In the past week, we have learned about a variety of animals* and how the habitat has changed in the ancient Turkana Basin. *Note: There are many more species of animals (including hominins) that are still "waiting" to be unearthed and will help our understanding of life on the past landscape. In addition, not everything that [...]
Before examining fossilized bones and ancient life, it is important to look at the anatomy of modern mammals. Our next activity looked at skulls, limbs, axial skeletons, and teeth of various carnivores, omnivores, and herbivores in present-day Africa. Sam examines the teeth of a zebra while Aileen looks at the mandible of a warthog. [...]
The Vertebrate Paleontology & Paleoecology Module began last week under the instruction of paleontologist Dr. Mikael Fortelius from the University of Helsinki. After an introductory lecture on processes that affect the preservation of organisms and their traces, we set out to unearth crockery that was buried within the TBI facility. As part of a taphonomy experiment, TBI students [...]
Here are a few images from our day off at the end of the Ecology module. More pictures will be added to this post. Anna looks like she doesn't need the extra hour to sleep in. Jayde and Larisa have a mudfight At sunset... Jayde and Rachel doing yoga. Dr. Mikael [...]
This past Saturday, TBI Field School students ended their Ecology module and finished their major project on disease vectors. Their professor, Dr. Dino Martins, had noticed that a blinding disease called trachoma was endemic in the Turkana area and almost no data existed for this remote region. Therefore, students researched background information on trachoma and conducted [...]
On Sunday, the TBI Field School students spent a hot day out on Lake Turkana with a boat ride to Central Island. Our first stop was to a small fishing village to talk with the locals and to observe life at the lakeshore. Sacred Ibis at the shoreline with a locally made raft in the [...]
Map: The Kerio delta is a one hour drive from the TBI Turkwel facility. We visited the Kerio Delta a few days ago to get a first glimpse of the complex freshwater ecology and dynamics that affect the deltas of Lake Turkana. We were hosted by a group of local fishermen whose boats we used to [...]
Hello! I'm Dr. Jason E. Lewis, incoming Director of the TBI Origins Field School and a Research Assistant Professor at Stony Brook University. I am co-director of the West Turkana Archaeological Project and my research focuses on analyzing fossil animal remains from ancient archaeological sites to reconstruct the evolution, ecology, and behavior of our ancestors [...]