The early pleistocene vertebrate fauna of Mulhuli-Amo (Buia area, Danakil Depression, Eritrea)

Mulhuli-Amo is an early Pleistocene locality of the Buia area in the Dandiero Basin (Danakil Depression, Eritrea) already known for the presence of Homo remains and stone tools. Recent surface surveys lead to the retrieval of a rich vertebrate fauna that is here described for the first time in order to contribute to the palaeoenvironmental background to the Homo layers of the basin. The following 14 taxa (two fishes, four reptiles, one bird, and nine mammals) were identified: Clarias (Clarias) sp., ?Cichlidae indet., Crocodylus sp., Pelusios sinuatus, Varanus niloticus, Python gr. P. sebae, Ardeotis kori, Palaeoloxodon cf. P. recki, Ceratotherium simum, Equus cf. E. quagga, Hippopotamus gorgops, Kolpochoerus majus, Bos cf. B. buiaensis, and Kobus cf. K. ellipsiprymnus. With the exception of a fish and the bird that were identified at Mulhuli-Amo for the first time, the whole fauna is fully congruent with the taxa already described for the neighbouring locality of Uadi Aalad and confirms, in agreement with all the other proxies, an early Pleistocene age and the former presence of moist grassed habitats adjacent to persistent water.