Late Pliocene Bovidae from Ledi-Geraru (Lower Awash Valley, Ethiopia) and their Implications for Afar Paleoecology

Fossil bovids are described from the late Pliocene site of Ledi-Geraru, mainly from the Gurumaha and Lee Adoyta sedimentary packages (2.8–2.6 Ma). Finds include taxa already known from the slightly older Hadar Formation, such as the buffalo Ugandax coryndonae, the bongo-like Tragelaphus rastafari-nakuae lineage, an alcelaphin resembling Parmularius pachyceras, and a large impala. Differences from Hadar include the abundance of Kobus sigmoidalis, the absence of K. oricornus, and the presence of Tragelaphus gaudryi and probably also Menelikia lyrocera. The fossil bovids from Ledi-Geraru are mainly comparable to those known from contemporaneous assemblages in the Turkana Basin. Menelikia and T. gaudryi are characteristic of the Turkana Basin, and these are probably their first records from the Afar. A new species of Beatragus is also named. A well-preserved skull and skeleton of a fossil wildebeest from the Ogoyta sediments (