This archive report was first published on 9 August 2019.
On a dusty shelf in the Nairobi National Museum, a 23-million-year-old jawbone grinned from a bed of tattered foam, the only known remains of a prehistoric mega-carnivore, Simbakubwa kutokaafrika. This newly-discovered giant, larger than a polar bear, was declared a new species by researchers this year.
However, the fossils were not unearthed this year or even this decade. They weren't even found this century. For nearly 40 years, the specimens lived in a nondescript drawer in downtown Nairobi, a source of intrigue, dusted off on occasion for guests.
According to Kenyan paleontologist Job Kibii, the museum's paleontology department has tonnes and tonnes of specimens that haven't been analysed. "We've run out of space," Kibii said, pausing between dusty archival shelves crammed floor to ceiling with finds, dating back more than half a century.
The collection has grown exponentially, faster than Kibii and his team can keep up. Between 7,000 and 10,000 new fossils arrive at the lab every year, overwhelming his 15 staff who must painstakingly clean and log each specimen.
"We have fossils from the 1980s that have not been accessioned," said collections manager Francis Muchemi, chipping away at a giant elephant molar. The museum lacks specialists and resources, with only seven paleontologists in Kenya, and Kibii is one of them.
He hopes to acquire collapsable shelves to create space in the collection and a micro-CT scanner to allow a fresh look at the museum's most-forgotten corners. "Simbakubwa is telling a new story. What if, among these thousands, we have 10, 20, new stories that are lying, waiting to be told? That's always the mystery," Kibii said.
