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The Fossil Turtles of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, Africa

1981; American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists; Volume: 1981; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/1444555

1938-5110

Walter Auffenberg,

Primate Behavior and Ecology

Four species of fossil turtles are reported from Pleistocene deposits of Olduvai Gorge. Two are testudinids; one is identical to the extant Geochelone pardalis, and the other is a large undescribed species. The two remaining turtle species are pelomedusids. One is identical to the extant Pelusios sinuatus; the other is described as a new genus and species (Latisternon microsulcae) and, on the basis of shell morphology, is presumed to have been more terrestrial than extant pelomedusid species. Most of the fossil chelonian remains are believed to have been accumulated by foraging hominids. The Pelusios sinuatus fossils greatly outnumber those of the other three species; apparently it was the most assiduously hunted. The distribution of fossils and the ecology of the living Pelusios suggest that most foraging for turtles took place in the shallow water of the marshy lake border. There was either a change in the foraging technique from the earlier to later times represented in the deposits, or a change in the environment near the hominid occupational sites.