LATE PLIOCENE FAUNAL TURNOVER IN THE TURKANA BASIN, KENYA AND ETHIOPIA

Analysis of a large sample of well-dated fossil mammals from localitie s in tl-e Turkana Basin of Kenya and Ethiopia revealed sampling biases that affect patterns of faunal turnover during the late Pliocene, Whe n these biases were accounted for, results indicated that 58 to 77 per cent of the mammal species were replaced between 3.0 and 1.8 million y ears ago (Ma), Overall diversity increased from 3.0 to 2.0 Ma but then declined. No distinct turnover pulse is seen between 2.8 and 2.5 Ma; instead, the most significant period of faunal change began after 2.5 Ma and continued through 1.8 Ma.