West Coast Fossil Park

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Other fossil sites: Anyskop and Baards Quarry

There are only two fossil assemblages dating to the Late Pliocene on the west coast of South Africa and both are situated close to ‘E’ Quarry, the place where the majority of fossils were found at Langebaanweg. The one site is Anyskop, which is thought to date to the Late Pliocene. Foraminifera from the site suggest that both a marine and a beach, or terrestrial environment, are represented. The other site, Baard’s Quarry, is situated approximately 2.5 km east of ‘E’ Quarry and is now in-filled. The existing 70 m high hill of Anyskop is a conspicuous feature in the landscape of Langebaanweg today. Anyskop deposits are clearly younger than the fossil bearing deposits of the Varswater formation, and it has been suggested that these deposits are probably similar to the calcarenites of the Langebaan formation found elsewhere in the region.

Preservation at Baard's Quarry was poor and 90% of the fossil material consisted of unidentifiable bone fragments. Baard's Quarry has fauna in common with both 'C' and 'E' quarries. Other species such as Equus, a mustelid and a hyaenid are apparently Pleistocene in age. No marine fossils were found in the quarry, with the exception of some pinniped fragments.

Baard's Quarry and Anyskop show that by the Late Pliocene /Early Pleistocene, woodland species such as the elephant, Proboscidea, and the short necked giraffe, Sivatherium, are still represented in the fossil record, but the numbers of more open-country grazing species appear to be increasing. A much later period of human history is also found at Anyskop in the form of archaeological deposits which date to the Early, Middle and Late Stone Ages - See 'The Archaeology of the Anyskop Blowout'.

References:

Hendey, Q. B. 1981. Palaeoecology of the Late Tertiary fossil occurrences in ‘E’ quarry, Langebaanweg South Africa, and a reinterpretation of their geological context. Annals of the South African Museum. 84:1-104.

Hendey, Q. B. 1982. Langebaanweg: A record of past life. Cape Town: South African Museum.

Hendey, Q. B. 1981b. Geological succession at Langebaanweg, Cape Province, and global changes of the Late Tertiary. South African Journal of Science. 77(1):33-38.

Roberts, D. L. In press. Lithostratigraphy of the Varswater Formation (Including the Langeenheid Sandy Clay, Konings Vlei Gravel, Langeberg Quartz Sand and Muishond Fontein Pelletal Phosphorite Members). South African Committee for Stratigraphy.

Roberts, D. L. and Brink, J. S. 2002. Dating and correlation of Neogene coastal deposits in the western Cape (South Africa): Implications for Neotectonism. South African Journal of Geology. 105:337-352.

Rogers, J. 1980. First report on the Cenozoic sediments between Cape Town and Elands Bay. Report for the Geological Survey of South Africa. 165:1-64.

Science Info Index:

5-5.2 million years ago

How old is it anyway

Geology

Other fossil sites

Palaeoecology

What fossil bones and teeth
can tell

Isotopes in palaeontology and archaeology

You are what you eat

Plant photosynthesis and the palaeoenvironment

Sea levels during an ice age

Anyskop Blowout

The Benguela current