ABSTRACT
The celebrated fossil vertebrate fauna of the Fayum depression in Fayum Province, Egypt, stands as the earliest well-known land mammal fauna of Africa. Many of Africa's Eocene fossil-bearing deposits are marine in origin, such as the Qasr El Sagha formation of the Fayum. Vertebrate fossils in these formations are few in number and only a very limited variety of terrestrial mammals are preserved. In contrast, the extensive badlands developed in the Oligocene continental sediments that overlie the Qasr El Sagha formation are rich with an abundance and diversity of fossil vertebrate remains. One of the most valuable conclusions to be drawn from the century of paleontology in the Fayum is that repeated. Persistent fossil collecting in the same productive areas will continue to unveil new fossil species and new information about paleoenvironments, biogeography and the evolution of all variety of plant and animal life.
