This is an almost complete male pig skull, recovered by Brian Patterson’s expedition to Lothagam at west Turkana in 1968. It is the type specimen of Nyanzachoerus syrticus. It is about the size of a modern bush pig and has low crowned molars that suggest that is was not predominantly a grazer and more likely to have browsed and rootled for tubers. The pigs are believed to have originated in Eurasia during the Oligocene migrating to Africa during the early Miocene. The earliest true Suidae from Africa appear in Namibia around 21 million years ago and their evolution through the Cenozoic was rapid. The considerable diversity, rapid and often parallel evolution in this family makes the Suidae valuable biostratigraphic indicators.
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Nyanzachoerus syrticus
KNMLT 316 Age approx. 8.00 Million Years
Digital Capture: Photogrammetry 0 Comments 
Forum Order: Artiodactyla Family: Suidae Genus: Nyanzachoerus Species: syrticus Element: Cranium Locality: Lothagam, West Turkana Year of Discovery: 1967 Other Fossils to View |
