Abstract
The Baynunah Formation provides the only late Miocene record of fossil proboscideans from the Arabian Peninsula, identifiable as a deinothere, tetralophodont gomphothere(s), and stegotetrabelodont elephant. Ichnofossils show the oldest evidence for modern-type elephant herd structure. The elephant sample is particularly abundant, and newly-recovered fossils yield critical evidence about their systematics and biology. Comparative results show that the Baynunah stegotetrabelodont belongs in a new species, and that in many ways it is the most primitive of all elephants—supporting a geological age of 8.0–6.0 Ma—consistent with having evolved in Afro-Arabia from Tetralophodon between 9.0 and 8.0 Ma. Body size analyses reveal that these elephants were exceptionally tall and heavy, possibly exceeding 10,000 kg. Tooth emergence is reconstructed as dp2-dp3-dp4-p3-m1-p4-m2-m3. The taxonomic composition and dietary preferences of the Baynunah proboscideans indicate the presence of heterogeneous local habitats in the region during the late Miocene, though the high abundance of the stegotetrabelodont, and the rarity of the deinothere and gomphothere(s) indicate a dominance of grassland habitats and a lesser representation of wooded areas.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbate, E., Bruni, P., Ferretti, M. P., Delmer, C., Laurenzi, M. A., Hagos, M., Bedri, O., Rook, L., Sagri, M., & Libsekal, Y. (2014). The East African Oligocene intertrappean beds: Regional distribution, depositional environments and Afro/Arabian mammal dispersals. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 99, 463–489.
Ambrose, S. J., Hlusko, L. J., Kyule, D., Deino, A., & Williams, M. (2003). Lemundong’o: A new 6 Ma paleontological site near Narok, Kenya Rift Valley. Journal of Human Evolution, 44, 737–742.
Barry, J. C. (1999). Late Miocene carnivore from the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In P. J. Whybrow & A. Hill (Eds.), Fossil vertebrates of Arabia. With emphasis on the Late Miocene faunas, geology, and palaeoenvironments of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (pp. 203–208). Yale University Press.
Beech, M. J., & Hellyer, P. (Eds.). (2005). Abu Dhabi—8 million years ago. Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey.
Bibi, F., Hill, A., Beech, M. J., & Yasin, W. (2013). Late Miocene Fossils from the Baynunah Formation, United Arab Emirates. In X. Wang, L. J. Flynn, & M. Fortelius (Eds.), Fossil mammals of Asia. Neogene biostratigraphy and chronology (pp. 583–594). Columbia University Press.
Bibi, F., Kraatz, B., Craig, N., Beech, M. J., Schuster, M., & Hill, A. (2012). Early evidence for complex social structure in Proboscidea from a Late Miocene trackway site in the United Arab Emirates. Biology Letters, 8, 670–673.
Bibi, F., Kaya, F., Varela, S. (2022a). Paleoecology and Paleobiogeography of the Baynunah Fauna. In F. Bibi, B. Kraatz, M. J. Beech, & A. Hill (Eds.), Sands of Time: Ancient life in the late Miocene of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (pp. 331–347). Springer.
Bibi, F., Kraatz, B., Beech, M. J., & Hill., A. (2022b). Fossil trackways of the Baynunah Formation. In F. Bibi, B. Kraatz, M. J. Beech, & A. Hill (Eds.), Sands of Time: Ancient life in the late Miocene of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (pp. 281–296). Springer.
Bibi, F., Beech, M. J., Hill., A, & Kraatz, B. (2022c). Fossil localities of the Baynunah Formation. In F. Bibi, B. Kraatz, M. J. Beech, & A. Hill (Eds.), Sands of Time: Ancient life in the late Miocene of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (pp. 9–22). Springer.
Bishop, L., & Hill, A. (1999). Fossil Suidae from the Baynunah Formation, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In P. J. Whybrow & A. Hill (Eds.), Fossil vertebrates of Arabia. With emphasis on the late Miocene Faunas, geology, and palaeoenvironments of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (pp. 254–270). Yale University Press.
Boaz, N. T., El-Arnauti, A., Agusti, J., Bernor, R. L., Pavlakis, P., & Rook, L. (2008). Temporal, lithostratigraphic, and biochronologic setting of the Sahabi Formation, North-Central Libya. Geology of East Libya, 3, 959–972.
Boisserie, J.-R. (2005). The phylogeny and taxonomy of Hippopotamidae (Mammalia: Artiodactyla): A review based on morphology and cladistics analysis. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 143, 1–26.
Boisserie, J.-R., Schuster, M. J., Beech, M. J., Hill, A., & Bibi, F. (2017). A new species of hippopotamine (Cetartiodactyla, Hippopotamidae) from the Late Miocene Baynunah Formation, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Palaeovertebrata, 41, 1–16.
Boisserie, J.-R. & Bibi., F. (2022). Hippopotamidae from the Baynunah Formation. In F. Bibi, B. Kraatz, M. J. Beech, & A. Hill (Eds.), Sands of Time: Ancient life in the late Miocene of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (pp. 241–258). Springer.
Cerling, T. E., Harris, J. M., & Leakey, M. G. (1999). Browsing and grazing in elephants: The isotope record of modern and fossil proboscideans. Oecologia, 120, 364–374.
Cerling, T. E., Harris, J. M., & Leakey, M. G. (2003). Isotope paleoecology of the Nawata and Nachukui Formations XE “Nachukui Formation” at Lothagam, Turkana Basin XE “Turkana Basin”, Kenya. In M. G. Leakey & J. M. Harris (Eds.), Lothagam: The dawn of humanity in eastern Africa (pp. 605–624). Columbia University Press.
Cerling, T. E., Harris, J. M., & Leakey, M. G. (2005). Environmentally driven dietary adaptations in African mammals. In J. R. Ehleringer, M. D. Dearing, & T. E. Cerling (Eds.), History of atmospheric CO2 and its effects on plants, animals, and ecosystems (pp. 258–272). Springer.
Cerling, T. E., Harris, J. M., MacFadden, B. J., Leakey, M. G., Quade, J., Eisenmann, V., & Ehleringer, J. R. (1997). Pattern and significance of global ecologic change in the late Neogene. Nature, 389, 153–158.
Cerling, T. E., Wang, Y., & Quade, J. (1993). Expansion of C4 ecosystems as an indicator of global ecological change in the Late Miocene. Nature, 361, 344–345.
Christiansen, P. (2004). Body size in proboscideans, with notes on elephant metabolism. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 140, 523–549.
de Bruijn, H. (1999). A Late Miocene insectivore and rodent fauna from the Baynunah Formation, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In P. J. Whybrow & A. Hill (Eds.), Fossil vertebrates of Arabia. With emphasis on the Late Miocene Faunas, geology, and palaeoenvironments of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (pp. 186–197). Yale University Press.
de Bruijn, H., & Whybrow, P. J. (1994). A Late Miocene rodent fauna from the Baynunah Formation, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Proceedings Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie Van Wetenschappen, 97, 407–422.
de Carvalho, C. N. (2009). Vertebrate tracksites from the mid-late Pleistocene eolianites of Portugal: The first record of elephant tracks in Europe. Geological Quarterly, 53, 407–414.
de Heinzelin, J., & El-Arnauti, A. (1982). Geological history of the Sahabi and related formations. Garyounis Scientific Bulletin, 1982, 5–12.
Eisenmann, V., & Whybrow, P. J. (1999). Hipparions from the Late Miocene Baynunah Formation, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In P. J. Whybrow & A. Hill (Eds.), Fossil vertebrates of Arabia. With emphasis on the Late Miocene Faunas, geology, and palaeoenvironments of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (pp. 234–253). Yale University Press.
El-Shawaihdi, M. H., Mozley, P. S., Boaz, N. T., Salloum, F., Pavlakis, P., Muftah, A., & Triantaphyllou, M. (2016). Stratigraphy of the Neogene Sahabi units in the Sirt Basin, northeast Libya. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 118, 87–106.
Ferretti, M. P., Rook, L., & Torre, D. (2003). Stegotetrabelodon (Proboscidea, Elephantidae) from the Late Miocene of Southern Italy. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 23, 659–666.
Gaziry, A. W. (1982). Proboscidea from the Sahabi Formation. Garyounis Scientific Bulletin, Special Issue No., 4, 101–108.
Gaziry, A. W. (1987). Remains of Proboscidea from the early Pliocene of Sahabi, Libya. In N. T. Boaz, A. El-Arnauti, A. W. Gaziry, J. de Heinzelin, & D. D. Boaz (Eds.), Neogene Paleontology and Geology of Sahabi (pp. 183–203). Liss.
Gentry, A. W. (1999a). A fossil hippopotamus from the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In P. J. Whybrow & A. Hill (Eds.), Fossil vertebrates of Arabia. With emphasis on the Late Miocene Faunas, geology, and palaeoenvironments of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (pp. 271–289). Yale University Press.
Gentry, A. W. (1999b). Fossil pecorans from the Baynunah Formation, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In P. J. Whybrow & A. Hill (Eds.), Fossil vertebrates of Arabia. With emphasis on the Late Miocene Faunas, geology, and palaeoenvironments of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (pp. 290–316). Yale University Press.
Geraads, D. (1989). Vertébrés fossiles du Miocène supérieur du Djebel Krechem el Artsouma (Tunisie Centrale): Comparisons biostratigraphiques. Geobios, 22, 777–801.
Geraads, D., Alemseged, Z., & Bellon, H. (2002). The Late Miocene mammalian Fauna of Chorora, Awash Basin, Ethiopia: Systematics, biochronology and the 40K–40Ar ages of the associated volcanics. Tertiary Research, 21, 113–122.
Gilbert, C. C., Bibi, F., Hill, A., & Beech, M. J. (2014). Early guenon from the Late Miocene Baynunah Formation, Abu Dhabi, with implications for cercopithecoid biogeography and evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 111, 10119–10124.
Glennie, K. W., & Evamy, B. D. (1968). Dikaka: Plants and plant-root structures associated with aeolian sand. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 4, 77–87.
Göhlich, U. B. (1998). Elephantoidea (Proboscidea, Mammalia) aus dem Mittel- und Obermiozän der Oberen Süßwassermolasse Süddeutschlands: Odontologie und Osteologie. Münchner Schaftliche Abhandlungen A, 36, 1–245.
Harris, J. M. (1978). Deinotherioidea and Barytherioidea. In V. J. Maglio & H. B. S. Cooke (Eds.), Evolution of African Mammals (pp. 315–332). Harvard University Press.
Harris, J. M. (2003). Deinotheriidae from Lothagam. In M. G. Leakey & J. M. Harris (Eds.), Lothagam: The dawn of humanity in Africa (pp. 359–361). Columbia University Press.
Hill, A. (1999). Late Miocene sub-Saharan African vertebrates, and their relation to the Baynunah Fauna, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In P. J. Whybrow & A. Hill (Eds.), Fossil vertebrates of Arabia. With emphasis on the Late Miocene Faunas, geology, and palaeoenvironments of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (pp. 420–429). Yale University Press.
Hill, A. (2002). Paleoanthropological research in the Tugen Hills, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution, 42, 1–10.
Hill, A., & Gundling, T. (1999). A monkey (Primates; Cercopithecidae) from the Late Miocene of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In P. J. Whybrow & A. Hill. (Eds.), Fossil vertebrates of Arabia. With emphasis on the Late Miocene Faunas, geology, and palaeoenvironments of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (pp. 198–202). Yale University Press.
Hill, A., Bibi, F., Beech, M. J., & Yasin, W. (2012). Before archaeology: Life and environments in the Miocene of Abu Dhabi. In D. T. Potts & P. Hellyer (Eds.), Proceedings of the second international conference on the archaeology of the United Arab Emirates, Emirate of Abu Dhabi (pp. 22–33). Motivate Publishing.
Hill, A., Curtis, G., & Drake, R. (1986). Sedimentary stratigraphy of the Tugen Hills, Baringo, Kenya. In L. E. Frostick, R. W. Renaut, I. Reid, & J. -J. Tiercelin (Eds.), Sedimentation in the African Rifts (pp. 285–295). Blackwell and Geological Society of London Special Publication 25.
Hill, A., Drake, R., Tauxe, L., Monaghan, M., Barry, J. C., Behrensmeyer, A. K., Curtis, G., Jacobs, B. F., Jacobs, L., Johnson, N., & Pilbeam, D. (1985). Neogene palaeontology and geochronology of the Baringo Basin, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution, 14, 759–773.
Hutchinson, J. R., Schwerda, D., Famini, D. J., Dale, R. H. I., Fischer, M. S., & Kram, R. (2006). The locomotor kinematics of Asian and African elephants: Changes with speed and size. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 209, 3812–3827.
Kalb, J. E. & Mebrate, A. (1993). Fossil elephantoids from the hominid-bearing Awash Group, Middle Awash Valley, Afar Depression, Ethiopia. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 83, 1–114.
Katoh, S., Beyene, Y., Itaya, T., Hyodo, H., Hyodo, M., Yagi, K., Gouzu, C., WoldeGabriel, G., Hart, W. K., Ambrose, S. H., Nakaya, H., Bernor, R. L., Boisserie, J.-R., Bibi, F., Saegusa, H., Sasaki, T., Sano, K., Asfaw, B., & Suwa, G. (2016). New geological and palaeontological age constraint for the gorilla-human lineage split. Nature, 530, 215–218.
Khalaf-Sakerfalke von Jaffa, N. A. B. A. T. (2010). Stegotetrabelodon syrticus emiratus Khalaf, 2010: A new fossil four-tusked elephant subspecies from the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Gazelle: The Palestinian Biological Bulletin, 98, 1–60.
Kingston, J. D. (1999). Isotopes and environments of the Baynunah Formation, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In P. J. Whybrow & A. Hill (Eds.), Fossil vertebrates of Arabia. With emphasis on the Late Miocene Faunas, geology, and palaeoenvironments of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (pp. 354–372). Yale University Press.
Kingston, J. D., Jacobs, B. F., Hill, A., & Deino, A. (2002). Stratigraphy, age and environments of the Late Miocene Mpesida Beds, Tugen Hills, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution, 42, 95–116.
Konidaris, G. E., Roussiakis, S. J., Theodorou, G. E., & Koufos, G. D. (2014). The Eurasian occurrence of the shovel-tusker Konobelodon (Mammalia, Proboscidea) as illuminated by its presence in the Late Miocene of Pikermi (Greece). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 34, 1437–1453.
Kraatz, B., Bibi, F., & Hill, A. (2009). New rodents from the Late Miocene of the United Arab Emirates. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 29, 129A.
Lambert, W. D. (2016). The phylogenetic affinities of the shovel-tusked gomphothere Konobelodon (Mammalia, Proboscidea): Is its sister group Amebelodon or Platybelodon? Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Program and Abstracts, 2016, 171–172.
Larramendi, A. (2016). Shoulder height, body mass, and shape of proboscideans. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 61, 537–574.
Laws, R. M. (1966). Age criteria for the African elephant. East African Wildlife Journal, 4, 1–37.
Lazaridis, G., & Tsoukala, E. (2014). Tetralophodon longirostris (Kaup, 1832) from Late Miocene of the Kassandra peninsula (Chalkidiki, Greece). Scientific Annals, School of Geology, Aristrotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece Special, 102, 101.
Leakey, M. G., & Harris, J. M. (2003). Lothagam: Its significance and contributions. In M. G. Leakey & J. M. Harris (Eds.), Lothagam: The dawn of humanity in eastern Africa (pp. 625–660). Columbia University Press.
Leakey, M. G., Feibel, C. S., Bernor, R. L., Harris, J. M., Cerling, T. E., Stewart, K. M., Storrs, G. W., Walker, A., Werdelin, L., & Winkler, A. J. (1996). Lothagam: A record of faunal change in the Late Miocene of East Africa. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 16, 556–570.
Lee, P. C., & Moss, C. J. (1995). Statural growth in known-age African elephants (Loxodonta africana). Journal of Zoology, London, 236, 29–41.
MacInnes, D. G. (1942). Miocene and post-Miocene Proboscidia [sic] from East Africa. Transactions of the Zoological Society, London, 25, 33–106.
Mackaye, H. T., Coppens, Y., Vignaud, P., Lihoreau, F., & Brunet, M. (2008). De nouveaux restes de Primelephas dans le Mio-Pliocene du Nord du Tchad et revision du genre Primelephas. Compte Rendus Palevol, 7, 227–236.
Madden, C. T., Glennie, K. W., Dehm, R., Whitmore, F. C., Schmidt, R. J., Ferfoglia, R. J., & Whybrow, P. J. (1982). Stegotetrabelodon (Proboscidea, Gomphotheriidae) from the Miocene of Abu Dhabi. United States Geological Survey.
Maglio, V. J. (1970). Four new species of Elephantidae from the Plio-Pleistocene of northwestern Kenya. Breviora, 341, 1–43.
Maglio, V. J. (1972). Evolution of mastication in the Elephantidae. Evolution, 26, 638–658.
Maglio, V. J. (1973). Origin and evolution of the Elephantidae. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 63, 1–149.
Maglio, V. J., & Ricca, A. B. (1977). Dental and skeletal morphology of the earliest elephants. Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, Afd. Natuurkunde Eerste Reeks, Deel, 29, 1–51.
Mazo, A. V., & Montoya, P. (2003). Proboscidea (Mammalia) from the Upper Miocene of Crevillente (Alicante, Spain). Scripta Geologica, 126, 79–109.
Mazzini, I., Bibi, F., Schuster, M., Beech, M. J., & Hill, A. (2013). The “elephants” and the ostracods: A 7 My old tale from the United Arab Emirates. Il Naturalista Siciliano, 37, 209–211.
Mazzini, I., & Kovacova, M. (2022). Ostracods, charophytes, and pollen from the Baynunah Formation. In F. Bibi, B. Kraatz, M. J. Beech, & A. Hill (Eds.), Sands of Time: Ancient life in the late Miocene of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (pp. 65–77). Springer.
Mebrate, A. (1983). Late Miocene-middle Pleistocene proboscidean fossil remains from the Middle Awash Valley, Afar Depression, Ethiopia. Master's Thesis. Department of Systematics and Ecology, University of Kansas.
Moss, C. J. (2001). The demography of an African elephant (Loxodonta africana) population in Amboseli, Kenya. Journal of Zoology, London, 255, 145–156.
Nakaya, H. (1993). Les Faunes de Mammifères du Miocène supérieur de Samburu Hills, Kenya, Afrique de l’est et l’environnement des Pré-Hominidés. L’anthropologie (paris), 97, 9–16.
Nakaya, H. (1994). Faunal change of Late Miocene Africa and Eurasia: Mammalian fauna from the Namurungule Formation, Samburu Hills, northern Kenya. African Study Monographs, Supplementary Issue, 20, 1–112.
Nakaya, H., Pickford, M., Yasui, K., & Nakano, Y. (1984). The Late Miocene large mammal fauna from the Namurungule Formation, Samburu Hills, northern Kenya. African Study Monographs, Supplementary Issue, 2, 87–131.
Nakaya, H., Pickford, M., Yasui, K., & Nakano, Y. (1987). Additional large mammalian fauna from the Namurungule Formation, Samburu Hills, northern Kenya. African Study Monographs. Supplementary Issue, 5, 79–129.
Osborn, H. F. (1936). Proboscidea. A monograph of the discovery, evolution, migration, and extinction of the mastodonts and elephants of the world. Volume I. Moeritherioidea, Deinotherioidea, Mastodontoidea. American Museum Press.
Peppe, D. J., Evans, D. A. D., Beech, M. J., Hill, A., & Bibi, F. (2022). Magnetostratigraphy of the Baynunah Formation. In F. Bibi, B. Kraatz, M. J. Beech, & A. Hill (Eds.), Sands of Time: Ancient life in the late Miocene of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (pp. 35–54). Springer.
Petrocchi, C. (1943). Il giacimento fossilifero di Sahabi. Collezione Scientifica e Documentaria a Cura Del Ministero Dell’ Africa Italiana, Verbania, 12, 1–169.
Petrocchi, C. (1954). Paleontologia di Sahabi: Parte I. Proboscidati di Sahabi. Rendiconti Accademia Nazionale Dei XL, 4–5, 8–74.
Pickford, M., Senut, B., & Hadoto, D. (1993). Geology and Palaeobiology of the Albertine Rift Valley, Uganda-Zaire. Volume I: Geology. Occasional Publication 24, Orleans: Centre International pour la Formation et les Echanges Geologiques, Orleans.
Rasmussen, D. T., & Gutíerrez, M. (2009). A mammalian fauna from the late Oligocene of northwestern Kenya. Palaeontographica. Abt. A, 288, 1–52.
Roberts, D. L., Bateman, M. D., Murray-Wallace, C. V., Carr, A. S., & Holmes, P. J. (2008). Last interglacial fossil elephant trackways dated by OSL/AAR in coastal aeolianites, Still Bay, South Africa. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 257, 261–279.
Saegusa, H., & Haile-Selassie, Y. (2009). Proboscidea. In Y. Haile-Selassie (Ed.), Ardipithecus kadabba. Late Miocene Evidence from the Middle Awash, Ethiopia (pp. 469–516). University of California Press.
Saegusa, H., & Hlusko, L. J. (2007). New Late Miocene elephantoid (Mammalia: Proboscidea) fossils from Lenudong’o, Kenya. Kirtlandia, 56, 140–147.
Saegusa, H., Nakaya, H., Kunimatsu, Y., Nakatsukasa, M., Tsujikawa, H., Sawada, Y., Saneyoshi, M., & Sakai, T. (2014). Earliest elephantid remains from the Late Miocene locality, Nakali, Kenya. Scientific Annals, School of Geology Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. VIth International Conference on Mammoths and Their Relatives, Grevena-Siatista, Special Volume 102, 175.
Sanders, W. J. (1997). Fossil Proboscidea from the Wembere-Manonga Formation, Manonga Valley, Tanzania. In T. Harrison (Ed.), Neogene Paleontology of the Manonga Valley, Tanzania (pp. 265–310). Plenum Press.
Sanders, W. J. (1999). Oldest record of Stegodon (Mammalia: Proboscidea). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 19, 793–797.
Sanders, W. J. (2007). Taxonomic review of fossil Proboscidea (Mammalia) from Langebaanweg, South Africa. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa, 62, 1–16.
Sanders, W. J. (2008). Review of fossil Proboscidea from the Late Miocene-early Pliocene site of As Sahabi, Libya. Garyounis Scientific Bulletin, 2008, 241–256.
Sanders, W. J. (2017). Horizontal tooth displacement and premolar occurrence in elephants and other elephantiform proboscideans. Historical Biology. https://doi.org/10.1080/80912963.2017.1297436.
Sanders, W. J., Kappelman, J., & Rasmussen, D. T. (2004). New large-bodied mammals from the late Oligocene site of Chilga, Ethiopia. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 49, 365–392.
Sanders, W. J., Gheerbrant, E., Harris, J. M., Saegusa, H., & Delmer, C. (2010). Proboscidea. In L. Werdelin & W. J. Sanders (Eds.), Cenozoic mammals of Africa (pp. 163–251). University of California Press.
Schanz, T., Lins, Y., Viefhaus, H., Barciaga, T., Läbe, S., Preuschoft, H., Witzel, U., & Sander, P. M. (2013). Quantitative interpretation of tracks for determination of body mass. PloS ONE, 8(10), e77606.
Smuts, M. M. S., & Bezuidenhout, A. J. (1994). Osteology of the pelvic limb of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana). Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, 61, 51–66.
Stewart, J. R. (2005). Miocene geology and fossils of Abu Dhabi. In M. J. Beech & P. Hellyer (Eds.), Abu Dhabi--8 million years ago. Late Miocene Fossils from the western region (pp. 17–42). Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey.
Tassy, P. (1985). La place des mastodontes miocènes de l’ancien monde dans la phylogénie des Proboscidea (Mammalia): Hypothèses et conjectures. Ph.D. Dissertation, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris.
Tassy, P. (1986). Nouveaux Elephantoidea (Mammalia) dans le Miocène du Kenya. Cahiers de Paleontologie, Éditions du Centre de la Recherche Scientifique.
Tassy, P. (1995). Les Proboscidiens (Mammalia) Fossiles du Rift Occidental, Ouganda. In M. Pickford & B. Senut (Eds.), Geology and palaeobiology of the Albertine Rift Valley, Uganda-Zaïre. Volume II: Palaeobiology (pp. 217–257). CIFEG Occasional Publications, 1994/29.
Tassy, P. (1996). Growth and sexual dimorphism among Miocene elephantoids: The example of Gomphotherium angustidens. In J. Shoshani & P. Tassy (Eds.), The Proboscidea. Evolution and palaeoecology of elephants and their relatives (pp. 92–100). Oxford University Press.
Tassy, P. (1999). Miocene elephantids (Mammalia) from the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Palaeobiogeographic implications. In P. J. Whybrow & A. Hill (Eds.), Fossil vertebrates of Arabia. With emphasis on the Late Miocene Faunas, geology, and palaeoenvironments of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (pp. 209–233). Yale University Press.
Tassy, P. (2003). Elephantoidea from Lothagam. In M. G. Leakey & J. M. Harris (Eds.), Lothagam: The dawn of humanity in eastern Africa (pp. 331–358). Columbia University Press.
Tassy, P. (2013). L’anatomie cranio-mandibulaire de Gomphotherium angustidens (Cuvier, 1817) (Proboscidea, Mammalia): Données issues du gisement d’En Péjouan (Miocène moyen du Gers, France). Geodiversitas, 35, 377–445.
Tiercelin, J.-J., Michaux, J., & Bandet, Y. (1979). Le Miocène supérieur du Sud de la Dépression de l’Afar, Éthiopie: Sédiments, faunes, âges isotopiques. Bulletin De La Société Géologique De France, 21, 255–258.
Tobien, H. (1978). On the evolution of mastodonts (Proboscidea, Mammalia). Geologisches Jahrbuch Hessen, 106, 159–208.
Uno, K. T., Cerling, T. E., Harris, J. M., Kunimatsu, Y., Leakey, M. G., Nakatsukasa, M., & Nakaya, H. (2011). Late Miocene to Pliocene carbon isotope record of differential diet change among East African herbivores. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, USA, 108, 6509–6514.
Uno, K., & Bibi, F. (2022). Stable isotope paleoecology of the Baynunah Formation. In F. Bibi, B. Kraatz, M. J. Beech, & A. Hill (Eds.), Sands of Time: Ancient life in the late Miocene of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (pp. 297–329). Springer.
Vignaud, P., Duringer, P., Mackaye, H. T., Likius, A., Blondel, C., Boisserie, J.-R., de Bonis, L., Eisenmann, V., Etienne, M.-E., Geraads, D., Guy, F., Lehmann, T., Lihoreau, F., Lopez-Martinez, N., Mourer-Chauviré, C., Otero, O., Rage, J.-C., Schuster, M., Viriot, L., … Brunet, M. (2002). Geology and palaeontology of the Upper Miocene Toros-Menalla hominid locality, Chad. Nature, 418, 152–155.
von Koenigswald, W. (2016). The diversity of mastication patterns in Neogene and Quaternary proboscideans. Palaeontographica, Abteilung A, 307, 1–41.
Warny, S. A., Bart, P. J., & Suc, J.-P. (2003). Timing and progression of climatic, tectonic and glacioeustatic influences on the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 202, 59–66.
Western, D., Moss, C., & Georgiadis, N. (1983). Age estimation and population age structure of elephants from footprint dimensions. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 47, 1192–1197.
Whybrow, P. J. (1989). New stratotype; the Baynunah Formation (Late Miocene), United Arab Emirates: Lithology and palaeontology. Newsletters on Stratigraphy, 21, 1–9.
Whybrow, P. J. & Clements, D. (1999). Arabian Tertiary fauna, flora, and localities. In P. J. Whybrow & A. Hill (Eds.), Fossil Vertebrates of Arabia, 460–473.
Whybrow, P. J., Hill, A., Al-Tikriti, W. Y., & Hailwood, E. A. (1990). Late Miocene primate fauna, flora and initial palaeomagnetic data from the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Journal of Human Evolution, 19, 583–588.
WoldeGabriel, G., Haile-Selassie, Y., Renne, P. R., Hart, W. K., Ambrose, S. J., Asfaw, B., Helken, G., & White, T. D. (2001). Geology and palaeontology of the Late Miocene Middle Awash Valley, Afar Rift, Ethiopia. Nature, 412, 175–178.
Acknowledgements
The late Andrew Hill had a positive influence on the scholastic achievements and research efforts of many colleagues, including my own career, made many significant contributions to the fields of paleontology and paleoanthropology through his work on several continents, inspired us with his kindness, competence, and humor, and used his extraordinary intellectual gifts to encourage and assist others. For those reasons, and lasting friendship, I dedicate this chapter in memory and admiration of Andrew. I am grateful to Faysal Bibi, Mark Beech, and the late Andrew Hill for inviting me to participate in study of the proboscideans from the Baynunah Formation. I thank the following individuals and institutions for access to fossil specimens in their care: Meave Leakey (National Museums of Kenya and Turkana Basin Institute, Ileret, Kenya), Emma Mbua and Fredrick Manthi (National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya), Graham and Margaret Avery (Iziko South African Museum, Cape Town, South Africa), Amandus Kwekason and the late Michael Mbago (Tanzanian National Museums, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania), Ezra Musiime (Ugandan Museum, Kampala, Uganda), Muluneh Miriam (National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), Gertrud Rössner (Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Munich, Germany) and Mark Beech (Coastal Heritage and Palaeontology Section of the Historic Environment Department, Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates). Special thanks to John Klausmeyer for assistance with the figures, and to Marilyn Fox for expert preparation and conservation of the proboscidean fossils. I am appreciative for the editorial advice of Brian Kraatz and Faysal Bibi and suggestions of Juha Saarinen, Dimila Mothé, Carol Abraczinskas and an anonymous reviewer to improve the manuscript.
The Coastal Heritage and Palaeontology Section of the Historic Environment Department at the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT Abu Dhabi, formerly the Tourism and Culture Authority) generously supported my research and site visits, and participation in the Baynunah Palaeontology Conference in December 2014 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This research was also generously supported by several Scott Turner Grants from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, and through grants to Terry Harrison (New York University, New York, NSF Grant BCS-0309513), Carol Ward (University of Missouri, Missouri) and Fredrick Manthi (National Museums of Kenya) (NSF Grant BCS-1231749), and by Meave Leakey and the Turkana Basin Institute.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sanders, W.J. (2022). Proboscidea from the Baynunah Formation. In: Bibi, F., Kraatz, B., Beech, M.J., Hill, A. (eds) Sands of Time. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83883-6_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83883-6_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-83882-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-83883-6
eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)