PALEONILE

Evolution on the Nile: Faunal Regionalization and Continuity in the Pleistocene of Sudan

ERC Consolidator Grant 2022-2027 (extension expected)

Host Institute: Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin

Project partners: Robert Bussert, Technical University Berlin, Germany. Anne Delagnes, PACEA Lab, University of Bordeaux, France. Ali Eisawi, Al Neelain University, Sudan. Brian Kraatz, Western University of Health Sciences, USA. Khalafallah Salih, Al Neelain University, Sudan. Sumiko Tsukamoto, Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics, Hannover & University of Tübingen, Germany.

Project personnel: Elsiddig Abdallah, Hamad Hamdeen, Aisha Huseen, Mosab Mohammednoor, Khalafallah Salih, Manal Siyam, Junjie Zhang.

Crossing the Blue Nile by ferry near Al Rabwah. January 2023

The PALEONILE Project

PALEONILE is a five-year project that investigates the Pleistocene paleontology, geology, and archaeology of the Sudan. PALEONILE is funded by a European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant to Faysal Bibi (Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin), who leads the project in collaboration with colleagues at Al Neelain University in Khartoum, Sudan.

PALEONILE’s primary objective is to shed light on the history of the Nile Valley as a conduit for faunas and hominin culture over the last few hundred-thousand years. We know that the Nile has been in existence for millions of years, but the role of this – the longest river system in the world, spanning numerous climatic and ecological zones, and connecting central and eastern Africa to the Mediterranean – as a site for faunal and human evolution remains unknown.

Prior to PALEONILE, between 2018 and 2022, our team worked sediments along the middle stretches of the Atbara River in eastern Sudan, where we found numerous Pleistocene sites with fossil vertebrates and stone tools. That work was funded by a National Geographic Explorer’s Grant and a four-year project from the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft). Expanding significantly on this earlier work with the aim of conducting wide-ranging surveys across the entire Nile River valley in Sudan, PALEONILE was launched in December 2022.

Captions, top row: Surveying the eastern bank of the Blue Nile near Wad Rawah. Surveying exposures along the Blue Nile near Al Rabwah. Fossil crocodile tooth at Abu Hijar (Abu Hugar) (photo B. Kraatz). Bottom row: Exposures near Kaja on the Dinder River. Studying the section at Sinjah (Singa) from where a fossil human skull was discovered in the 1920s. All photos by F. Bibi unless otherwise noted.

The First PALEONILE Survey

In January-February 2023, the first of three large-scale PALEONILE surveys took place, tracing a loop south from Khartoum along the Blue Nile, across the Gezira to the White Nile, then northwards to the level of the Sixth Cataract and the Sabalokha area, a distance of over 1000 km. Among the most important stops were long-overdue revisits to the Blue Nile sites of Sinja (‘Singa’) and Abu Hijar (‘Abu Hugar’), from where a fossil assemblage including an archaic human skull was made in the early 20th Century, during British colonial times. The exact stratigraphic context, as well as the age of these important finds – made nearly 100 years ago – remains unknown. Our team’s visit succeeded in relocating fossil levels and in taking samples for age determination using optically stimulated luminescence.

The second and third PALEONILE surveys were scheduled for October-November 2023 and January-February 2024. Unfortunately, due to the outbreak of fighting in Sudan in April 2023, the fieldwork aspects of this project had to be temporarily suspended. We hope to return to Sudan soon. In the meantime, the analytical and team-building aspects of PALEONILE continue.

Publications

Salih, K., J. Müller, A. Eisawi, and F. Bibi. 2025. A new late Pleistocene fossil crocodile from Sudan reveals hidden diversity of Crocodylus in Africa. Scientific Reports 15:27433. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08980-6

Mohammednoor, M., F. Bibi, U. Struck, A. Eisawi, and R. Bussert. 2025. Pleistocene pedogenic carbonates from alluvial paleosols in eastern Sudan reveal a semi-arid and seasonal climate, similar to today. CATENA 248:108583. doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2024.108583

Mohammednoor, M., Bibi, F., Eisawi, A., Tsukamoto, S. and Bussert, R. 2024. Quaternary alluvial paleosols of the Atbara River, eastern Sudan: description and paleoenvironments. J. Quaternary Science, 39: 102-118. doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3574

Pre-PALEONILE Publications

Tsukamoto, S., R. Bussert, A. Delagnes, M. Richter, M. Mohammednoor, O. Bedri, B. Kraatz, J. Müller, K. Salih, A. Eisawi, and F. Bibi. 2022. Luminescence chronology of fossiliferous fluvial sediments along the middle Atbara River, Sudan. Quaternary Geochronology 71:101312. doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2022.101312

El Eshraky, K. 2022. A 3D Geometric Morphometric Analysis of Hippopotamid Crania. Master Thesis, Potsdam University, Potsdam, 51 pp.

Conference Presentations

Bibi, F., Abdallah, E., Bussert, R., Huseen, A., Kraatz, B., Müller, J., Tsukamoto, S., Salih, K., Zhang, J., and Eisawi, A. 2025. PALEONILE: A new window onto the Mid–Late Pleistocene of Northeast Africa. 85th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Birmingham, UK. [Poster]

Bibi, F. 2025. I’m just here for the fossils: Academic responsibility, political injustice, and the paleontologist as public intellectual. 85th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Birmingham, UK. [Poster]

Huseen, A., Bussert, R., Mohammednoor, M., Struck, U., Tsukamoto, S., Eisawi, A., and Bibi, F. 2025. Paleoenvironment of Pleistocene vertebrates from the middle Atbara River, eastern Sudan. 85th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Birmingham, UK. [Poster]

Faysal Bibi. Keynote: Divergence, Decline, and Deep Time: Morphological Signals of Ecosystem Change from the Nile Corridor to Pleistocene Africa. Invited keynote presentation. International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology. Online, 7-10 August 2025.

Faysal Bibi, Brian Kraatz, Robert Bussert, Anne Delagnes, Sumiko Tsukamoto, Marianne Brasil, Sakir Önder Özkurt, Jean-Renaud Boisserie, Antoine Souron, Johannes Müller, Khalafallah Salih, Ali Eisawi. 2024. A diverse vertebrate fauna from the Middle to Late Pleistocene of eastern Sudan. The Palaeontological Association 68th Annual Meeting, Erlangen, Germany. Oral presentation.

Khalafallah Salih, Johannes Müller, Ali Eisawi, Robert Bussert, Brian Kraatz, Sumiko Tsukamoto, Faysal Bibi. 2024. A new late Pleistocene fossil Crocodylus from Sudan reveals potential cryptic diversity in modern African crocodiles. The Palaeontological Association 68th Annual Meeting, Erlangen, Germany. Poster presentation.

Aisha Huseen, Ulrich Struck, Robert Bussert, Ali Eisawi, Faysal Bibi. Palaeo-seasonality through serial stable isotope analysis of Pleistocene to Recent Etheria elliptica shells from the middle Atbara River region, eastern Sudan. 2024. The Palaeontological Association 68th Annual Meeting, Erlangen, Germany. Poster presentation.

K. Salih, J. Müller, A. Eisawi, F. Bibi. 2024. A new late Pleistocene fossil Crocodylus from Sudan. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 84th Annual Meeting. Minneapolis, USA. Conference Abstracts. Poster.

Mohammednoor, M., Bussert, R., Tsukamoto, S., Kraatz, B., Müller, J., Salih, K., Struck, U., Eisawi, A., & Bibi, F. (2024). Quaternary alluvial paleosols of the Atbara River, eastern Sudan: description and paleoenvironments. Eastern African Association of Palaeoanthropologists and Palaeontologists (EAAPP), 9th Biennial Conference, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Oral Presentation.

Kraatz, B., Bibi, F., Bussert, R., Delagnes, A., Tsukamoto, S., Salih, K., & Eisawi, A. (2024). Fossil white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) from the later Pleistocene of Sudan. Eastern African Association of Palaeoanthropologists and Palaeontologists (EAAPP), 9th Biennial Conference, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Poster Presentation.

Bibi, F., Kraatz, B., Bedri, O., Boisserie, J.-R., Brasil, M., Bussert, R., Delagnes, A., Müller, J., Özkurt, S. Ö., Souron, A., Tsukamoto, S., Salih, K., & Eisawi, A. (2024). PALEONILE: paleontological and archaeological discoveries in the Middle to Late Pleistocene of Sudan. Eastern African Association of Palaeoanthropologists and Palaeontologists (EAAPP), 9th Biennial Conference, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Oral Presentation.

Brasil, M. F., Kraatz, B., Bussert, R., Tsukamoto, S., Salih, K., Eisawi, A., & Bibi, F. (2024). Newly recovered primate fossils from the Middle to Late Pleistocene of the middle Atbara River, eastern Sudan. Eastern African Association of Palaeoanthropologists and Palaeontologists (EAAPP), 9th Biennial Conference, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Poster Presentation.

Zhang, J., Tsukamoto, S., Bussert, R., Kraatz, B., Salih, K., Eisawi, A., & Bibi, F. (2024). New age constraints for the Singa hominid. Eastern African Association of Palaeoanthropologists and Palaeontologists (EAAPP), 9th Biennial Conference, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Poster Presentation.

Bussert, R., Tsukamoto, S., Mohammednoor, M., Kraatz, B., Müller, J., Salih, K., Eisawi, A., & Bibi, F. (2024). Quaternary paleoenvironments along the middle Atbara River, eastern Sudan. Eastern African Association of Palaeoanthropologists and Palaeontologists (EAAPP), 9th Biennial Conference, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Oral Presentation.

F. Bibi, B. Kraatz, O. Bedri, J.-R. Boisserie, M. Brasil, R. Bussert, A. Delagnes, J. Müller, S. Önder Özkurt, A. Souron, S. Tsukamoto, K. Salih, A. Eisawi. 2023. Faunal and Human Evolution in the Middle to Late Pleistocene of Sudan. XXI INQUA Congress, Rome (International Union for Quaternary Research). Keynote oral presentation.

S. Tsukamoto, R. Bussert, A. Delagnes, B. Kraatz, K. Salih, A. Eisawi, F.Bibi. 2023. Establishing a robust chronology for faunal and human evolution in the middle Atbara Valley, Sudan. XXI INQUA Congress, Rome (International Union for Quaternary Research). Poster presentation.

Robert Bussert, Mosab Mohammednoor, Ali Eisawi, Omer El Badri, Anne Delagnes, Brian Kraatz, Khalafallah Salih, Sumiko Tsukamoto, Faysal Bibi. 2023. The Mid to Late Pleistocene Atbara River basin in eastern Sudan as a habitat for hominins. XXI INQUA Congress, Rome (International Union for Quaternary Research). Oral presentation.

Mosab Mohammednoor, Robert Bussert, Sumiko Tsukamoto, Omer El Badri, Aisha Hessen, Brian Kraatz, Johannes Müller, Khalafallah Salih, Ulrich Struck, Ali Eisawi, Faysal Bibi. 2023. Middle to Late Pleistocene alluvial paleosols in eastern Sudan as indicators of palaeoclimate. XXI INQUA Congress, Rome (International Union for Quaternary Research). Oral presentation.

Pre-PALEONILE Conference Presentations

Mohammednoor, Mosab; Bussert, Robert; Tsukamoto, Sumiko; Bedri, Omer; Kraatz, Brian; Müller, Johannes; Salih, Khalafallah; Struck, Ulrich ; Eisawi, Ali; Bibi, Faysal. Paleoclimate reconstruction using middle to late Pleistocene alluvial paleosols of the middle Atbara River in Eastern Sudan. Deutsche Quartärvereinigung- German Quaternary association (DEUQUA) Conference. September, 2022. Poster presentation.

Bibi. F., Tsukamoto, S., and Atbara project members (2022). The evolutionary history of an unexplored region: Luminescence dating of fluvial sediments in the Atbara Valley, Sudan. Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics Seminar (online, oral), 28.06.2022

A. Delagnes, O. Khaleel, X. Muth, R. Bussert, S. Tsukamoto, O. Bedri, B. Kraatz, J. Müller, K. Salih, A. Eisawi, F. Bibi (2022). A new Late Acheulean assemblage from the Middle Atbara, Sudan. 16th Congress of the Pan African Archaeological Association for Prehistory and Related Studies, Zanzibar (Tanzania), 7-12 Aug 2022.

Robert Bussert, Mosab Mohammednoor, Faysal Bibi, Anne Delagnes, Sumiko Tsukamoto, Omar Bedri, Brian Kraatz, Ignacio Lazagabaster, Johannes Müller, Khalaf Salih, Ali Eisawi. 2021. The Pleistocene sediments of the Palaeoatbara in eastern Sudan as an archive for the evolution of the Nile river system. GeoKarlsruhe 2021 (Deutsche Geologische Gesellschaft)

M. Mohammednoor, R. Bussert, S. Tsukamoto, M. Richter, O. El Bedri, B. Kraatz, K. Salih, J. Müller, A. Eisawi, F. Bibi. 2021. Paleoclimate reconstruction using Pleistocene paleosols along the middle Atbara River in Eastern Sudan. 2nd DGGV Early Career Sedimentologist Meeting (Deutsche Geologische Gesellschaft). doi: 10.48380/dggv-p0xq-bk61

Robert Bussert, Mosab Mohammednoor, Faysal Bibi, Anne Delagnes, Sumiko Tsukamoto, Omar Bedri, Brian Kraatz, Ignacio Lazagabaster, Johannes Müller, Khalaf Salih, Ali Eisawi. 2021. Die pleistozänen Sedimente des Paläoatbara im Ostsudan als Archiv für die Entwicklung des Nil-Flusssystems. 40. Jahrestagung der Afrikagruppe deutscher Geowissenschaftler (AdG)

Faysal Bibi, Robert Bussert, Anne Delagnes, Sumiko Tsukamoto, Omar Bedri, Brian Kraatz, Ignacio Lazagabaster, Mosab Mohammednoor, Johannes Müller, Khalafallah Salih, Ali Eisawi. 2021. New Mid to Late Pleistocene fauna and lithics from the Middle Atbara, Sudan. 81st Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (online).

B. Kraatz, O. Bedri, R. Bussert, A. Delagnes, A. Eisawi, I.A. Lazagabaster, M. Mohammednoor, J. Müller, K. Salih, S. Tsukamoto, F. Bibi. 2021. New Late Pleistocene fossil rodent remains from the middle Atbara, Sudan. 81st Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (online).

Tsukamoto, S., R. Bussert, A. Delagnes, M. Richter, M. Mohammednoor, O. Bedri, B. P. Kraatz, I. A. Lazagabaster, J. Müller, K. A. O. Salih, A. Eisawi, and F. Bibi. 2021. Luminescence Chronology of Fossiliferous Fluvial Sediments in the Middle Atbara River, Sudan. 16th International Luminescence and Electron Spin Resonance Dating conference (LED2021)

F.Bibi, R. Bussert, A. Delagnes, S. Tsukamoto, Omar Bedri, B. Kraatz, I. A. Lazagabaster, M. Mohammednoor, J. Müller, K. Salih, A. Eisawi. 2021. New Mid to Late Pleistocene Fauna and Lithics from the Middle Atbara, Sudan. 18th Conference of the European Association of Vertebrate Paleontologists (EAVP), online.

S. Tsukamoto, R. Bussert, M. Richter, M. Alamin Mohammednoor, O. Bedri, B. Kraatz, J. Müller, K. Salih, A. Eisawi, F. Bibi. 2020. Luminescence chronology of fossiliferous fluvial sediments in the upper Atbara River, Sudan. – German Luminescence and ESR Dating Meeting, 27.-29.11.2020; online

Funding

2022-2027

2018-2022