306


Journal of Paleontology 92(2):305–312


Figure 1. Map of the region near the Natodomeri fossil sites. Strata at these sites are at the same elevation as strata in the type area of the Kibish Formation in the NE corner of this map. Contours above 455m are not shown.


Omo Research Expedition in 1968. The helicopter pilot, D. Woodhead, and Dr. Butzer’s wife, Elisabeth, collected partial elephant molars at two sites designated Natodomeri I and Natodomeri II (K.W. Butzer and V.J. Maglio, unpublished manuscript, undated). Butzer located Natodomeri I at 5.1333ºN, 35.7773ºE, adjacent to the stream itself; and he placed Natodomeri II at 5.15ºN, 35.8ºE, farther to the east. He correctly assigned both sites to the Kibish Formation. In the unpublished report, he described a section 13.2mthick at Natodomeri I and a section 18.2m thick at Natodomeri II. The upper four meters of the section at Natodomeri II were ascribed to Member IV of the Kibish Formation. Unionid shells from the upper part of the older section at Natodomeri II yielded a 14C age >35,000 years (Butzer et al., 1972). The section at Natodomeri is <15m thick and comprises


principally sandstones, siltstones, and mudstones with dis- continuous mollusk-bearing layers. Two of these mollusk- bearing layers are prominent near the base of the section, but even these are locally absent. Bivalves are especially prominent in these beds. One layer is especially rich in Etheria, and the


other in unionids. Mollusk-bearing beds are also present higher in the section, and these contain gastropods in addition to the bivalves. Bedding is poorly expressed in most outcrops because the outcrops are weathered, but sparse cliff sections show that at


least some of the units are thin bedded, with repeated small-scale fining-upward beds typical of deposits from annual floods, similar to those described by Brown and Fuller (2008) in the Kibish Formation, where they are particularly well developed at the base of Member II and the base of Member III. The top of the section is defined by a tuff that is present in


two layers (K16-1081), the lower of which is 0.3m thick, overlain by a 5cm sandstone containing Melanoides and small bivalves, followed by the upper layer that is 2m thick (K16-1083). A Late Pleistocene or recent gravel 0.5–1m thick makes up the top of this local section. Farther west, this tuff (K16-1076) is 1.9m thick where exposed in a small gully. Probable relations between the Kibish Formation in its


type area, located ~35km northeast of Natodomeri, and at Natodomeri are shown in Figure 2. The KHS Tuff, present in both areas, forms a secure link between the two areas. In both


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196  |  Page 197  |  Page 198  |  Page 199  |  Page 200  |  Page 201  |  Page 202  |  Page 203  |  Page 204