Soricid remains collected from Bed I of Olduvai Gorge are described. The great majority of the specimens are mandibles. A survey of the mandibles of living African species revealed many differences in characters of the lower teeth and jaw that can be used for identification. On the basis of these characters, nine species are distinguished in the Olduvai collection, of which six are well enough preserved to permit a discussion of their relationships to living species. Three new species and one new subspecies are described. All the Olduvai shrews differ in some respects from their nearest living relatives; three species are close to species from Makapansgat, Swartkrans and Sterkfontein, RSA, though there appear to be slight differences. A change in the soricid fauna takes place within Bed I, interpreted as due to increasing aridity.

Eighteen graded non-metric characters and 30 measurements of the mandible and lower dentition were used to investigate the grouping of African species of the genera Crocidura, Suncus and Syluisorex. Seventy-seven taxa (species, subspecies and synonyms), including four European species, were represented by one to nine mandibles (147 mandibles in all), and the means of four Pleistocene African species were also included. The metric data were subjected to principal component and canonical variate analyses, and the non-metric data to principal component analysis. Grouping was detected by comparing the results of the three analyses. Six groups are recognized within the genus Crocidura, typified by C. fumosa, C. turba, C. russula, C. fuscomunna, C. hirta and C.Jauescens. Syluisorex is divisible into two groups, typified by S. lunaris and S. granti. The African species of Suncus (but not the introduced species, S. murinus) form a single group, which is linked to the Sylvisorex granti group.Suncus is closely related to, or convergent with, the Crocidura fuscomurina group. The first non-metric principal component, the second metric principal component and the second canonical variate are significantly correlated. It is considered that these together represent a general trend of evolutionary advance. Phylogenetic relations are discussed in the light of this; Crocidura may be diphyletic.

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Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania is most famous for producing some of the first discoveries of fossil hominins in East Africa. Zinjanthropus (= Paranthropus) boisei was initially discovered in 1959 from Olduvai Bed I. During screen-washing operations to search for more hominin material at Olduvai, an associated faunal assemblage was accumulated including 40 numbered specimens of fossil bats. Except for seven dental specimens, this collection consists entirely of postcrania, almost exclusively complete or fragmentary humeri representing both proximal and distal ends. Although briefly discussed in preliminary reports, these specimens have remained undescribed for over 50 years and have never been comprehensively compared to extant species. Our analyses indicate that the Olduvai bat fossils represent five families and nine genera, and include four new species: Myzopoda africana, n. sp., Cardioderma leakeyi, n. sp., Scotoecus olduvensis, n. sp., and Nycticeinops serengetiensis, n. sp. The Olduvai bat fossils come from the FLK North 1 and FLK NN1 levels, both of early Pleistocene age, and ranging between 1.80 and 1.85 Ma based on 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dating techniques, respectively. Compared to the meager Pleistocene bat record from elsewhere on mainland Africa, the Olduvai bat assemblage, although richer, is similar in the predominance of vespertilionids. The East African Olduvai bat fauna differs from Pleistocene faunas from South Africa in including both Myzopoda and Cardioderma but lacking both hipposiderids and rhinolophids. These taxonomic differences are likely the result of differential sampling due to variation in roosting site preferences (cave-dwelling vs. non-cave-dwelling taxa) and foraging habitats (open vs. forested) in East and South Africa.