NYANZACHOERUS SYRTICUS (ARTIODACTYLA, SUIDAE) FROM THE LATE MIOCENE OF LEMUDONG’O, KENYA

Lemudong’o Locality 1 is a late Miocene mammalian-dominated fossil site in the Narok District of southern Kenya. Suidae specimens from this site are scarce and fragmentary, however the recovered specimens can be confidently assigned to Nyanzachoerus syrticus based on the size and morphology of the third molars and the relative size of the third and fourth premolars. This species designation indicates a late Miocene/early Pliocene biochronological age, which accords with 40Ar/39Ar determinations of,6.11 Ma (Deino and Ambrose, 2007). These Lemudong’o specimens indicate that N. syrticus inhabited the southern part of what is now Kenya by 6 Ma, the earliest known appearance of the species south of Lothagam, Kenya