PALEOECOLOGY OF THE MALAWI RIFT - VERTEBRATE AND INVERTEBRATE FAUNAL CONTEXTS OF THE CHIWONDO BEDS, NORTHERN MALAWI

The Plio-Pleistocene Chiwondo Beds of Northern Malawi have yielded mol luscs and fragmented remains of fish, turtles, crocodiles and large ma mmals. Destructive taphonomic processes due perhaps to the reworking o f bones in beach environments and recent erosional processes has led t o extensive deterioration of fossil material. Microvertebrates and car nivores are virtually unrepresented in the assemblage. The fossil samp le is insufficient for a reconstruction of paleocommunity structure, b ut has sufficient bovids to make a general statement of the ecology of the Chiwondo Beds. A further ecological interpretation of the paleola ke Malawi is based on a comparative analogue developed from actualisti c studies. The general ecological setting of the Malawi Rift during th e Late Pliocene was a mosaic environment including open and closed, dr y and wet habitats, and which harbored a small and ecologically unstab le paleolake Malawi.