Since 1989, a geological and paleontological expedition has been carried out in the Zaire an part of the Western Rift Valley. During two field seasons, more than 600 fossil remains were collected in the Sinda basin, Gaty, Haut-Zaire, mainly
as surface finds. This fossil collection contains 52 mammalian fossils which comprise the following taxa; Agriotherium, four
proboscideangroups such as Prodeinotherium, Anancus, Mammuthus subplanifrons andStegodon kaisensis, two Rhinocerotidae, i.e., Aceratherium and Brachypotherium, Sivatherium, Hippopotamus, and a bovid. The Sinda fauna is composed of both Miocene and Pliocene mammals and suggest that the strata including the fossils are of late Miocene to early Pliocene in age. This fauna resembles that from the Nkondo formation which is located in the Ugandan side of the Western Rift Valley. The composition of the fauna from the Sinda area may indicate a different paleoenvironment (probably more humid) in this area from that in contemporary East Africa.