Four new fossil sites from the late Miocene have been discovered in Gorongosa National Park using satellite imagery, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Dense, shrubby vegetation cover, riverine forests and scrub-covered termite mounds make it difficult to scan the Gorongosa landscape for clues to fossil deposits.
Advances in artificial intelligence, affordable computer power and access to satellite imagery make the discovery process easier for palaeoanthropologists and GIS technicians, who now use machine learning to improve visual analysis for remote fossil detection.
Africa’s Great Rift Valley, a key source of human fossil remains and one of the world’s most important palaeontological sites, runs through the heart of Gorongosa National Park.
The study is conceived, designed, authored and completed by Robert L. Anemone, Susana Carvalho and João d’Oliveira Coelho.
