A large Percrocutid Carnivore from the Late Miocene (ca. 10–9 Ma) of Nakali, Kenya

The presence of a large hyaenoid (Hiperhyaena sic leakeyi) from the Late Miocene (Vallesian equivalent) deposits at Nakali, Kenya, was first recorded in 1974, but the fossil on which the announcement was based was not described or figured, nor was a type specimen or type species nominated. The generic and specific names are thus nomina nuda. Howell and Petter (1985) described Hyperhyaena leakeyi, and credited the generic and specific names alternatively to Aguirre and Leakey (1974) and Aguirre and Crusafont in 1974 (the latter paper was never published). Howell and Petter are in fact the authors of both the generic and the specific names. Later in the same paper, Howell and Petter (1985) rejected the name Hyperhyaena and classified the species leakeyi in Allohyaena (Dinocrocuta). The purpose of this paper is to provide more information about the fossil and to discuss its relationships to other percrocutids. It is concluded that it belongs to the genus Percrocuta Kretzoi, 1938, being morphologically similar to the type species Percrocuta carnifex (Pilgrim, 1913) from the Siwaliks of Pakistan.     

Studies of fossil hyaenids: the genus Adcrocuta Kretzoi and the interrelationships of some hyaenid taxa

Material of the Miocene hyaenid Adcrocuta eximia from China is analysed statistically. No heterogeneities were found within this material. Comparisons with material from Samos and Pikermi, Greece, show that no taxonomic differentiation between these three samples is warranted. Adcrocuta eximia latro from the Sivalik deposits is provisionally considered a valid subspecies. The species A. australis from Langebaanweg, South Africa is removed from Adcrocuta to the genus Chasmaporthetes. The phylogenetic position of Adcrocuta has been subject to dispute, and for this reason we present a study of the interrelationships of selected hyaenid taxa using numerical cladistic methods. Two equally parsimonious trees of length 47 and consistency index 0.766 were found. Adcrocuta is placed as a sister-group to the Recent Crocuta crocuta, and not as a separate clade as suggested by other workers. Recent hyaenids form a crown-group which does not extend deep into the cladogram. Hyaena hyaena and H. brunnea are not sister-groups, and we resurrect the genus Parahyaena for the latter species.     

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.     

Systematic revision of the Late Miocene sabre‐toothed felid Paramachaerodus in Spain

Abstract: A systematic revision of the sabre‐toothed cat genus Paramachaerodus  Pilgrim, 1913 is presented. Two species are recognized within Paramachaerodus, Pa. orientalis, and Pa. maximiliani, and the genus Promegantereon  Kretzoi, 1938 is retrieved to include Promegantereon ogygia. Material from the Turolian Spanish localities of Crevillente‐2 (MN 11, Alicante) and Las Casiones (MN 13, Teruel), which was previously assigned to Paramachaerodus, is now included in the tribe Metailurini. The exceptional discoveries at the Spanish Vallesian (MN 10, Madrid) fossil site of Batallones‐1 have made it possible to characterize the dentition and cranial anatomy of a previously very poorly known machairodontine cat, formerly included in Paramachaerodus as Pa. ogygia, which now can be distinguished from Pa. orientalis and Pa. maximiliani by the following features: canines without crenulations, P3 with a marked disto‐lingual expansion, P4 without ectostyle and with a well‐developed protocone, M1 bucco‐lingually elongated and double‐rooted, m1 with a larger talonid, and primitive mandible morphology. Thus, the population from Batallones‐1 constitutes a clearly different form from the genus Paramachaerodus, and we propose its inclusion in the genus Promegantereon  Kretzoi, 1938 , together with an upper canine from Crevillente‐2 (MN 11), very similar to those from Batallones‐1. In contrast, Pa. orientalis shows the following apomorphies: crenulated canines, P3 reduced in size and without disto‐lingual expansion, P4 with a clear ectostyle as well as a reduced, backwardly displaced protocone and with a rounded and single‐rooted M1. The species Pa. maximiliani is characterized by its slightly larger size, crenulated canines, very elongated P3 with a moderate disto‐lingual expansion and P4 and M1 similar to those of Pa. orientalis. Paramachaerodus orientalis is recorded at Puente Minero (MN 11, Teruel), Concud (MN 12, Teruel), Crevillente‐15, and Crevillente‐16 (both MN 12, Alicante), and Paramachaerodus maximiliani in Venta del Moro (MN 13, Valencia). The available data suggest that Pr. ogygia was present in the Iberian Late Vallesian and Early Turolian faunas (MN 10 and MN 11) but disappeared after that age. Paramachaerodus was present in the faunas throughout the Turolian, with the species Pa. orientalis and Pa. maximiliani, this latter being probably part of the same immigration event that occurred in the Late Turolian and involved other mammal taxa such as camelids and ursids.     

Description of a new species,Globotruncana pseudoconica and remarks on its relation to Globotruncana conicaWhite and Globotruncana falsostuartiSigal

A new, strongly spiroconvex Globotruncana species,Globotruncana pseudoconica nov. sp., is described from the Maastrichtian of Tunisia. It is distinguished from Globotruncana conicaWhite in morphology and phylogeny. Some Maastrichtian, strongly spiroconvex specimens referred to as Globotruncana conicaWhite, are shown to be identical to Globotruncana pseudoconica nov. sp. The new species reveals close affinity with Globotruncana falsostuartiSigal from which it has evolved during the middle Lower Maastrichtian.     

The late Miocene bovids from Platania (Drama Basin,Greece), with description of a new species of Palaeoryx

This study presents the new fossil material of bovids from the recently discovered upper Miocene locality of Platania, Drama (Greece). The material was excavated from 2012 to 2016 and yielded approximately 760 specimens attributed to hipparions, rhinos, cervids, giraffids, suids, proboscideans, hyaenids, and turtles. The bovid material described here includes six taxa of Antilopinae and one of Bovinae. Antilopines are represented by Gazella sp., Gazella cf. ancyrensis, Prostrepsiceros aff. syridisi, cf. Palaeoreas, Palaeoryx minor nov. sp., and Tragoreas? aff. oryxoides. Bovines are recorded by a single boselaphine attributed to Miotragocerus sp. Departing from other Palaeoryx species, the new species P. minor has rather straight and weakly divergent horn-cores tilted backwards, obtuse facial and occipito-parietal angles, and smaller cranial and horn-core size, though associated with a proportionally large toothrow. Miotragocerus sp. from Platania seems to be conspecific to the Miotragocerus sp. from the end-Vallesian Nikiti-1 fauna (Greece). The bovid assemblage of Platania shows a mix of both Vallesian and Turolian taxa indicating a likely late Vallesian-early Turolian age.     

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.     

Microstructure de CladochonusMcCoy, 1847(Tabulata,Carbonifère)

The microstructure of two species of Cladochonusfrom Algerian Carboniferous, C. crassus (McCoy) and C. cf. tenuicollisMcCoy, has been studied by ultra-thin sections. Their walls consist of: 1. an external fibrous layer, 2. a median layer of undulating lamellae, 3. an internal zone of slender, elongated elements to which the name of «grundulae is given here. New data bring complements to the generic diagnosis of Cladochonus s. str. Some Permian cladochonid forms show different microstructures and should, therefore, be shifted to new generic units.     

Allohyaena (Mammalia: Carnivora): giant hyaenid from the Late Miocene of Hungary

The topotypic material of the giant Late Miocene hyaenid Allohyaena kadici Kretzoi is described. New data on the deciduous dentition shows unambiguously that A. kadici is a hyaenid and not a percrocutid as reported by some previous authors. A. kadici is compared to the large hyaenids Adcrocuta eximia and Crocuta crocuta. These comparisons show that A. kadici has a mixture of primitive characters such as dp4 morphology, retention of m2, long and slender premolars and a large protocone on P4, and derived characters such as a preparastyle on P4, an internal root on P3 and a uniquely derived talonid structure of ml. This combination of features makes A. kadici difficult to classify, but it is considered to probably be most closely related to derived, bone-cracking hyaenids such as Pachycrocuta and Crocuta. A. kadici is rare in the fossil record, being found at only two sites. We suggest that the reason for this rarity is that it had a geographic and stratigraphic range which is poorly sampled in the Miocene fossil record of Europe.     

New material of Carnivora (Mammalia) from the Late Miocene of Axios Valley,Macedonia, Greece

A new collection of carnivores from the Late Miocene deposits of Axios Valley, Macedonia, Greece was collected in 2004–2009 at the localities named Xirochori 1 (XIR) and Ravin de la Pluie (RPl), dated to the Late Vallesian (MN 10), as well as at Ravin des Zouaves 5 (RZO), dated to the Early Turolian (MN 11). The studied material is described and compared morphologically and biometrically with other materials from Greece and its neighboring area. The following species are determined: XIR: Dinocrocuta sp.; RPl: Eomellivora wimani, Adcrocuta eximia leptoryncha, ?Hyaenictis sp., Metailurus parvulus; RZO: Plioviverrops orbignyi, Machairodus giganteus. This collection is interesting because it includes the upper deciduous dentition of A. eximia and Dinocrocuta, which are only known from limited material until now, especially the latter taxon. E. wimani is recognized for the first time in Greece and the Balkans, while M. parvulus is identified for the first time in the Vallesian of Greece. The possible presence of Hyaenictis in RPl is the first indication of its presence in the Vallesian. The guild structure diagrams of the carnivore fauna from the three studied localities provide some indications of their palaeoenvironment, which fits quite well with the results of previous studies on the palaeoenvironments of these localities and of the wider Eastern Mediterranean region.     

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.     

Studies of fossil hyaenids: the genus Adcrocuta Kretzoi and the interrelationships of some hyaenid taxa

Material of the Miocene hyaenid Adcrocuta eximia from China is analysed statistically. No heterogeneities were found within this material. Comparisons with material from Samos and Pikermi, Greece, show that no taxonomic differentiation between these three samples is warranted. Adcrocuta eximia latro from the Sivalik deposits is provisionally considered a valid subspecies. The species A. australis from Langebaanweg, South Africa is removed from Adcrocuta to the genus Chasmaporthetes . The phylogenetic position of Adcrocuta has been subject to dispute, and for this reason we present a study of the interrelationships of selected hyaenid taxa using numerical cladistic methods. Two equally parsimonious trees of length 47 and consistency index 0.766 were found. Adcrocuta is placed as a sister-group to the Recent Crocuta crocuta , and not as a separate clade as suggested by other workers. Recent hyaenids form a crown-group which does not extend deep into the cladogram. Hyaena hyaena and H. brunnea are not sister-groups, and we resurrect the genus Parahyaena for the latter species.     

Comparisons and relationships of the African and European Miocene carnivoran assemblages

In the present article, the Middle and Late Miocene carnivoran faunas of Europe and Africa are compared for establishing their relationships. The Middle Miocene carnivoran assemblages from both continents are quite different at the specific and generic levels, less expressed in family composition. The comparison of the Late Miocene carnivoran assemblages indicates the following: the African carnivoran assemblage is different from the European ones both at the generic and specific level; the carnivoran faunas of Europe can be split into two geographic groups, “western” and “eastern”; the Turolian African assemblage is more diversified at the family level; the African carnivoran assemblage differs from the European ones in the presence of herpestids, the higher abundance of mustelids and the fewer hyaenids. It is more similar to the Late Miocene carnivoran assemblages of western and central Europe than eastern Europe.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Solvolysis of charged active esters of carboxylic acids with cyclo (l- or d-Glu-l-His)

Cyclic dipeptide cyclo(l- or d-Glu-l-His) carrying an anionic site and a nucleophilic site has been synthesized and used as a catalyst for the solvolysis of cationic esters in aqueous alcohols. In the solvolysis of 3-acyloxy-N-trimethylanilinium iodide (S⁺_n, n = 2 and 10) and Cl^?H₃N⁺(CH₂)₁₁COOPh(NO₂), no efficient nucleophilic catalysis was observed. On the other hand, in the solvolysis of Gly-OPh(NO₂)·HCl, Val-OPh(NO₂)·HCl and Leu-OPh(NO₂)·HCl a very efficient general base-type catalysis by cyclo(l-Glu-l-His) was observed. In particular, with the latter two substrates the catalysis by cyclo(l-Glul-His) was more efficient than that by imidazole, although the catalysis was not enantiomer-selective. The diastereomeric cyclic dipeptide cyclo(d-Glu-l-His) was almost inactive under the same conditions. Confomation of cyclo(l- or d-Glu-l-His) in aqueous solution was investigated and the structure/catalysis relationship is discussed.     

Intraspecific variation and evolutionary trends of Alicornops simorrense (Rhinocerotidae) in Spain

The Spanish material of Alicornops simorrense constitutes the best representation of the species in Western Europe. It provides interesting data on the metrical and morphological intraspecific variation of A. simorrense and its evolutionary trends from late Middle Miocene to the early Late Miocene. From late Aragonian to early Vallesian, a slight increase in size is observed, but without clear limits among series. During the late Vallesian, A. simorrense evolved in central Spanish basins into a second species, A. alfambrense, greater in size and with more robust proportions. In the Vallés-Penedés basin, A. simorrense shows a noticeable increase in size, while maintaining its proportions, during the Vallesian. A. simorrense was a very abundant species, an open woodland dweller, with gregarious behaviour, whose extinction was probably linked to the climatic change that took place at the end of the Vallesian and the beginning of the Turolian.     

Hyaenictitherium minimum, a new ictithere (Mammalia, Carnivora, Hyaenidae) from the Late Miocene of Toros-Menalla, Chad

A new species of Hyaenidae, Hyaenictitherium minimum, is described in the carnivore fauna of the Late Miocene layers of Toros-Menalla (Chad). Its size is similar to that of a jackal and it had probably a similar ecological niche. It is found in several fossil-bearing localities of this area. The genus Hyaenictitherium is known from the early Late Miocene in Eurasia from China to Spain; the Chadian material is, perhaps with some specimens from Sahabi and Lothagam, the earliest occurrence of the genus in Africa. It results certainly from Eurasian migration, which will have to be taken into account for the analysis of the bulk of the fauna. To cite this article: L. de Bonis et al., C. R. Palevol 4 (2005).     

Design,synthesis, and evaluation of l-cystine diamides as l-cystine crystallization inhibitors for cystinuria

To overcome the chemical and metabolic stability issues of l-cystine dimethyl ester (CDME) and l-cystine methyl ester (CME), a series of l-cystine diamides with or without N^α-methylation was designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their inhibitory activity of l-cystine crystallization. l-Cystine diamides 2a–i without N^α-methylation were found to be potent inhibitors of l-cystine crystallization while N^α-methylation of l-cystine diamides resulted in derivatives 3b–i devoid of any inhibitory activity of l-cystine crystallization. Computational modeling indicates that N^α-methylation leads to significant decrease in binding of the l-cystine diamides to l-cystine crystal surface. Among the l-cystine diamides 2a–i, l-cystine bismorpholide (CDMOR, LH707, 2g) and l-cystine bis(N′-methylpiperazide) (CDNMP, LH708, 2h) are the most potent inhibitors of l-cystine crystallization.