Fish fossils from Miocene palaeolakes in the East African Rift valley in Kenya

与河流沉积物相比，古湖泊沉积物可以更详细地记录古代鱼类动物群的分类多样性，因为选择性破坏没有河流或洪泛区那么突出。然而，古湖泊沉积物中鱼类的保存质量取决于一定的物理和化学条件，这样的档案在世界各地都很少见。位于东非裂谷系统东部分支的肯尼亚图根山中的中新世古湖沉积，提供了一种独特的、次连续的中新世中新世和上中新世鱼类化石(真骨)记录，这在很大程度上是未被勘探的。这就提出了一个问题，即这种鱼化石的特殊记录能否被用来更好地了解东非裂谷系统内的中新世环境和气候变化。然而，该项目被设计为试验性项目，因为在项目准备阶段，我没有鱼化石可用。它侧重于系统地收集图根山露头的鱼类化石，已知这些露头蕴藏着丰富的鱼类化石，并对多样性进行了初步调查，至少在家族层面上是这样。与已经活跃在图根山的法国研究人员(他们对哺乳动物的研究感兴趣)的合作为这一试点项目提供了完美的背景。如果鱼类化石如预期的那样丰富和多样，将设计一个后续项目，以进一步评估图根山鱼类化石组合提供的古生态信息。

Sediments of palaeolakes can record the taxonomic diversity of ancient fish faunas in greater detail than river sediments because selective destruction is less prominent than in rivers or floodplains. However, the preservation quality of fishes in sediments of palaeolakes depends on certain physical and chemical conditions and such archives are rare throughout the world. The Miocene palaeolake deposits in the Tugen Hills in Kenya, within the eastern branch of the East African Rift System, offer a unique, sub-continuous record of fish fossils (Teleostei) from the middle and upper Miocene, which is largely unexplored. This raises the question as to whether this exceptional record of fish fossils can be used to better understand the Miocene environmental and climate changes within the East African Rift System. However, the project is designed as a pilot project because no fish fossils were available to me during the preparation phase of the project. It focuses on systematic collections of fish fossils from outcrops in the Tugen Hills that are known to bear abundant fish fossils, and a preliminary survey of the diversity, at least down to the family level. The collaboration with French researchers that are already active in the Tugen Hills (they are interested in the study of mammals) provides a perfect background for this pilot project. If fish fossils are as abundant and diverse as expected, a follow up project will be designed to further assess the palaeoecological information provided by the fossil fish assemblages from the Tugen Hills.