A trip to Buluk on Monday morning marked the start of our last week studying Vertebrate Paleontology. The middle Miocene site of Buluk sits on basaltic sediments dated to about 16mya. The faunal interchange during the early Miocene, as a result of a terrestrial connection between Eurasia and Africa, was the main factor that brought [...]
Our main focus this week has been trying to understand mammalian bone structure and functions. Students learned about mammalian evolution and adaptation to different ecological habitats. Bones tell us about the diets, locomotion style, and types of environment animals occupied. For instance, zebras have high crowned teeth (hypsodont), designed to better handle the tough foods [...]
As we start our new course, Vertebrate Paleontology, taught by Prof. Ellen Miller of Wake Forest University, students are ready to put in practice all the amassed knowledge and skills from the last two courses (Ecology and Geology) in reconstructing paleoenvironments, and describing geological contexts in which fossils are found. The week started with [...]
On Wednesday morning, we packed and left for Koobi Fora for an overnight camping trip. Koobi Fora sits on the eastern shores of Lake Turkana, in Sibiloi National Park. The sediments in the region preserve numerous mammalian fossils, making it an important region for paleoanthropological research. Our first stop was at Il Allia river/Laga Bura [...]
We’re in our last week of the Geology course. Students have been busy sharpening their mapping skills while working on various exercises. On Monday morning, students went out to the exhumed channels in Area 6A, where they examined and mapped sandstones that represent an ancient river channel. According to Dr. Raynolds, organizing geological information is [...]
Turkana Basin geology has been well studied and documented. Understanding the sedimentation processes and geochronology of the region is crucial in reconstructing paleoenvironments and putting data in context. Dr. Craig Feibel and Dr. Bob Raynolds, instructors for the Geology module, introduced students to the stratigraphy of the Ileret region, including the rich Pliocene and Pleistocene [...]
Our last week at Mpala was an eventful one. Students learned about the various effects of human-wildlife interaction, pastoralism, and the effects of climate change on the ecosystem. On Monday, Sandy Oduor, a researcher working with Mpala Elephant Project, accompanied students into the field to study the elephants. The immense droughts in recent years, [...]
The impact of climate change has been detrimental to the world's biodiversity. Many animals are endangered or facing extinction. In the East Africa Savannah, poaching, drought, and habitat loss are all factors affecting wildlife. Increased human populations have also led to habitat loss, livestock-wildlife competition, and as such, Grevy's zebra are now an endangered species. [...]