Ekembo adult dentition and mandible measurements

Abstract

These data represent dental and mandibular dimensions collected over many years as part of a broader effort to address questions of taxonomic diversity and distribution among Eastern African fossil sites that date to the Early Miocene (ca. 23-16 Ma). They were collected from original fossil specimens by the Principal Investigator listed above, though at various times numbers were recorded by student assistants while the PI was measuring. All specimens in this dataset are considered to belong to, or be related to, the fossil ape genus Ekembo. All specimens except one were found by paleontological research teams working on Rusinga Island and Mfangano Island, in Homa Bay County, western Kenya; that exception is a single tooth (NHMUK-P-M 32309) found at the Chianda Uyoma locality in Siaya County. Most of the fossils are housed at the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, and hence their accession numbers typically have the prefix KNM-RU (Rusinga) or KNM-MW (Mfangano). A series of partial skeletons discovered at the Kaswanga Primate Site (KPS) on Rusinga Island has never been fully accessioned, and these specimens are identified by Roman numerals (I-X) indicating to which individual they belong; they are identified in this dataset using the prefix KNM-KPS followed by that Roman numeral identifier, but those are not formal accession numbers. Fossils housed at the Natural History Museum (London) have the prefix NHMUK-P-M regardless of the locality of origin. Specimens referred to Ekembo by the authors or by others may not be included in this dataset if, for example, they did not preserve the anatomy to take of any these measurements or they represent deciduous dentition. Other specimens were not included here if the authors deemed them better referred to other taxa.