Pliocene Animal Trackways at Laetoli: Research and Conservation Potential

Abstract

Laetoli, a paleoanthropological site in Northern Tanzania, is perhaps best known for its famous fossil hominid footprints that were discovered by Mary Leakey and her co-workers in 1978. The site not only preserves the hominid footprints but also trackways, which provide a snapshot of Pliocene faunal communities from East Africa and their inferred environments. Unlike the hominid footprints at site G, which have received tremendous attention, the animal trackways, especially at Localities 7, 8 and 10 have been neglected and are fast disappearing. In this paper, we discuss animal tracks at a newly discovered exposure and provide preliminary data on the tracks at this exposure and other sites. We also discuss the importance of the animal trackways as ecological indicators, which we have investigated as part of ongoing research and conservation efforts initiated by the Tanzania Field School in Paleoanthropology and the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) Tanzania Semester Abroad programs.

Keywords:

• Laetoli
• animal trackways
• paleoecology
• animal trackway conservation

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank our academic institutions for facilitating the establishment of the field school and the semester abroad program at Laetoli. We are particularly indebted to our students who shared their field school experiences with us, the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) for the establishment of the Semester Abroad Program in Tanzania, Dr. E.B. Chausi and the entire personnel at Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) for their understanding of the scientific needs for such programs in the NCAA, and for their invaluable time and contribution that shaped this study.

We also thank our Tanzanian colleagues, Ferdinand Mizambwa, Felix Ndunguru, Godfrey Ole Moita, Said Killindo and O.S. Kileo for comments, their help in field logistics and field assistance during our summer field work at Laetoli. We are very grateful to the Tanzanian Ministry of Tourism and Natural resources and the Antiquities Department. We are also very indebted to Mr. Donatius Kamamba for issuing the Antiquities excavation license and to the doctor in-charge at Endulen Hospital with his entire staff for the health related support to our students and field staff.

We extend our thanks to the Lutheran Bishop of Dodoma, Rev. Dr. Peter L. Mwamasika and Dr. Abel Nkini for their encouragement and transport-related logistic supports in Tanzania. This project was funded by the Werner Gren Foundation (Gr. 5980), the Connecticut State University System, the ACM, the National Geographic Society and a generous grant from Dr. Melissa K. Stoller to Dr. Charles Musiba. We thank the editors of this volume and the two anonymous reviewers for providing insightful comments from which the quality of this manuscript benefited tremendously.