RAPID: Rare Opportunity to Study Ancient Crocodylian Social Dynamics in Extinct Ecosystem (18 mya) from At-Risk Fossil Site (Rusinga, Kenya)

Science Museum Of Minnesota, Saint Paul MN

Investigators

Abstract

Crocodilian social dynamics is a new area of study within modern ecosystems, and has not been studied in depth in the fossil record. An ideal site to test for differences in social aggression and cannibalistic consumption exists at a crocodilian-dominated fossil assemblage in Kenya. The site is currently at high risk of destruction due to an increased need for residential housing. Moreover, no one in the region (or in Kenya broadly), has the expertise, financial means, or availability to conduct this work. The team will carefully excavate and document these fossils, record and measure signs of interspecies aggression, and transport them to the National Museums of Kenya where they will be available to the global scientific community. The on-site team will include two specialists from the United States as well as workers from the local community. During the excavation, the team will also provide educational outreach to the community to help raise awareness of the value of these fossils to scientific learning. The goals of the project are to recover fossil specimens from the site, with all necessary stratigraphic and positional context. As each fossil is removed, the team will take photos that will be later used to make a 3D photogrammetric model. The project will also evaluate each bone for traces of interspecies aggression, recording size, depth and position. Gathering these data will improve our understanding of the pervasiveness of social aggression in this ancient community, the extent to which cannibalism played a role and how this may have affected the other members of the ecosystem. This study will be published in peer-reviewed literature and presented at scientific conferences in addition to being shared through outreach. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.