Large mammal bone breccia in Pleistocene calc-tufa, northern Kaokoland, Kunene Region, Namibia.

On account of the abundant plant, invertebrate and vertebrate fossils that they contain, the cascade tufa occurrences of the Kunene Region, Namibia, comprise an important source of information about past climates and palaeoenvironments of the late Tertiary and Quaternary. Most of the vertebrate fossils thus far encountered in the tufas consist of microfauna, the remains of medium and large mammals being sporadic and rare. The discovery of a rich concentration of large mammal skeletal remains at Ozombindi, northern Kaokoland, is unusual, in that there are few if any small mammals associated with the bone-bearing lenses, which consist of vast quantities of fossil limb bones and jaws of zebras, large bovids, hyaenids and possibly rhinocerotids. The Ozombindi occurrence is interpreted to represent a natural trap that formed in cascade tufas during the early Pleistocene, into which animals fell but were unable to get out. Skeletal remains of many hundreds of individuals are preserved in a jumble of bones piled one upon the other in three dimensions. The aim of this article is to put on record the presence of the Ozombindi bone breccia, and to provide preliminary estimates as to its age and palaeoclimatic significance. Taphonomic studies will throw much light on the formation of this unique (for Namibia) concentration of fossil bones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]