A PRELIMINARY REVIEW OF THE RODENT FAUNA FROM LEMUDONG’O, SOUTHWESTERN KENYA, AND ITS IMPLICATION TO THE LATE MIOCENE PALEOENVIRONMENTS

Fossil remains of rodents from Lemudong’o, southwestern Kenya, have been studied to understand the taphonomy of the faunal assemblage, and to interpret the paleoenvironment from which the fauna derived. Skeletal representation, breakage patterns, evidence of etching on the incisors, and the body size of the rodents suggest that the material was a predator assemblage that accumulated in situ, and that a small owl, and most probably a barn owl, would have been responsible. The fossil rodents recovered from the site suggest that at around 6 Ma, the environment at Lemudong’o and the surrounding area was a mosaic of open grasslands/woodlands (dry savanna), riverine forests, and flood plains. Elements of aridity and sandy substrates were also a common feature at Lemudong’o. Overall, the higher numbers of Murinae relative to Gerbillinae in the Lemudong’o faunal sample suggest that the paleoenvironment in the area would have been more mesic than xeric