Dental remains of Equatorius africanus from Kipsaramon, Tugen Hills, Baringo District, Kenya.
Forty-one isolated large hominoid teeth, as well as most of the mandibular and three maxillary teeth associated with a partial skeleton, were recovered from middle Miocene Muruyur sediments near Kipsaramon in the Tugen Hills, Baringo District, Kenya. The isolated teeth were collected as surface finds and the skeleton was excavated in situ at locality BPRP#122 dated between 15.58 Ma and 15.36 Ma. The majority of the teeth recovered at BPRP#122 are referable to a minimum of five individuals of the hominoid Equatorius africanus. Three of the teeth, however, are provisionally assigned to Nyanzapithecus sp. The new hominoids from Kipsaramon add to an increasing inventory of specimens that suggest greater large hominoid taxonomic diversity from the middle Miocene of Kenya than was previously recognized. It is suggested that there are two large-bodied hominoid species present at Mabako, only one of which is assignable to Equatorius.
Kelley
Jay
J
Department of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, University of Illinois, 801 S. Paulina, Chicago, Illinois 60612, USA. jkelley@uic.edu
Ward
Steve
S
Brown
Barbara
B
Hill
Andrew
A
Duren
Dana L
DL
D000818:Animals; D000885:Anthropology, Physical; D005580:Fossils; D015186:Hominidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D007630:Kenya; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D010163:Paleontology; D014070:Tooth / Q000033:anatomy & histology*