Sedimentary Structures Generated by Hippopotamus amphibius in a Lake-margin Wetland, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

Other| April 01, 2002 Sedimentary Structures Generated by Hippopotamus amphibius in a Lake-margin Wetland, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania DANIEL M. DEOCAMPO DANIEL M. DEOCAMPO 1Department of Geological Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8066 * Present address: Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, MRC 119, Washington, DC 20560-0119 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar PALAIOS (2002) 17 (2): 212–217. https://doi.org/10.1669/0883-1351(2002)017<0212:SSGBHA>2.0.CO;2 Article history accepted: 03 Oct 2001 first online: 03 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation DANIEL M. DEOCAMPO; Sedimentary Structures Generated by Hippopotamus amphibius in a Lake-margin Wetland, Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. PALAIOS 2002;; 17 (2): 212–217. doi: https://doi.org/10.1669/0883-1351(2002)017<0212:SSGBHA>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyPALAIOS Search Advanced Search Abstract Large mammals, especially Hippopotamus amphibius, have created a distinctive set of traces in a spring-fed freshwater wetland on the margin of the saline-alkaline crater lake in the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. It is comprised of a ∼30 m diameter zone of deep (<2m) bioturbation due to hippo wallowing, surrounded by dendritic to radial hippo trails 1–5 m wide and <0.5 m deep, infilled with organic-rich mud. These trails narrow and thin as they grade into trackways on the lake flat. Tracks and trackways of more terrestrial mammals, such as bovids and equids, are found in the lake flat muds surrounding the hippo-dominated area. Associations of sedimentary structures such as these are important indicators of paleoenvironmental conditions where they are preserved in the sedimentary record, due to the strong affinity of Hippopotamidae for freshwater environments. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.