10.1594/PANGAEA.995255Tweedy, RuthRuthTweedy0000-0001-8764-3137Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Harvard UniversityLamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, New YorkShi, SarahSarahShiLamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, New YorkUno, KevinKevinUnoHarvard UniversityLamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, New YorkPANGAEA2026Africamodern samplesn-alkanespaleoecologyPlant waxEvent labelLatitude of eventLongitude of eventDate/Time of eventReference/sourceSpeciesFamilySubfamilyDomain, plantsMonocotyledons/dicotyledonsGrowth habitPhotosynthetic pathwayLocationn-Alkane C10, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C11, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C12, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C13, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C14, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C15, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C16, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C17, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C18, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C19, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C20, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C21, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C22, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C23, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C24, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C25, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C26, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C27, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C28, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C29, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C30, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C31, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C32, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C33, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C34, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C35, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C36, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C37, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C38, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C39, biomass, dry massn-Alkane C40, biomass, dry massSum n-alkane (C25-C35), biomass, dry massn-Alkane C25, relative proportionn-Alkane C27, relative proportionn-Alkane C29, relative proportionn-Alkane C31, relative proportionn-Alkane C33, relative proportionn-Alkane C35, relative proportionn-Alkane, average odd chain length (C25-C35)Carbon Preference Index, n-alkanes (C25-C35)Field samplingGas chromatography (GC), Agilent, 7890A equipped with a mass selective detector (MSD), Agilent, 5975CCalculatedLT_2019_PlantNGR_2019_PlantSNR_2001_2002_Plant2001-10-06T00:00:00/2019-11-09T00:00:00Dataset10.1016/j.orggeochem.2026.1052957128 data pointstext/tab-separated-valuesCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 InternationalThis dataset comprises plant wax n-alkane concentrations (C₂₅ - C₃₅) and corresponding relative abundances for 148 modern African angiosperm samples, including trees, shrubs, grasses, herbs, vines, and palms. Samples were collected from three regions: Samburu National Reserve (SNR) in Kenya (n = 99), Lothagam in Kenya (n = 1), and multiple locations across Niger (n = 48). The SNR samples were collected between October 2001 and August 2002 and include repeated sampling of the same individual plants, allowing assessment of temporal variability in n-alkane distributions. The Lothagam and Niger samples were collected in April and November 2019, respectively. All specimens were identified to at least the family level, with most resolved to genus or species, and are accompanied by metadata including plant functional type and photosynthetic pathway. Sample preparation and analysis were conducted at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory between 2018 and 2021. n-Alkanes were quantified using gas chromatography with a mass selective detector (GC-MSD) and flame ionization detector (FID). Response factor corrections were applied to peak areas to obtain concentration values. Odd-carbon-number n-alkanes (C₂₅ - C₃₅) were normalized to unit sum to generate relative abundance distributions. Trees, shrubs, and grasses from this dataset formed part of the training and validation data for Tweedy et al. (2026), where machine learning models differentiated African woody and grassy samples with up to 89% validation accuracy. The 19 herb, palm, and vine samples included here are unique to this dataset and not published elsewhere. This dataset provides a reference for evaluating n-alkane chemotaxonomic signals and supports applications in vegetation reconstruction.2.10929837.5280.568316.990325National Science Foundationhttps://doi.org/10.13039/100000001EAR 19-45446CAREER: Developing novel biomarker proxies to constrain Neogene changes in African woody cover and paleoecological contexts of hominin evolution