New material of Chalicotheriidae (Perissodactyla,Mammalia) from the Late Miocene of Axios Valley,Macedonia (Greece) with the description of a new species

Chalicotheriids are rare in the late Miocene mammal localities of Axios Valley, Macedonia (Greece). The new campaign of excavations, since 1972, has provided some specimens, which are studied in this article. They are coming from two different localities. The late early Vallesian locality of Pentalophos 1 (PNT) has provided a skull and a mandible of an Ancylotherium. The morphological characters of the PNT material as the small size, the long snout, the shallow mandibular corpus, the strong cingulum in the teeth, the short tooth rows and the short M3/m3 indicate that it differs from the known Turolian species A. pentelicum and allow the erection of a new species, named Ancylotherium hellenicum n. sp., which can be used as a biostratigraphic marker of the Vallesian. The middle Turolian locality Prochoma 1 (PXM) has provided only one M3, which is determined to the chalicotheriine Anisodon macedonicus. This species was earlier described from the middle Turolian locality Vathylakkos 3 (VAT) and the late Turolian one of Dytiko 3 (DKO) of Axios Valley. The biogeography and biostratigraphy of the late Miocene chalicotheres of the Greco-Iranian Palaeoprovince (GRIP), as well as their palaeoecology are also discussed. The common chalicothere of GRIP is A. pentelicum, expanded from the Balkans to Afganistan and ranging stratigraphically from the early to the late Turolian. Chalicotherium goldfussi is certainly present in GRIP and it also ranges from the early to the late Turolian; its possible Vallesian occurrence needs confirmation. The other two late Miocene chalicotheres of GRIP A. macedonicus and Kalimantsia bulgarica are restricted to the Turolian of the Balkan Peninsula.     

New materials of Dinocrocuta (Percrocutidae, Carnivora) from Lantian, Shaanxi Province, China, and remarks on Chinese Late Miocene biochronology

New materials from the middle part of the Bahe formation are described as Dinocrocuta gigantea. Review of the species reveals that it is derived in the evolutionary lineage of Dinocrocuta, and biochronologically later than Vallesian records from Turkey. The only possibly related Vallesian species from China is Crocuta gigantea xizangensis from Biru, Tibet, which may prove to be conspecific with D. senyureki. Based on the mammalian faunal sequence from Lantian, and with reference to Red Clay paleomagnetic data, the duration of D. gigantea in China should be later late Miocene, rather than the previously postulated early late Miocene (Vallesian equivalent) age.     

Mandible of Ouranopithecus macedoniensis (Hominidae,primates) from a new late Miocene locality of Macedonia (Greece)

In 1990, a new late Miocene locality named “Nikiti 1” or NKT, was discovered near the village of Nikiti (Chalkidiki, Macedonia, Greece) about 100 km east of Thessaloniki City. The locality is situated in the Nikiti Formation, which consists of yellowish sands, gravels and pebbles and has been dated to late Vallesian–early Turolian. Among the initially collected fossils there is a mandible of a hominoid primate, which is described, compared, and attributed to Ouranopithecus macedoniensis. A short review of the species in Macedonia and its phylogenetic relationships are also given. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

First identification of Decennatherium Crusafont, 1952 (Mammalia,Ruminantia, Pecora) in the Siwaliks of Pakistan

Previously undescribed remains of a new large giraffid have been identified from the late Miocene Siwaliks Hills of the Potwar Plateau in Pakistan. This taxon is very intimately related to the late Miocene giraffid genus Decennatherium, previously only certainly identified in the Iberian Peninsula, and with some possible remains assigned to Decennatherium crusafonti from Aliäbäd (Iran). The new material collected in the Siwaliks Hills shows a high morphological similarity with the Spanish remains of the genus, especially the early Vallesian Decennatherium pachecoi. Two previously undescribed ossicone fragments from the same area are also described and identified as cf. Decennatherium. These findings represent the easternmost occurrence of the genus Decennatherium and show a late Miocene migration of the genus throughout the Iberian Peninsula and Southern Asia.     

A new hipparion (Mammalia,Perissodactyla) from the Vallesian (Late Miocene) of Greece

A small hipparion from the Vallesian (early Late Miocene) of Northern Greece is studied. It is coming from the locality “Ravin de la Pluie” of the lower Axios valley, near Thessaloniki. Its characteristics as the small size, the short symphysis, the long snout, the high enamel plication, the well developed protostylid, the large m₃ and the elongated m₁-m₃ series distinguish it from the other known eurasiatic small hipparions, allowed us to derive a new species,Hipparion macedonicum. It lived during Vallesian and can be used as a stratigraphic species for this period.     

A new elasmothere (Perissodactyla, Rhinocerotidae) from the late Miocene of the Linxia Basin in Gansu, China

Ningxiatherium euryrhinus sp. nov. is a relatively large elasmothere rhino from the Linxia Basin in northwestern China found in the early Bahean, which corresponds to the early Vallesian (MN 9), ca. 11.1 Ma. It is much larger than the extant Ceratotherium simum and has a single horn. Ningxiatherium is similar to the late Miocene Parelasmotherium from Gansu and Shanxi, but differs in having partially ossified nasal septum, terminal nasal horn boss, shallower nasal notch above the P3/P4 boundary, and much shorter premolars. N. euryrhinus sp. nov. differs from N. longirhinus from the late Miocene of Zhongning, Ningxia in northwestern China by its larger size, relatively wider nasals, shallower nasal notch, and sub-quadrangular occlusal surface of M3. In the Linxia Basin, the other early late Miocene (Bahean or Vallesian) elasmotheres are known from complete skulls or isolated teeth. They include two genera and three species: Parelasmotherium linxiaense, P. simplum, and Iranotherium morgani. They lack a nasal septum, but Ningxiatherium has one. The age of N. euryrhinus is early late Miocene based on direct association with biochronologic indicator taxa, such as Dinocrocuta gigantea, Hipparion dongxiangense, and Chilotherium primigenius. N. euryrhinus is more primitive than N. longirhinus sp. nov. in having a sub-quadrangular M3, a shallower nasal notch, and the presence of DP1 in adults.     

Late Miocene Proboscidea (Mammalia) from Macedonia and Samos Island, Greece: preliminary results

The abundant Late Miocene proboscidean remains of Greece have never been studied in detail and compared with those of Eurasia in order to determine their taxonomy and their biostratigraphical and palaeoecological significance. The first results of such study are given in this article. During the past decades, several new proboscidean specimens have been added to the old collections, significantly enriching the available material. The Axios Valley (Macedonia, Greece) proboscidean fossils belong mainly to two species of Choerolophodon: C. anatolicus of early Vallesian age and C. pentelici of late Vallesian–Turolian age. Deinotherium giganteum is rare and recognized only in the late Vallesian locality Ravin de la Pluie of Axios Valley. A zygodont form has also been identified in the Turolian of Axios Valley, attributed to “Mammut” sp. The Late Miocene localities of Nikiti (Macedonia, Greece) revealed several remains of C. pentelici, which are similar to the Turolian ones of Axios Valley. The Samos proboscidean collection includes C. pentelici, “Tetralophodon” atticus, “Mammut” sp. and Deinotherium gigantissimum. The taxonomy of the Late Miocene peri-Mediterranean Choerolophodon is given, and the biostratigraphy and palaeoecology of the Greek Late Miocene proboscideans are discussed.     

The Miocene mammal record of the Vallès-Penedès Basin (Catalonia)

The land mammal record of the Vallès-Penedès Basin (Catalonia, NE Spain) ranges from the early Miocene (Ramblian) to the late Miocene (Turolian), that is from about 20 to 7 Ma. Here we present an updated review of the mammal succession focusing on biochronology as well as on environmental and faunal changes. Based on faunal similarities with central Europe, we interpret this basin as a transitional zone between the forested environments of northern regions and the more arid landscapes of the inner Iberian Peninsula. The quality of the Vallès-Penedès record and its chronostratigraphic control is clearly better for the late Aragonian and the Vallesian (between 12.6–9.0 Ma), especially for small mammals. Therefore, we analyze small mammal diversity dynamics during this interval. Contrary to previous analyses, which found an abrupt extinction event coinciding with the early/late Vallesian boundary (the Vallesian Crisis), our results show that this pattern is due to uneven sampling. Instead, taxonomic richness slowly decreased since the late Vallesian as a result of a series of extinctions that mostly affected forest-dwelling taxa.     

Systematics and evolutionary significance of the small Abrocomidae from the early Miocene of southern South America

Octodontoidea is the most species-rich clade among hystricomorph rodents, and has a fossil record going back to at least the late Oligocene. Affinities of fossils previous to the late Miocene differentiation of the extant families Abrocomidae, Echimyidae and Octodontidae are controversial, essentially because these fossils may share few apomorphies with modern species. In fact, pre-late Miocene representatives of Abrocomidae had not been recognised until very recently. Here we revise the early Miocene genus Acarechimys, originally assigned to Echimyidae, and alternatively to stem Octodontoidea or to Octodontidae. A systematic and parsimony-based phylogenetic analysis of the species traditionally included in Acarechimys showed that this genus is part of stem Abrocomidae. These results are primarily supported by morphology of the mandible and lower molars. Acarechimys is here restricted to three species, A. minutus, A. pulchellus and Acarechimys pascuali sp. nov., while another species, A. constans, is here transferred to a new abrocomid genus. The remaining species were nested within Octodontidae. According to these results, Abrocomidae might have been as diverse as its sister clade Octodontidae-Echimyidae during the late Oligocene–early Miocene. Extinction of this diversity would have resulted in marked loss of evolutionary history, with extant abrocomids being currently restricted to late-diverged euhypsodont representatives.     

The Vallesian Mammal Turnover: A Late Miocene record of decoupled land-ocean evolution

In Western Europe, the change from the Middle Miocene forest-adapted mammalian faunas to the more open woodland faunas of the later Neogene, took place through an abrupt critical period known as the Vallesian Crisis. The Vallesian Crisis involved the disappearance of most of the forest-adapted elements characterizing the middle Miocene, such as tapirs, rhinoceroses, wet-adapted artiodactyls, hominoids, rodents, and the large carnivores of the families Nimravidae and Amphicyonidae. Detailed analysis in the well-calibrated and mostly complete sequence of the type area of the Vallesian Mammal stage, the Vallès-Penedès Basin (NE Spain), reveals that entries were always above the level of exits during the early Vallesian, reaching a diversity maximum at the end of this time. At 9.75 Ma, the Vallesian Crisis involved a sudden decrease of diversity, caused by high extinction levels, well above the number of entries. This event can be correlated with Mi7, a minor isotopic shift at about 9.6 Ma. The correlation of the Vallesian Crisis with such a minor isotopic shift is in contrast with previous, more significant isotopic shifts which had little ecological effects on the terrestrial ecosystems. This inconsistency between the global climate change inferred from the oceanic record and its effect on the structure of the late Miocene terrestrial ecosystems calls for some caution when inferring direct, linear relationships between climate change and mammalian turnover. In contrast with the Plio-Pleistocene glacial-interglacial dynamics, the effects of this climate forcing seem to have been more complex during Miocene times. An alternative pattern of change can be envisaged by proposing a “House of Cards” effect for the Vallesian Crisis. Increasing diversity levels after a prolonged period of stability enhanced terrestrial ecosystems to evolve into a self-organized critical state, which suddenly dropped after a critical threshold was surpassed. In contrast to other critical periods, the final decline of the Vallesian chronofauna was more dependent on the critical state of the system than on the magnitude of the agent which induced the crisis.     

Late Miocene Survival of a Hyper-Longirostrine Dolphin and the Neogene to Recent Evolution of Rostrum Proportions Among Odontocetes

Hyper-longirostry, the character of having extremely elongated rostra, emerged in the early and middle Miocene among several different clades of echolocating toothed whales (odontocetes) followed by a rapid decline near the end of the middle Miocene, and postdated by a much lower number of occurrences in the late Miocene and Pliocene and a complete absence among extant odontocetes. New finds of unreworked fossils of Xiphiacetus cristatus (Eurhinodelphinidae) in the middle Tortonian Diest Formation in Belgium (9.54–8.8 Ma) allow for the documentation of the survival of a hyper-longirostrine dolphin into the early late Miocene. An extensive dataset of the rostral index (calculated as the ratio between rostral length and condylobasal length) of Neogene and extant odontocetes is compiled and presented here, which facilitates discussion of evolutionary trends of rostrum proportions during a time period spanning 23 million years. Of interest, the iterative survival into the late Miocene of a single different species of hyper-longirostrine dolphins in a number of paleogeographic regions (North Sea Basin, Atlantic Coastal Plain, and probably the southeastern Pacific) is noted, whereas hyper-longirostrine morphologies only seem to re-appear by the late Messinian in the Northeastern Pacific. A correlation between this pattern and a decrease in habitat size for coastal to estuarine dolphins linked to a major sea level drop is tentatively proposed; such a process may also have played a role in the ecological shift in several dolphin families to freshwater habitats.

     

Explaining the end of the hominoid experiment in Europe

The Vallesian Crisis involved the extinction of most of the hominoids that settled successfully in Europe during the middle and early Late Miocene, including Dryopithecus, Ankarapithecus and Graecopithecus. This event has been dated at 9.6 Ma, predating by more than one million years the spread of the C4 grasses and the retreat of forests over large parts of the globe at 7-8 Ma. The finding of macrofloral remains in the Terrassa section (Vallès-Penedès Basin) sheds new light on the nature of vegetational change associated with the hominoid extinction. This section presents an abundant late Vallesian vertebrate fauna and has been accurately dated at 9.2 - 9 Ma by paleomagnetism. Therefore, it provides the best indication of the kind of vegetation that occupied the area after the Vallesian Crisis. It is suggested that the extinction of the late Miocene Western European hominoids was not related to the spread of grasses, but to a significant increase of a floral association dominated by deciduous trees.     

陕西蓝田晚中新世灞河组鼠科化石

详细描述了陕西蓝田晚中新世灞河组发现的两种鼠科化石 :中华原裔鼠Progonomyssinensissp .nov .和Muridaegen .etsp .indet.。新种的特征是 :个体通常比ProgonomyscathalaiSchaub ,1 938大 ;下臼齿的唇侧齿带和附属尖很弱 ;三分之二的m1具有一很小的中间前边尖(tma) ;M1的t1和t3偶见后刺 ,在个别的m1中有一短的中间脊 ;臼齿的尺寸落入P .woelferi的变异范围 ,但t6～t9间的连接没有该种那样常见 ,而t1 2较为明显。新种产于灞河组下部层位 ,其牙齿的大小和形态特征介于ProgonomyscathalaiSchaub ,1 938与P .woelferiBachmayeretWilson ,1 970之间。据此可证实 ,把灞河组下部层位的时代置于晚中新世早期 ,相当欧洲瓦里士期晚期或MN1 0的时代比较恰当。新种的重要意义不仅在于它具有狭义Progonomys属的特征 ,而且是我国现知鼠科动物最古老的一种。未定种产于灞河组较上部层位 ,牙齿形态与Progonomyssinensis的相似 ,很可能与其有较接近的亲缘关系。     

Miocene snakes from northeastern Kazakhstan: new data on the evolution of snake assemblages in Siberia

Abstract

The Neogene snake fauna from the central and eastern regions of Eurasia is still largely unknown. This paper reports on a unique snake fauna from the late middle Miocene of the Baikadam and Malyi Kalkaman 1 and 2 localities, northeastern Kazakhstan, which represents the best-documented Miocene snake assemblage in Central Asia. Previous studies admitted that snake fauna could be homogeneous over a large part of Eurasia during the Miocene, with the late middle to early late Miocene assemblages similar to snake assemblages that inhabited Europe in the late early and early middle Miocene. This assumption is partially supported by the presence of Texasophis bohemiacus and Coluber cf. hungaricus, as well as vipers of the ‘V. aspis’ complex. However, the presence of taxa which are (1) probably not related to European representatives (‘Colubrinae’ A and B), (2) probably never occurred in Central and Western Europe and (3) are closely related to species recently inhabiting southern Siberia (Elaphe aff. dione, Gloydius sp.) indicates that faunal dissimilarity was relatively high within Eurasia during the late middle Miocene. This assumption is in accordance with studies of small mammal assemblages which show a decreasing homogenity in the Eurasia in the course of the middle Miocene.     

Proboscideans from the upper Miocene localities of Thermopigi,Neokaisareia and Platania (Northern Greece)

In the present article, we study the proboscidean remains from three upper Miocene localities of Northern Greece: Thermopigi (Serres), Neokaisareia (Pieria) and Platania (Drama). The material from the Turolian locality of Thermopigi includes only postcranial specimens. The morphological features of the scapula indicate the presence of the deinotheriid Deinotherium sp., whereas the rest of the specimens are morphologically distinct from Deinotherium and can be referred to Elephantimorpha indet. The material from Neokaisareia consists of a partial skeleton of a single individual and is attributed to the mammutid Mammut sp. (M. obliquelophus?). This taxon is known in Greece from the early–middle Turolian. The Platania proboscidean belongs to the tetralophodont amebelodontid Konobelodon cf. atticus. The genus Konobelodon was already present during the Vallesian of the wider area, but the lower tusk of the Platania shovel-tusker presents some morphological and metrical differences from the Vallesian representative, yet it has also smaller dimensions in its deciduous dentition than the morphologically similar Turolian specimens. The type locality of K. atticus is Pikermi (Attica, Greece), correlated to the middle Turolian, but the known biostratigraphic range of this species covers the entire Turolian. Platania is possibly correlated close to the Vallesian/Turolian boundary and the possible record of this species could document one of its earliest occurrences.     

First record of Latonia gigantea (Anura,Alytidae) from the Iberian Peninsula

The single extant species of the anuran genus Latonia lives in Israel, but in the fossil record the genus is known mainly from Europe, spanning from the Oligocene to the early Pleistocene. Here we describe new remains of Latonia from the early to late Miocene of the Vallès-Penedès Basin (NE Iberian Peninsula), coming from the following localities: Sant Mamet (MN4), Sant Quirze and Trinxera del Ferrocarril (MN7+8), and Castell de Barberà, Can Poncic 1 and Can Llobateres 1 (MN9). Fossils from the late Aragonian and early Vallesian are attributed to Latonia gigantea mainly because of the morphology of the ornamentation that covers the maxillae. In turn, an ilium from Sant Mamet is not diagnostic at the specific level and is assigned only to the genus Latonia. The newly reported remains represent the first record of L. gigantea in the Iberian Peninsula, where Latonia was previously known by a single report of Latonia cf. ragei from Navarrete del Río (MN2) and remains from other localities unassigned to species. Moreover, the Vallès-Penedès remains represent one of the southernmost records of the species known thus far. The presence of Latonia in these localities confirms the humid and warm environment suggested by the recorded mammal fauna.     

A new species of watering pot shell (Bivalvia: Anomalodesmata: Clavagelloidea) from the Miocene of the Murray Basin,South Australia

Abstract: A new species of penicillid watering pot shell, Kendrickiana coquinacola sp. nov., is described from the middle Miocene (Balcombian) Bryant Creek Formation of the Murray Basin, South Australia. The new species differs from the extant K. veitchi in its smaller size, much shorter posterior tube, fewer tubules in the anterior watering pot structure, absence of the pedal slit, discontinuous dorsolateral bands of pitted muscle scars on the internal surface of the anterior bulb and habit of cementing itself to the shells in its surrounding environment. The fossil record of Kendrickiana is reviewed. The record from the Dry Creek Sands is discounted, while a record for the extant K. veitchi from the earliest Pleistocene of York Peninsula is added. K. coquinacola indicates the highly derived anatomy of the genus evolved over a 10‐Ma period from the late Oligocene through the early Miocene.     

The Hipparion of the Rhone valley

A revision is given of the Rhone valley Hipparion. One new species is described from Montredon. It is noted that in the lower Vallesian localities one big heavily built Hipparion is present. In the late Vallesian a medium sized Hipparion with short limbs is found; in the Turolian a slender form of medium size and perhaps also a heavy form is present; finally in the Ruscinian two forms are found of which one has a very big size and has cabaloid characteristics.Some remarks are made about the paleoecology of Hipparion in general.     

中国与欧洲晚中新世猪类比较研究:生物地层学及古生态学

猪类对比研究表明,从晚中新世初期到晚中新世末(或上新世初期),中国与欧洲的古气候、古环境和猪类演化都受到了全球性自然变化的影响,有着相同或相似的发展经历。晚中新世早期(early Vallesian(MN9))中国与欧洲的猪类显示它们均受到先前来自南亚猪类的影响,南亚猪类可能通过东南亚扩散到中国南方,通过西亚扩散到欧洲。晚中新世中期(lateVallesian(MN10)and early Turolian(MN11)),中国和欧洲的猪类与南亚已基本没有交流,在各自地区相对独立地演化发展。晚中新世晚期(late Turolian(MN12、MN13))中国北方除了保留有从南方迁移来的种类外,欧洲的猪类也已出现,此时中国(北方)动物群与欧洲动物群关系较为密切。南亚动物群在晚中新世早期(或者更早些)似乎已经和中国及欧洲的动物群分离。受青藏高原隆升等自然因素的影响,晚中新世中后期中国南方的古环境有一个从较为封闭、湿热的森林类型向相对开阔、干冷稀树草原类型的演变过程,而在此期间北方的自然环境则可能是从早期的半干旱疏林草原逐步发展到晚中新世末期的湿润林地。晚中新世欧洲自然环境有一个与中国南方相似的变化过程,比较而言,晚中新世中后期欧洲的环境可能比中国北方更为开阔和干冷。古气候和古环境变化是影响晚中新世猪类分布演化的决定性因素。     

The Bovidae of Dorn-Dürkheim 1, Germany (Turolian age)

Three bovid species are present at Dorn-Dürkheim 1. The overwhelmingly abundant species is a boselaphine, Miotragocerus sp., with smaller and less advanced teeth than Tragoportax amalthea from Pikermi, Greece. Miotragocerus was present in the latest middle Miocene and Vallesian of western and central Europe and survived into the Turolian. The other two bovid species remain enigmatic and of uncertain tribal affiliation. Each is represented by very few teeth, none of them associated. One species is larger and the other smaller than the Miotragocerus sp. Mesowear analysis of M²s and M³s was used to investigate the dietary regime of Miotragocerus sp. from Dorn-Dürkheim 1. Miotragocerus was found to be linked to extant browsing ungulates close to the transition to mixed feeders. The percentage of abrasive food components like grass in the diet of this species was probably close to 10%. This ratio suggests Miotragocerus is intermediate between the two hipparionine horse species of this early Turolian (MN11) palaeoenvironment.