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Fossil Ungulate Skull ID Required From Turkana, Kenya


karisiasafaris

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On a recent safari through northern Kenya my son picked up a fossil while we were in Sibiloi National Park, Turkana Kenya. After a closer examination I could see that it was the top of an ungulates skull.  Here are some images of the skull. I took some basic measurements and we returned the skull to where we found it.  Rufous and I would very much like to know what species of antelope this might be.  Many of the other fossils in the area appear to be shells, fish verterbra, and crocodian and turtle discoveries have been made close by. 

 

Many Thanks for your ideas.

 

Turkana 2018-1.jpg

Turkana 2018-2.jpg

Turkana 2018-3.jpg

Turkana 2018-4.jpg

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Turkana 2018-6.jpg

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I don’t know about species (although I’ve heard there are quite a few) antelope of some sort seems a good guess. For those that don’t know, Turkana mainly dates to the Pleistocene (if it’s the same formation I learned about in my Paleoanthropology course).

  • I found this Informative 1

“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

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Maybe trying to exclude some possibilities may help in the ID.

 

kuldoc.com_late-pliocene-faunal-turnover-in-the-turkana-basin-kenya-and-ethiopia-.thumb.jpg.ec09d7403e148cbd9b691394fa3c5c06.jpg

excerpt from here

 

Comparability_of_fossil_data_and_its_significance__1.thumb.jpg.8e3de02228bb9b2556d9f9a68be50003.jpgComparability_of_fossil_data_and_its_significance__2.thumb.jpg.cc15a5efc6e1f5b08064a54ac75708a2.jpgComparability_of_fossil_data_and_its_significance__3.thumb.jpg.de83e309fc9b7a3ef32c8e21868dc063.jpg

excerpt from here

 

 

 

 

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@abyssunder Thanks so much for the helpful charts.  We have gone through these charts and the best we can guess is that this specimen is a Menelikia like this one attached. Its hard though to rule out Kobus but the examples Ive found online appear to be concave slightly between the eyes and this skull is not.  I will need to get a waterbuck skull and compare the fossil's profile to the skull's.  Anyway, thanks for your ideas. Cheers, Jamie

Menelikia_lyrocera.JPG

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