Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas, and two species native to Afro-Eurasia.
Paranthropus aethiopicus is an extinct species of robust australopithecine from the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene of East Africa about 2.7–2.3 million years ago. However, it is much debated whether or not Paranthropus is an invalid grouping and is synonymous with Australopithecus, so the species is also often classified as Australopithecus aethiopicus. Whatever the case, it is considered to have been the ancestor of the much more robust P. boisei. It is debated if P. aethiopicus should be subsumed under P. boisei, and the terms P. boisei sensu lato and P. boisei sensu stricto can be used to respectively include and exclude P. aethiopicus from P. boisei.
Proconsul africanus was an ape which lived from about 23 to 14 million years ago during the Miocene epoch. It was a fruit eater and its brain was larger than that of a monkey, although probably not as large as that of a modern ape.
Victoriapithecus macinnesi was a primate from the middle Miocene that lived approximately 15 to 17 million years ago in Northern and Eastern Africa. Through extensive field work on Maboko Island in Lake Victoria, Kenya, over 3,500 specimens have been found, making V. macinnesi one of the best-known fossil primates. It was previously thought that perhaps multiple species of Victoriapithecus were found, however the majority of fossils found indicate there is only one species, V. macinnesi. Victoriapithecus shows similarities to the extant subfamilies Colobinae and Cercopithecinae. However, Victoriapithecus predates the last common ancestor of these two groups and instead is thought to be a sister taxon.
Ekembo nyanzae, originally classed as a species of Proconsul, is a species of fossil primate first discovered by Louis Leakey on Rusinga Island in 1942, which he published in Nature in 1943. It is also known by the name Dryopithecus africanus. A joint publication of Wilfrid Le Gros Clark and Louis Leakey in 1951, "The Miocene Hominoidea of East Africa", first defines Proconsul nyanzae. In 1965 Simons and Pilbeam replaced Proconsul with Dryopithecus, using the same species names.
Rusinga Island, with an elongated shape approximately 10 miles (16 km) from end to end and 3 miles (5 km) at its widest point, lies in the eastern part of Lake Victoria at the mouth of the Winam Gulf. Part of Kenya, it is linked to Mbita Point on the mainland by a causeway.
Euthecodon is an extinct genus of long-snouted crocodile. It was common throughout much of Africa during the Neogene, with fossils being especially common in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Libya. Although superficially resembling that of gharials, the long snout was a trait developed independently from that of other crocodilians and suggests a diet of primarily fish. Euthecodon coexisted with a wide range of other crocodiles in the areas it inhabited before eventually going extinct during the Pleistocene.
Palaelodidae is a family of extinct birds in the group Phoenicopteriformes, which today is represented only by the flamingos. They were widespread during the Neogene, with fossil remains found on all continents other than Antarctica. The oldest remains referred to this group appeared in the fossil record during the Oligocene in Egypt and Belgium, before palaelodids reached their peak diversity during the Miocene. Following this the group declined in the early Pliocene before going extinct on most continents. However, remains found near Cooper Creek in the Lake Eyre Basin indicate that palaelodids managed to survive in Australia until the Pleistocene. Currently three genera are recognized by scientists: Adelalopus, Palaelodus and Megapaloelodus. Most fossil remains stem from Europe and have been assigned to the type species, Palaelodus ambiguus. Due to the fragmentary nature of most of these species, little is known about their ecology. They appear to have preferred brackish lakes and lagoons. Palaelodus has previously been thought to be a wader or diver, but recent research indicates that they were better suited for swimming and possibly fed on insect larvae and other aquatic invertebrates. At least Megapaloelodus appears to have adaptations for "locking" their legs in a standing position.
Megapedetes is a genus of fossil rodents related to the springhare and other species of the genus Pedetes, with which it forms the family Pedetidae. At least four species are known, which ranged through Africa, southwestern Asia, and southeastern Europe from the Miocene to the Pliocene. The genus was larger than Pedetes.
Maboko Island is a small island lying in the Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria, in Nyanza Province of western Kenya. It is about 1.8 km long by 1 km wide. It is an important Middle Miocene paleontological site with fossiliferous deposits that were discovered in the 1930s. The age of the deposits is estimated to be 15 to 16 million years, and they are especially important for the abundance of primate fossils they contain.
Rusingaceros or Dicerorhinus leakeyi is an extinct genus of rhinocerotine rhinoceros known from the Miocene of Rusinga Island, Kenya.
Simiolus is an extinct genus of dendropithecid primates. It was described by Mary Leakey and Richard Leakey in 1987, and the type species is S. enjiessi, which existed during the Miocene of Kenya. The species epithet is a phonetic pun on the acronym NGS. A new species, S. andrewsi, also from the middle Miocene of Kenya, was described by Terry Harrison in 2010. In November 2018, scientists reported the discovery of the smallest known ape, Simiolus minutus, which weighed approximately eight pounds, and lived about 12.5 million years ago in Kenya in East Africa.
Brochuchus is an extinct genus of crocodile known from the Early Miocene Hiwegi Formation of Rusinga Island in Lake Victoria, Kenya; it was originally named as a species of Crocodylus. It contains two species, B. parvidens and B. pigotti. Brochuchus belongs to the family Crocodylidae, which includes all living crocodiles. The closest living relative of Brochuchus is Osteolaemus, the dwarf crocodile. Compared to Osteolaemus, which has a small body and blunt snout, Brochuchus has a more generalized crocodylid anatomy. Brochuchus is characterized by a flat and relatively narrow skull, and although it is larger than Osteolaemus it is smaller than most other crocodylids. It has two prominent bumps on the surface of its snout.
Micropithecus is an extinct genus of primates that lived in East Africa about 19 to 15 million years ago, during the early Miocene. The genus and its type species, Micropithecus clarki, were first scientifically described in 1978.
Harrisonavis is an extinct genus of flamingo that lived during the Late Oligocene and Early Miocene periods in what is now France. Despite being one of the oldest known members of the flamingo family, it already shows a skull remarkably similar to that of the modern greater flamingo. Although generally similar, it subtly differs in the curvature of the bill and the size of the ventral keel of the maxilla, both signs that Harrisonavis was not yet as adapted towards filter feeding as modern species are. Harrisonavis inhabited brackish lakes alongside the more basal Palaelodidae. It contains the single species Harrisonavis croizeti, first described in 1852.
Kinyang is an extinct genus of osteolaemine crocodile from the Early to Middle Miocene of Kenya. Two species are currently known, K. mabokoensis from the Lake Victoria basin and K. tchernovi from the Lake Victoria and Lake Turkana basin. Kinyang had an exceptionally broad and robust skull, much wider than that of any living crocodile species. This might have allowed it to attack and kill prey its own size or even bigger. Kinyang is notably larger than its contemporary relative Brochuchus. While the precise reasons for the extinction of Kinyang are not known, it coincides with a larger faunal turnover that saw osteolaemines replaced by the still dominant crocodylines. One reason for this shift may have been the drying climate of Africa at the time, which caused rainforests to be replaced by more open environments and disrupted the nesting behavior of osteolaemines due to their dependence on foliage.
The Hiwegi Formation is a geological formation on Rusinga Island in Kenya preserving fossils dating to the Early Miocene period. The Hiwegi Formation is known for the well preserved plant fossils it preserves, which indicate a tropical forest environment that underwent wet and dry periods. The middle members of the formation in particular indicate a brief period in which conditions were notably dryer with a more open environment compared to older and younger units. Some of the formation's fauna, such as an early ancestor of the modern aye-aye and a chameleon of the genus Calumma, link Miocene East Africa to modern day Madagascar.
Asilifelis is an extinct genus of small felid that lived in what is now Kenya during the Early Miocene. Despite its fragmentary remains, it is remarkable because of its small size and advanced dentition. It contains a single species, Asilifelis cotae.
Phoenicopterus novaehollandiae is an extinct species of flamingo from the late Oligocene or early Miocene Etadunna Formation of Australia. It was a large species similar in size to large specimens of the modern greater flamingo, but differs by likely having had a much better developed hallux which is typically reduced or absent in modern flamingos.
Calumma benovskyi is an extinct species of chameleon of the Calumma genus. While species of this genus are only found on Madagascar today, C. benovskyi was discovered in the Miocene sediments of Kenya. This indicates that the genus and even chameleons as a whole did not originate on Madagascar, as often held previously, but on continental Africa. This matches with several prior studies that favor an African origin of the group both based on phylogenetic results and the ocean currents present between Africa and Madagascar during much of the Paleogene and Neogene. Additionally, since C. benovskyi was found to be a rather derived member of its genus, this would necessitate a much greater, as of yet unknown diversity of chameleons from the Oligocene and Miocene of Africa.
