a ~5.15 Ma old western cape mammalian community

The Varswater Formation assemblage of the Langebaanweg ‘E’ Quarry, Western Cape Province, South Africa, samples a vast collection of fossil marine, estuarine, and terrestrial taxa. Langebaan carnivores, including the extinct bear, Agriotherium africanum, make up a larger proportion of the assemblage compared to modern mammalian communities; the ecological parameters of the Langebaanweg assemblage are unique compared to communities in the rest of South Africa through time. Biogeographically, the Late Miocene paleocommunity of the Western Cape shares striking similarities with those of the Late Miocene in Eastern Africa, and current lab projects explore these unique paleoecological and biogeographical signals.