s
and 80s. A short field season in the year 2000 showed that through slow
careful survey, many fossils remained to be found, including additional
hominins. Subsequent field surveys have focused on sites south of Koobi
Fora, along the Koobi Fora Ridge and at Ileret north and south of the
Il Eriet River. The 2005 field work concentrated on Areas 40 and 41 at
Ileret and Areas 102, 100 and 104 along the Koobi Fora Ridge. Because
the use of digital images and GPS coordinates make it possible to
obtain detailed documentation for each fossil specimen discovered, few
specimens are currently collected. The majority are left in the field
as a reference for future research. With increasing understanding of
the relationship of small scale changes in the stratigraphy, to
climatic oscillations, future palaeontological research will need the
surface record to investigate the detailed relationships of the faunal
assemblages to the stratigraphy. The documentation being compiled by
the KFRP will be an invaluable resource in relocating these fossils in
order to relate specific details of the fauna and the stratigraphy.
For part of the field season, Craig Feibel overlapped with us at Koobi
Fora, together with his two PhD students, Rhonda Quinn and Chris
Lepre. This gave us the opportunity to discuss our common
interests and the potential of our respective research projects.
(contributed by MGL)
Koobi Fora
Geology 2005
Work on the environmental context of
the upper Burgi
through Okote Member interval at Koobi Fora continued in the summer of
2005. Rhonda Quinn and Chris Lepre (Rutgers) pursued their
research into the
depositional setting of the Area 1A fossil assemblages at Ileret.
Their
depositional model for this area focuses on crevasse
splay elements
beautifully
developed in this sequence. Additional carbonate samples for
isotopic study, as well as tephra for correlation and dating, were
collected.
Later in the summer, Craig Feibel and Kamoya Kimeu
joined them for continued work in the lake margin sequence along the
Koobi Fora Ridge. Overlapping with Louise and Meave Leakey, and
Fred Spoor, the team enjoyed an extremely productive season.
Lepre's synthesis of the Plio-Pleistocene
boundary context has been submmitted to the Special Issue of JHE
being edited by Beth Christensen and Mark Maslin, along with a paper by
Quinn on the isotopic variability of paleosols across Koobi Fora
paleolandscape. (contributed by CSF)
Photos from the field: 1) KBS Member paleosol in Area 102 (jpg); 2)
stromatolites of Unit A4 in Area 107 (jpg); 3)
fluvial couplet in KBS Member at Kitivi's Corner, Area 104 (jpg). (Photos courtesy of CJL)
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Researchers
Currently active field and lab researchers, arranged by affiliation are
listed below:
National Museums of Kenya,
Nairobi
Meave Leakey
Research Associate
My research investigates the distribution of faunal assemblages from
the Turkana Basin with particular interest in the monkeys and hominins.
I have carried out annual field work in the Turkana Basin since 1968
with the Koobi Fora Research Project (KFRP) and I have seen the data
documentation change from rather primitive manual handwritten records
to the current fully computerized field documentation. The KFRP is
currently concentrating on compiling all the palaeontology field
records from the past 35 years into a fully digitized database which
includes geo-referenced aerial photographs, geological maps and faunal
collections. With GIS software, it will soon be possible to analyse the
distribution of these faunas both temporally and laterally across
landscapes. As the stratigraphic understanding becomes increasingly
detailed, these analyses will become more sensitive to smaller scale
variations.
I am also currently working with Nina Jablonski in compiling the sixth
volume of the Koobi Fora Research Project monographs which will include
descriptions of the East Turkana cercopithecid collections and an
analysis of their distribution. In addition, I am working with Fred
Spoor, Susan Anton and Louise Leakey on the description and analysis of
the Homo erectus cranium
discovered at Ileret in 2000. This manuscript should be completed early
next year and will be published together with descriptions of the
geological context and of additional hominins recovered in recent field
seasons.
Frederick Manthi
Research Scientist
Department of Anthropology, SUNY
Stony Brook
Louise Leakey
Adjunct Assistant Professor
My interest in the Turkana Basin centers on continued Palaeontological
survey, collection and analysis with the Koobi Fora Research Project
and the National Geographic Society. We continue to run annual
expeditions during which systematic resurvey of the areas to the East
and west of the lake, using GPS and digital imagery to mark new and
previous specimens in the collections. With the improved stratigraphic
resolution, attention to depositional environments and the more
accurate placing of specimens digitally using GIS techniques allows for
faunal associations to be explored more meaningfully with respect to
climate change.
In addition my interests are in the long term protection and
preservation of the sites and working with the local communities in
trying to address the issue of increasing livestock damage to fossil
sites. Insecurity is also on the increase and is also of concern to
students, fieldworkers and scientists working in the region. The Kenya
Wildlife Service and National Museums of Kenya have limited resources
to put into the National Park for site protection and the increasing
damage to fossil areas is a serious issue. Funding, awareness and
community projects are therefore important in the long term management
and protection of the area.
Louise Leakey, Ph.D. 2001. University College London, UK. Body weight
estimation of Bovidae and Plio-Pleistocene faunal change, Turkana
Basin, Kenya.
Center for the Study of Human Origins
Department of Anthropology New York University
Susan C. Antón
Associate Professor
http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/anthro/programs/csho/anton.html
My research focusses on the evolution and dispersal of early
Homo. I am working with Meave and Louise Leakey and Fred Spoor on
the description and comparison of the 2000 skull from Ileret.
Clarifying the relationships amongst early Homo specimens, most of
which are from the Turkana Basin, their biological adaptations and
adaptive strategies has become a question of fundamental interest.
Lamont-Doherty Earth
Observatory, Columbia University
Sarah Feakins PhD
I use a range of geochemical techniques to reconstruct East African
environments principally from deep sea sediments, with some exploratory
work comparing marine and terrestrial records of vegetation change.
Recently published work using the carbon isotopic composition of leaf
wax biomarkers preserved in deep sea sediments indicates C4 expansion
during the past 4 Ma as well as significant vegetation variability as
early as
3.8 Ma.
Feakins, S.J., deMenocal, P,B. Eglinton, T.I, (2005) Biomarker Records
of Late Neogene changes in northeast African Vegetation, Geology, 33,
977-980.
Isotopic analyses of biomarkers also offer many potential applications
in terrestrial sedimentary sequences. Initial work to compare biomarker
records from terrestrial sediments East of Lake Turkana to the marine
sedimentary record has focused on the Lokochot Lake interval, below the
B Tulu Bor, ca. 3.4 Ma.
Future research aims to extend the terrestrial applications of stable
isotope biomarkers to reconstruct paleovegetation and aridity in the
East African Rift Valley.
Department of Paleoclimatology &
Geomorphology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
Josephine C.A. Joordens PhD Candidate
After a reconnaissance trip to Koobi Fora in 2004, I have been
concentrating on laboratory analyses of materials from the Lorenyang
Lake (upper Burgi Member) at Koobi Fora, including samples I collected
in the field and material from the Peter Williamson collection of
molluscs housed at Harvard University. Analyses of stable
isotopes (O & C) are beginning to flesh out the limnological
history of the Lorenyang Lake phase, at both long-term and seasonal
time scales. Additional isotopic dating work is being undertaken
in conjunction with Jan Wijbrans (VU Amsterdam), and morphological
analyses
of molluscs with Matthias Glaubrecht (Berlin) and Dirk van Damme (Gent).
The next field season at Koobi Fora (summer 2006) will intensively
sample both fauna and sediments of the Lorenyang Lake for additional
biotic and geochemical tracers of this interesting stage in Turkana
Basin history.
Department of Geology and Soil Sciences, Ghent University
Bert Van Bocxlaer
PhD candidate
I am a biologist, specialised on lacustrine systems. My main research
interests are palaeobiology and evolution of the freshwater malacofauna
of the Great African Rift lakes. My PhD-study focuses on the fossil
records of the
lacustrine malacofaunas that lived and evolved during the last 7 to 5
million years in the Turkana, the Malawi and the Albertine basin.
For further information on my research:
http://www.paleo.ugent.be/bert_van_bocxlaer.php
PACEA -
Quaternary Geology and Prehistory Institute, Bordeaux 1 University
Arnaud Lenoble
PhD
I have defended my doctoral dissertation in 2003. This work dealt with
the role of natural processes, especially run-off, in prehistoric site
formation. A set of experiments was conducted and the link with
lithofacies established. Experimentally-derived criteria were
identified and applied to sites from southwest France and South Africa.
Lenoble A., 2005. – Ruissellement et formation des sites
préhistoriques : référentiel actualiste et
exemples d’application au fossile. Oxford : British Archaeological
Report International Series, n° 1363., 2005, 212 p.
Lenoble, A. , Tiercelin, J.-J., and Delagnes, A. 2005.
Argiliturbation and Site Formation Processes in East Africa: the case
of Nadung'a 4. (pdf)
At present, I extend my work to other sedimentary environments:
periglacial slope processes at open air and rockshelter sites in
Southwest France, bioturbation control on the formation of middle
Pleistocene sites in South-East Asian Caves.
I joined the West Turkana Archaeological Project run by H. Roche in
2003. My interest was to study the impact of argilliturbation, well
expressed in the case of sites included in vertisol. In the upcoming
years, I would like to develop a comparative study of site formation
process for fluvio-lacustrine plio-pleistocene sites of the Nachukui
formation.
Department of Geology &
Geophysics, University of Utah
Naomi Levin PhD
candidate
I use stable isotopic methods to understand paleoenvironmental change
in East Africa since the late Miocene with a specific interest in the 18O
record. Although I have primarily worked in the lower Awash Basin
(Gona Project) in Ethiopia, I have recently worked in the Turkana
Basin, collecting soil carbonates from the Shungura Formation for an
isotopic study. The preliminary results of this study indicate a
C3 dominated ecosystem on the floodplain of the proto-Omo River between
3 and 2 Ma. I plan to expand the soil carbonate isotopic record
from Shungura to include samples that cover a longer time interval and
a larger spatial range. With further development of the Shungura
isotopic record, I would like to link it to the growing isotopic
records from the Turkana Basin and elsewhere in East Africa.
In addition to my research in fossil settings, I have been expanding
the isotopic datasets from modern East African environments with the
aim of using them as analogs for the isotopic systems of past
environments.
Levin, NE, TE Cerling, and FH Brown. 2005. A paleosol carbonate record
from the Shungura Formation, Ethiopia. Geological Society of America
Bulletin Abstracts with Programs 37(7): 363.
Paleoenvironmental Research
Laboratory, Rutgers University
Craig S.
Feibel Associate Professor
I am a stratigrapher and sedimentologist, interested primarily in the
reconstruction of ancient environments and in their influence on
evolutionary processes. I've worked in the Turkana Basin since
1981, initially at Koobi Fora, but also West Turkana, Lothagam and
Kanapoi. My lab at Rutgers investigates a wide range of
environmental proxies based on sediment samples and
microfossils. We work across paleolandscapes in an attempt to
integrate data from ancient lakes, rivers and floodplains. With
support from the NSF HOMINID initiative, we are examining environmental
variability through space and time. This work includes examination of
the rich paleosol record in Turkana, fluvial architecture, and the
dynamic record of lake margin facies. Currently we are also
focusing on aspects of the
geochemistry of ostracod carapaces and algal stromatolites in
reconstructing the character of
Lake Turkana and its precursors.
Sabine Hagemann MA
candidate
I've been working on the taphonomy and paleoecology of Australopithecus anamensis based on
excavations I undertook at Allia Bay. My MA thesis
work
includes an analysis of the taphonomic and site formation processes at
Locality 261-1, along with a comparison with faunas from localities of
comparable age in other basins.
Rhonda Quinn
My research in the Turkana Basin centers on characterizing several
aspects of Plio-Pleistocene hominin environments by stable isotopic
methodologies integrated with a heavy contextual component of
sedimentology, stratigraphy, paleogeography, and paleoclimatology.
Ultimately, I hope to gauge the local and global influences of
environmental change and how these changes may have influenced hominin
habitat preference, ranging behavior, and dispersal from Africa.
My dissertation research focused on isotopic signatures (C, O, Sr)
preserved in the Koobi Fora paleosols. I am currently expanding
that focus to isotopic records in aquatic carbonates (ostracods,
molluscs, stromatolites) and basin-scale hydrological evolution.
Christopher
Lepre PhD candidate
I am interested in understanding the environmental and climatic setting
of early hominin evolution. I have conducted research in Koobi
Fora on this topic for the last seven years and currently I am in my
final phases of dissertation writing at Rutgers University. I
hope to go back to Koobi Fora and expand on my graduate research that
was conducted at the Karari and Koobi Fora Ridge.
My future research plans at Koobi Fora also include refining the
chronological and stratigraphic correlation between collection
areas. Now that several generations of research have amassed a
large geological and anthropological data set for the area I believe
that a critical next step will be integrating this information at the
site scale. A daunting task but I believe with enough people
working together we can make progress.
Another interest of mine is using Plio-Pleistocene data to understand
the modern and potential future ecology of Koobi Fora. As many
are aware, Koobi Fora is situated within Sibiloi National Park and is
home to much wildlife. There also human groups in the area that
depend on Lake Turkana for subsistence. I hope to apply my
understanding of ancient environmental process at Koobi Fora to predict
potential pathways of change for the area and to facilitate a
cooperative use of the natural resources on the northeast side of the
lake.
Chris Campisano
My research interests revolve around the broad issue of the
environmental context of hominin evolution. Specifically, I am
interested in characterizing ancient landscapes and their change across
both space and time at varying degrees of resolution by studying the
depositional environments at hominin localities in association with
paleontological assemblages. My dissertation research focuses on
refining the paleoenvironmental context of A. afarensis at Hadar as well as
establishing chronological and tephrostratigraphic correlations between
Hadar and adjacent project areas. My research in the Turkana Basin has
focused mainly on the Lokochot and Tulu Bor Members at Koobi Fora
including the potential environmental impact of Tulu Bor Tuff
deposition and a comparison of the lower Tulu Bor Member with coeval
deposits of the Sidi Hakoma Member at Hadar.
Campisano, C.J., Behrensmeyer, A.K., Bobe, R. & Levin, N. (2004).
High resolution paleoenvironmental comparisons between Hadar and Koobi
Fora: Preliminary results of a combined geological and paleontological
approach. PaleoAnthropology (PAS 2004 abstracts), A34.
Campisano, C.J. (2003). Possible ecological impact of tephra deposition
in the Koobi Fora Formation, northern Kenya. American Journal of
Physical Anthropology 120(S36), 74.
Department of Anthropology, Wake
Forest University
Ellen Miller
I am a paleontologist working on the fossil evidence for primate and
mammalian evolution, in both North and East Africa. I am
interested in the Turkana Basin because of the recovery of mammals --
including monkeys and apes -- from the early Miocene locality of
Buluk, northern Kenya. One of the projects my colleagues and I are
currently working on involves interpreting the systematics and
paleoecology of the first Old World monkeys. Field work at Buluk is
currently on hiatus while efforts focus on work at Wadi Moghra, Egypt,
a site that yields early Old World monkeys similar to those from Buluk.
However, continued work at Buluk is considered both necessary and
desirable.
Department of Anthropology, State
University of New York at Buffalo
René Bobe
Assistant Professor
http://anthropology.buffalo.edu/Faculty/bobe.htm
Department of Anatomy and
Developmental Biology, University College London
Fred Spoor Professor
I am a mammalian palaeontologist and anatomist, affiliated with the
Koobi Fora Research Project. In this context I am working on cranial
hominin fossils newly found on both the west and east side of Lake
Turkana, and participate in fieldwork. In 2001 we published a new
hominin genus and species, Kenyanthropus
platyops, based on specimens recovered at Lomekwi (Leakey et
al., 2001). I am currently preparing a monographic description of all
the craniodental specimens found at this site. Since 2000 fieldwork was
resumed at Koobi Fora and Ileret, and we soon hope to publish a first
inventory of the hominin fossils recovered up to 2002. A companion
paper will provide a full description and comparative analysis of one
of these fossils, a well-preserved Homo
erectus calvaria found in Area 1 at Ileret (Leakey et al. 2003;
Spoor et al. 2005). The new fossils from the east side have triggered
broader investigations that re-assess the diagnostic morphology and
phylogenetic relationships of forms of early Homo, including H. erectus, H. habilis and H. rudolfensis. My immediate
collaborations related to Turkana Basin research are with Meave Leakey,
Susan Anton and Louise Leakey.
Leakey MG, Spoor F, Brown FH, Gathogo PN, Kiarie C, Leakey LN &
McDougall I (2001) New hominin genus from eastern Africa shows diverse
middle Pliocene lineages. Nature 410: 433-440.
Leakey MG, Spoor F, Brown FH, Gathogo, PN & Leakey LN (2003) A new
hominin calvaria from Ileret (Kenya). Am. J. Phys. Anthrop. Suppl 36:
136.
Spoor F, Leakey LN & Leakey MG (2005) A comparative analysis of the
KNM-ER 42700 hominin calvaria from Ileret (Kenya). Am. J. Phys.
Anthrop. Suppl 40,
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Recent Publications
of Interest
NEW !
Behrensmeyer, A. K.
2006. Climate change and human evolution. Science 311:
476-478.
McDougall, I. and Brown, F.
H. 2006. Precise 40Ar/39Ar geochronology for the upper
Koobi Fora Formation, Turkana Basin, northern Kenya. Journal of
the Geological Society, London 163: 205-220.
Brown, F. H., Haileab, B. and McDougall, I. 2006. Sequence
of tuffs between the KBS Tuff and the Chari Tuff in the Turkana asin,
Kenya and Ethiopia. Journal of the Geological Society, London 163:
185-204.
Feakins, S.J., deMenocal, P,B.
Eglinton, T.I. 2005. Biomarker Records
of Late Neogene changes in northeast African Vegetation. Geology 33:
977-980.
Lenoble A., 2005. – Ruissellement et formation des sites
préhistoriques
: référentiel actualiste et exemples d’application au
fossile. Oxford :
British Archaeological Report International Series, n° 1363., 2005,
212
p.
Lenoble, A. , Tiercelin, J.-J., and Delagnes, A. 2005.
Argiliturbation and Site Formation Processes in East Africa: the case
of Nadung'a 4. (pdf)
McDougall, I., Brown, F. H. and Fleagle, J. G. 2005.
Stratigraphic placement and age of modern humans from Kibish,
Ethiopia. Nature 433: 733-736.
Cerling, T. E., Harris, J. M. and Leakey, M. G. 2005. Environmentally
driven dietary adaptations in African mammals. In Ehleringer, J. R.,
Cerling, T. E., and Dearing, M. D. (eds.) History of atmospheric CO2
and its effects on plants, animals and ecosystems. Pp. 258-272.
Springer-Verlag.
Peters, Katja. 2005. Die fossilen
Süßwassermollusken Melanoides
(Gastropoda, Cerithioidea, Thiaridae) im Turkana-See, Ostafrika, Kenia
– eine Untersuchung zur Theorie des „punctuated equilibrium“. MS
Thesis, Humboldt University, Berlin.
Spoor F, Leakey MG & Leakey LN (2005) Correlation of cranial and
mandibular prognathism in extant and fossil hominids. Trans Roy Soc S.
Afr. 60: 85-89
Spoor F, Leakey LN & Leakey MG (2005) A comparative analysis of the
KNM-ER 42700 hominin calvaria from Ileret (Kenya). Am. J. Phys.
Anthrop. Suppl 40,
Not-So-Recent Publications of
Interest
Roche, H., Brugal, J. -P., Delagnes, A., Feibel, C., Harmand, S.,
Kibunjia, M., Prat, S. and Texier, P. -J. 2004.
Plio-Pleistocene
archaeological sites in the Nachukui Formation, West Turkana, Kenya:
synthetic results 1997-2001. Comptes Rendus Palevol 2: 663-673.
Haileab, B., Brown, F. H., McDougall, I., & Gathogo, P.N.,
2004.
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humanity in
eastern Africa. New York: Columbia University Press. 678 pages.
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paleontology of the early Pliocene site of Kanapoi, northern
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Pliocene Kanapoi Formation, lower Kerio Valley, Kenya. Contributions in
Science 498: 9-20.
Macho, G.A. Leakey, M. G., Williamson, D.K., and Jiang,Y.
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Bay, Kenya, at 3.9 million years Palaeogeography,
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Links
Koobi Fora Research Project
National Museums of Kenya
www.leakey.com
Sibiloi National Park
A news report from NSF on the Kibish project with excellent images can
be found at:
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=102968&org=BCS&from=news
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