Abstract Compared to other continents, the study of indigenous (non-western) knowledge of palaeontology in Africa is a relatively new field. The literature reviewed here nevertheless suggests a long-lasting string of traditions, geomyths and folklore related to fossilized items on the whole continent and encompassing many African cultures. It is often difficult to estimate the antiquity of these traditions, but the evidence gathered here suggests that they range from the 1800s to pre-colonial times, and up to many millennia. Palaeontological items were collected and used for a variety of reasons, but the African record seems unusual for its scarce use of fossils for traditional medicine. Also, despite substantial efforts, some famous localities with conspicuous fossils still remain without any documented indigenous knowledge. We stress that documenting fossil-related folklore and geomyths is not only a matter of preserving this knowledge or promoting diversity, but is also crucial for establishing strong bonds with local stakeholders to encourage preservation of geoheritage and discover new sites.

Abstract In this paper, we trace the saga of the rocks and fossils discovered along Stevenson Road, northern Malawi. Fish and bivalves discovered along the road were proclaimed the first fossils of Central Africa. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, they became a large part of the ‘Tanganyika Problem’, the notion of whether a Jurassic incursion of the sea left fossils in what is now Malawi and relict marine invertebrates in Lake Tanganyika. Later studies clarified both the geology and zoology of the region, but no more informative fossils were found in Malawi until 2016 when a specimen of Eunotosaurus was discovered by a herdsman in the original nineteenth century fossil locality. He presented the fossil to the Cultural and Museum Centre Karonga, the public face of geoheritage in Malawi. That specimen constrains the upper age limit of the site to approximately 259 Ma (Late Permian). The Tanganyika Problem is now largely of historical interest, yet in a more current multidisciplinary context – the timing and mechanisms of the evolutionary transition of clades from the marine realm into freshwater biomes open new questions about historical biogeography in a geological context.