Annals of the South African Museum = Annale van die Suid-Afrikaanse Museum . 68 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM All the age profiles presented below were calculated using Spinagesformulae. For the sake of consistency, some age profiles that were presented ina previous paper where the Hnear formulae were used (Klein 1981fl), have beenrecalculated, even though their essential form remains the same, since thespecies involved were low-crowned relative to potential lifespan. All calcula-tions were performed on an IBM Personal Computer. THE LANGEBAANWEG FOSSIL SITE Langebaanweg (32°58S 18°9E) is
Annals of the South African Museum = Annale van die Suid-Afrikaanse Museum . 68 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM All the age profiles presented below were calculated using Spinagesformulae. For the sake of consistency, some age profiles that were presented ina previous paper where the Hnear formulae were used (Klein 1981fl), have beenrecalculated, even though their essential form remains the same, since thespecies involved were low-crowned relative to potential lifespan. All calcula-tions were performed on an IBM Personal Computer. THE LANGEBAANWEG FOSSIL SITE Langebaanweg (32°58S 18°9E) is located approximately 110 km north-north-west of Cape Town (Fig. 8). Fossils were first reported from Langebaan-weg in 1958 (Singer & Hooijer 1958; Singer 1961). In 1969 Q. B. Hendey of theSouth African Museum initiated a research programme at the site, which hasled to a vast accumulation of vertebrate fossils belonging to more than 150. Map showing the approximate locations of sites mentioned in the text. Fig. 8. The approximate locations of the sites mentioned in the text. UNGULATE MORTALITY. LANGEBAANWEG AND ELANDSFONTEIN 69 Species, primarily mammals and birds. Publications on the site include numer-ous taxonomic and phylogenetic studies by Hendey and others, and overviewsfocusing on geologic context and palaeoecology (Hendey 1981fl, 19816, withreferences). The overwhelming majority of Langebaanweg fossils, including all thoseconsidered here, come from the Quartzose Sand Member (QSM) (older) andPelletal Phosphorite Member (PPM) (younger) of the Varswater Formation, asexposed in Langebaanweg E Quarry. There are no materials suitable forchronometric dating, but Hendeys analysis of the Langebaanweg stratigraphicsuccession in relation to global sea-level and chmatic events, together with thevertebrate taxa represented, indicate that the QSM and PPM both accumulatedapproximately 5 million years ago, or during the early
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