Composition des faunes de mammifères quaternaires en Chine selon un gradient Nord-Sud

During Pleistocene Epoch, quite a number of meridionale mammals inhabited north China, such as Stegodon, Macaca, Hystrix, Dicerorhinus, Bubalus and several kinds of other probscideans. On the contrary, some boreal mammals once appeared in south China, such as Megaloceros and Ursus arctos etc. The frequent appearance of warm-adapted mammals in North China can be explained by two alternative assumptions: one is that those mammals were of palearctic origin; the other is the climate-driven northward dispersal. According to the fossil evidences, it seems that the northward dispersal events were much more frequent than the southward ones during Pleistocene in China. It maybe means that during Pleistocene, the temperature fluctuated very frequently and the boundary between the Paleartic and Oriental Regions were always keeping on shifting. But it's still not clear how many episodes or phases of such dispersal events had occurred. The Qinling Mountains weren't responsible for the faunal differentiation between the North and the South, neither was the Yangtze River; because the former is not big enough, and the latter cannot be regarded as an efficient barrier for those animals, which are capable of flying and swimming. Maybe the climate zonation is the root cause of zoogeographical changes.     

A tale of the nearly tail‐less: the effects of Plio‐Pleistocene climate change on the diversification of the African avian genus Sylvietta

Sylvietta is a broadly distributed group of African species inhabiting a wide range of habitats and presents an interesting opportunity to investigate the historic mechanisms that have impacted the biogeography of African avian species. We collected sequence data from 50 individuals and used model‐based phylogenetic methods, molecular divergence estimates and ancestral area estimates to construct a time‐calibrated phylogeny and estimation of biogeographic history. We estimate a southern African origin for Sylvietta, with an initial divergence splitting the genus into two clades. The first consists of arid‐adapted species, with a southern African origin and subsequent diversification north into Ethiopia–Somalia. The second clade is estimated as having a Congolian forest origin with an eastward pattern of colonization and diversification as a result of Plio‐Pleistocene forest dynamics. Additionally, two members of the genus Sylvietta display interesting patterns of intraspecific diversification. Sylvietta rufescens is an arid‐adapted species inhabiting southern Africa, and we recover two subclades with a divergence dating to the Pleistocene, a unique pattern for avian species which may be explained via isolation in arid habitat fragments in the early Pleistocene. Second, Sylvietta virens, a species endemic to Afro‐tropical forests, is recovered with geographically structured genetic diversification across its broad range, an interesting result given that recent investigations of several avian forest species have found similar and substantial geographically structured genetic diversity relating to Plio‐Pleistocene forest fragmentation. Overall, Plio‐Pleistocene habitat cycling played a significant role in driving diversification in Sylvietta, and this investigation highlights the substantial impact of climate‐driven habitat dynamics on the history of sub‐Saharan species.     

Un nouveau Bovini dans la faune du Pléistocène supérieur d’Algérie

During the study of the Quaternary Maghrebian bovines in 1985, the review of the Bovini (aurochs and buffalos) found in Upper Pleistocene sites of Algeria showed that in comparison with most of the African bovine assemblage the attribution of genus Pelorovis to the species antiquus was inappropriate. The biometric and cladistic data revealed a close kinship with genus Syncerus. Later, other authors’conclusions confirmed its relevance. The antique buffalo of the Aterian site of the Phacochoeri has all the characteristics of genus Syncerus, but is different in that it shows a certain number of specific characteristics described in this article.     

Pleistocene Carnivora (Mammalia) from Tighennif (Ternifine), Algeria

The site of Tighennif (= Ternifine) in Northern Algeria, well-known for its Homo mauritanicus (= Homo rhodesiensis?) remains, and probably dating to the late Calabrian, yielded a large assemblage of terrestrial carnivores. Some are identical or probably identical with extant species: Crocuta crocuta and Hyaena hyaena (Hyaenidae), Felis silvestris (Felidae), Mellivora capensis and Poecilictis cf. libyca (Mustelidae), and Vulpes cf. rueppelli (Canidae). In addition, among felids there is an unidentified leopard-like form; a smaller, more common species assigned to Lynx sp. (a genus quite rare in Africa) but which is certainly different from modern forms, an Homotherium that seems to be the last occurrence of the machairodonts in Africa, and a Panthera aff. leo, which is unfortunately too poorly known to be named. Rare bears do not display all derived features of later North African U. bibersoni. Among canids, the Nyctereutes-like jackal Lupulella mohibi is an endemic North African form known until the late middle Pleistocene, and the hunting dog Lycaon magnus is also clearly distinct from the modern species. A single new species is described, Enhydrictis hoffstetteri, a large, otter-like member of the Mustelidae, of a genus that was previously unknown from Africa, and certainly testifies to North–South dispersal across the Mediterranean at some time during the early Pleistocene.     

A revision of the fossil Canidae (Mammalia) of north‐western Africa

Abstract: The fossil record of the Canidae in North‐western Africa begins near the Miocene–Pliocene boundary with a form close to Nyctereutes, a genus best known in the late Pliocene of Ahl al Oughlam. This site yields two other canids. Vulpes hassani sp. nov. is a small fox, probably ancestral to the modern V. rueppelli, recorded from the Middle Pleistocene onwards. Lupulella paralius sp. nov. is a primitive jackal that probably belongs to the clade of modern African jackals. In the middle Pleistocene, the most common canid is Lupulella mohibi sp. nov., remarkable by its Nyctereutes‐like dentition and primitive skull‐features. These are all endemic forms, but V. vulpes and C. aureus, of northern origin, appear in the course of the middle Pleistocene. Lycaon has a sparse record in the middle and late Pleistocene.     

The fossil vertebrate locality Kossom Bougoudi,Djurab desert,Chad: A window in the distribution of the carnivoran faunas at the Mio–Pliocene boundary in Africa

The fossil vertebrate bearing locality Kossom Bougoudi (KB) is situated in the Djurab desert (Chad, Africa), 600 km north-east of N’djamena. It has yielded about 1250 specimens with many mammalian remains, principally artiodactyls. Its geologic age has been estimated to be about 5 Ma by biochronologic estimation and about 5.3 Ma by radiometric studies on cosmogenic nuclides of beryllium (authigenic ¹⁰B/⁹B). The carnivoran fauna contains few specimens which belong to five different families. All the taxa were unknown in central Africa. A large lutrine is close to Sivaonyx but different from known species of the genus. Another large lutrine is similar by its size to a species described from the Middle Pliocene of Uganda. An edentulous mandible of a small machairodont cat resembles a small species of Dinofelis, while a distal humerus indicates the presence of a larger member of the same genus. A hunting hyaenid is also much like the European species. An unidentified canid reaches the size of the recent Canis aureus and an isolated calcaneum matches that of the large extant viverrid. This small fauna allows a first look at the guild of the carnivorans at the Latest Miocene–Pliocene boundary in Central Africa and is a milestone between North African, East African and South African carnivore faunas.     

New analysis of the Pleistocene carnivores from Petralona Cave (Macedonia, Greece) based on the Collection of the Thessaloniki Aristotle University

New taxonomic study of the “old collection” of Carnivora from Petralona Cave, associated to the well-known hominid skull, housed in the Geology School of the Thessaloniki Aristotle University since 1960, revealed 11 species (Canis arnensis, Lycaon lycaonoides, Vulpes praeglacialis, Ursus deningeri, U. spelaeus, U. arctos, Pliocrocuta perrieri, Pachycrocuta brevirostris, Crocuta crocuta, Panthera leo spelaea, and Felis silvestris), which are described in detail. The species composition is typical of the eastern part of the European Mediterranean and may be divided into three biostratigraphic assemblages: early Middle Pleistocene, late Middle Pleistocene and Late Pleistocene.     

L'hominidé du Pléistocène supérieur en Corée

Since the middle of 1970s, one rock-shelter, six caves and one open archaeological site have yielded several hominid fossils. Among them, fossils from Yonggok, Mandal, Sangsi and Hungsu cave sites are useful to reconstruct the general shape of the Upper Pleistocene Hominids in Korea. The main study of this paper is to focus on the reconstruction of the general shape of the upper Pleistocene hominids, and to examine the cause of cranial changes from the late upper Paleolithic to Mesolithic period in Korea. Biomechanical principles are also applied to reconstruct the social activity of the upper Paleolithic man in Korea. In addition, it is assumed that main proponent of Paleolithic cultures in Korea might be Homo sapiens rather than any other species. Based on the anatomical characteristics of skull, the axillary border of the scapular and the midshaft of the femur, general appearance of Homo sapiens during the Pleistocene in Korea could be reconstructed.     

Creodonts and carnivores from the Middle Miocene Muruyur Formation at Kipsaraman and Cheparawa,Baringo District,Kenya

The Middle Miocene Muruyur Formation (ca 14.5 Ma), Tugen Hills, Kenya, has yielded a huge creodont and a variety of carnivores ranging in size from mongoose-sized viverrids and herpestids to lion-sized amphicyonids. The fauna partly fills what used to be a major gap in our knowledge of Neogene African carnivores, spanning the period between the better known Early Miocene assemblages of western Kenya and eastern Uganda, and the Late Miocene and Plio–Pleistocene faunas of East Africa. Present in the deposits are Megistotherium, two species of Hecubides, one species of Agnotherium, Herpestes, Vishnuictis, and one or two undetermined felids.     

Evolution of the non-Coelodonta dicerorhine lineage in China

In China, the non-Coelodonta dicerorhines are too diverse to be placed entirely in the genus Dicerorhinus. Most of the Pleistocene species should be transferred to the European genus Stephanorhinus because they differ from the Dicerorhinus species. Those differences include a much larger body size, a dolicocephalic skull, the absence of incisors, a partially ossified nasal septum, a closed subaural channel, a more anteriorly positioned infraorbital foramen, and a robust postglenoid process combined with a less developed paroccipital process. However, the cranium once referred to Rhinoceros sinensis from the Yunxian Man Site should be transferred to Dicerorhinus because of the presence of smaller incisors, an open subaural channel, a high and nearly vertical occipital face, and the more anterior position of the anterior root of the zygomatic arch. In China, the interspecific differences among the Stephanorhinus species are more striking than among those of Europe. The evolution of the non-Coelodonta dicerorhines in China was punctuated around the Plio/Pleistocene transition, and it seems difficult to link the diverse Pleistocene dicerorhines with the indigenous Neogene ones. The generic attributions of the Neogene dicerorhines require further study.     

Réévaluation de la présence humaine au Pléistocène inférieur dans le Sud de l'Espagne

The Early Pleistocene locality at Venta Micena (Orce, Guadix-Baza basin, province of Granada, Spain) has provided four fossil remains - skull fragment VM-0, and long bone diaphyses VM-1960, VM-3691, and VM-12000 - which have been tentatively attributed to the hominids. Although several methodologies have been used to ascertain the human affinities of these specimens - including anatomical, morphometric and immunological analyses - the results obtained have not been conclusive, instigating a persistent debate. A taphonomic approach is used here for estimating the probability that a taxon the size of Homo sp. (~ 50 kg) could be represented in the fossil assemblage by four bone fragments and no tooth remain. A least-squares regression analysis between the percentage of teeth and the body mass estimated for each taxon of large mammals (N = 20) predicts a raw abundance of six teeth for Homo sp. in the assemblage. Given that up to the present moment no tooth remains attributable to the hominids has been unearthed during systematic excavations in the Venta Micena quarry, which has provided more than 15,000 fossils of large mammals, this argues strongly against the possibility that the three bone specimens could belong to Homo sp. The phalanx CV-0 from the Early Pleistocene site of Cueva Victoria (Cartagena, Spain) has also been attributed to the genus Homo. The taxonomic assignment of this specimen is biased, however, because it was not compared with Theropithecus oswaldi, the only primate species actually recorded from this karstic locality. A comparative anatomical and morphometric analysis of fossil and modern specimens of Theropithecus suggests that CV-0 can be attributed to T. oswaldi. As a result, Cueva Victoria does not contribute additional information concerning the first human settlements in Europe. By these reasons, apart from the paleoanthropological and archaeological findings from Atapuerca (TD lower levels and Sima del Elefante), the rich archaeological assemblages from Barranco León and Fuente Nueva-3 in Orce, dated 1.3-1.2 Myrs, which include fourteen hundred stone tools of Oldowan technology, constitute at present the only unequivocal evidence of human presence in Southeast Spain during Early Pleistocene times.     

Mid-Pliocene Carnivora from the Woranso-Mille Area,Afar Region,Ethiopia

The Woranso-Mille paleontological study area, located in the central Afar region of Ethiopia, is one of the most important Pliocene sites in eastern Africa. Since the Woranso-Mille Research Project began its investigation in 2005, more than 7,500 mammalian fossils, including hominins, have been collected from 80 vertebrate localities. This paper provides a preliminary assessment of the Woranso-Mille carnivoran record, a record that is of great interest given the high level of species richness of African carnivorans during the middle Pliocene. Craniodental and postcranial material of canids, lutrine mustelids, viverrids, herpestids, machairodontine and feline felids, and hyaenids has been recovered. Thus, this diverse fauna includes not only the largest carnivorans from this time period (e.g., Enhydriodon and Homotherium), but also some of the smallest, including mongooses, civets, genets, and felids, some of which represent new species. However, the diversity of small taxa does not yet approach that found in the roughly contemporaneous Upper Laetolil Beds of Tanzania. In contrast, lutrine mustelids are better represented at Woranso-Mille than at Kanapoi (Kenya) or Laetoli (Tanzania), which is to be expected given the diversity of habitats represented at these sites. While more material from these sites and others are necessary to truly understand the increased diversity within the early to middle Pliocene eastern African carnivoran guild, it is clear that the material from Woranso-Mille has the potential to fill many of the gaps in our knowledge of carnivorans during this time period.     

Taxonomie du grand canidé de la grotte du Vallonnet (Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Alpes-Maritimes, France)

The large canid of Vallonnet cave belongs to Xenocyon lycaonoides. Its remains are similar to the Xenocyon from Untermassfeld in Germany. X. Lycaonoides, and evoluated form of the Xenocyon genus, is characteristic of the second half of the Lower Pleistocene. The genus Xenocyon may be the ancestor of both Cuon and Lycaon.     

Molecular phylogenetics of mouse opossums: new findings on the phylogeny of Thylamys (Didelphimorphia,Didelphidae)

The mouse opossums of the genus Thylamys constitute a group of species mainly adapted to open xeric‐like habitats and restricted to the southern portion of South America. We used molecular data (mitochondrial and nuclear sequences) to evaluate the phylogenetic and biogeographical relationships of all currently known living species of the genus, recognizing a new taxon from the middle and high elevations of the Peruvian Andes and evaluating the phylogenetic structuring within T. pallidior and T. elegans, as well as the validity of T. sponsorius, T. cinderella and T. tatei, and the haplogroups recognized within T. pusillus. Our results confirm the monophyly of the genus and that the Caatinga and the Cerrado inhabitants Thylamys karimii and T. velutinus are the most basal species in the radiation of Thylamys. We also calibrated a molecular clock which hypothesized a time of origin of the genus of about 24 My, with most species differentiating in middle and late Miocene and Plio‐Pleistocene times of South America.     

Tragelaphus nakuae: evolutionary change,biochronology, and turnover in the African Plio‐Pleistocene

Fossil Bovidae constitute one of the most significant proxy records for evolutionary and palaeoecological change in Africa. Tragelaphus nakuae is a regularly encountered antelope in the East African Plio‐Pleistocene, and is a common component of hominin faunas. As previously understood, this species ranged for almost 2 million years, encompassed a large range of morphological variation, exhibited relative stasis in the face of environmental perturbations, and left no known living descendants. I here review and revise the fossil record of this tragelaphin bovid, finding that specimens older than ～2.8 Mya and previously attributed to T. nakuae or a close form are in fact referable to a distinct, but ancestral, species. This new interpretation adds these fossil tragelaphins to the body of evidence supporting major faunal turnover occurring around 2.8 Mya in concert with global climatic change. I also document morphological changes that occur through the duration of T. nakuae, particularly after 2.3 Mya. These taxonomic revisions allow for refined biochronological estimates for several East African Plio‐Pleistocene sites and specimen assemblages of uncertain age. A phylogenetic analysis suggests that the T. nakuae lineage is related to the extant bongo (Tragelaphus eurycerus), relating this living but enigmatic forest antelope to the fossil record. One resulting palaeoecological hypothesis is that the bongo's modern fragmented range represents the relicts of a much more widely distributed late Pliocene African forest belt. This study highlights the importance of specimen‐based approaches for elucidating the pattern and timing of major evolutionary events. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 162 , 699–711.     

Biochronologie mammalienne du Quaternaire du Maroc atlantique, dans son cadre régional

Recent researches conducted in Morocco in the frame of the “Programme Casablanca” provide a firm ground to set up a biochronology of the Pliocene and Pleistocene based upon the succession of Mammalian faunas, thanks to the occurrence of well-dated landmarks, and despite very scarce absolute datations. The site of Lissasfa, dated to the Miocene-Pliocene boundary by rodents, testifies to important exchanges with Europe. That of Ahl al Oughlam yielded more than 100 vertebrate species. The evolutionary stages of its rodents, carnivores, bovids, Kolpochoerus, as well as the absence of Equus, allow us to refer it to the late Pliocene, at ca. 2.5 Ma. The Thomas and Oulad Hamida quarries in Casablanca cut through a unique succession of marine and continental levels going back to the lower Pleistocene, yielding the earliest evidence of human presence in Morocco. Later stages of this human occupation are documented by the Middle Pleistocene levels of these quarries, and by several other sites, most of which are also located in the Rabat-Casablanca region, thus confirming the importance of this coastal area in human history. However, the first chapter of this history in North-western Africa, at present illustrated by the sites of Aïn Hanech and Mansourah in Algeria, remains poorly documented in Morocco.     

The Pachycrocuta and Hyaena lineages (plio-pleistocene and extant species of the Hyaenidae). Their relationships with miocene ictitheres: Palhyaena and Hyaenictitherium

The large «crocutoïd hyaenas from the Plio-Pleistocenedeposits of Eurasia do not belong to the same lineage as the extant species Hyaena hyaena and must be referred to the genus PachycrocutaKretzoi, of which an emended diagnosis is given. This revision takes into account some undescribed or ill-known specimens from Russia, China and Africa. They definitely establish that Pachycrocuta ranged over Eurasia, from West Europe to East China, as early as the early Villafranchian at least, and that it was present in North Africa too; a large sample from the Odessa Catacombs affords an estimation of the intraspecific variation in the Ruscinian species, H. pyrenaica, known until now by only a few specimens from the western part of the Mediterranean basin, and it shows H. pyrenaica to be the ancestral form of the Villafranchian Eurasian species P. perrieri, from which derived P. brevirostris, the last species of the lineage, as previously shown by other authors.It appears that the “Hyaena lineage evolved simultaneously in Africa; we knew already that the root of this lineage is H. abronia, a species from the late Miocene of South Africa whose generic attribution is discussed relative to some Ictitheres from Shan-Si, Samos, Sahabi and Klein Zee. The hypothesis of a common African origin of the two lineages is not excluded, if not demonstrated. The relationships of the Pleistocene European species H. prisca and that of the extant African species H. brunnea are discussed.     

Pléistocène moyen et inférieur dans le Latium (Italie centrale)

Explorations and diggings of the Italian Institute of Human Palaeontology in Latium from 1950 to 2005, have brought out the following composite sequence: (1) for upper-middle Pleistocene of northern Latium: Travertine, gravels Acheulian-Mousterian transition, Riss. Homo (femur), Elephas antiquus, Hippopotamus, Bubalus murrensis, with upper Acheulian artefacts. (2) In middle Latium, middle Pleistocene: Volcanoclastic K-Ar 360 Ky. Below: Lower Acheulian complex and bone artefacts. Homo, Inuus, Elephas antiquus, Ursus deningeri, Dama clactoniana. Volcanic ash with Zelkowa, Buxus: caucasian flora. Hot pyroclastic flow about 15 m (50 feet) thick between 520 and 530 Ky. Limno-tuffite with Taxodiacea flora Lower-middle Pleistocene choppers artefacts below volcanic limit of 700 Ky. Southern Latium, lower Pleistocene: travertine reed Phragmites fragments. Ceprano hominid calvarium 800-900 Ky old. Gravel with chopper artefacts. Red sand with Unio shells. Lower palaeolithic gravelly sand, with very rough choppers artefacts, at Arce, Colle Marino, Colle Pece localities; at Castro dei Volsci chopper, assemblage is more evolved. Unconformity. Yellow sand layer with middle Villafranchian Anancus arvernensis and Mammuthus meridionalis fauna.