The Lothagam is a palaeontological

Paleontology

Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...

 formation located in Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

. It dates to the Miocene

Miocene

The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

-Pliocene

Pliocene

The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...

 period.

It is located near the southwestern shores of Lake Turkana

Lake Turkana

Lake Turkana , formerly known as Lake Rudolf, is a lake in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake...

, 55 kilometres from Kanapoi. It is located between Kerio

Kerio River

Kerio is a river in Rift Valley province, Kenya. It flows northward into Lake Turkana. It is one of the longest rivers in Kenya, originating near the equator. In south it flows through the Kerio Valley between Tugen Hills and Elgeyo escarpment. The river also partly bounds the South Turkana...

 and Lomunyenkuparet rivers on an uplifted fault block

Brian Patterson

Brian Patterson

Brian Patterson is a former American "Old School" bicycle motocross racer.Brian Patterson is the younger of the most potent sibling combinations BMX has ever seen. With Brent the Brothers Patterson are the only brothers to both hold the National No.1 Pro title in any major BMX sanctioning body...

 from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

was in 1967 the first one to carry out paleontological research in Lothagam