Lower Miocene Invertebrates from Kenya

Abstract

RECENTLY, while continuing the search for additional Lower Miocene fossil fruits and seeds in the deposits on Rusinga and M'fwangano Islands in Lake Victoria, in order to obtain more data concerning the environmental conditions under which the Miocene ape Proconsul lived, we have found some remarkable fossils of insects and other soft-bodied invertebrates. This discovery is of unusual interest, not only because it is believed to be the first of its kind in Africa, but also because of the very unusual state of preservation of the material. Most fossil insect remains—other than those preserved in Oligocene ambers—have been found in a somewhat crushed and distorted condition in laminated rocks. In the present case the fossils, in spite of their soft-bodied nature during life, have retained their natural shape in a quite surprising manner. This is clearly shown in the accompanying illustrations of a lepid-opterous larva (Fig. 1) and a pedipalpid (Fig. 2).