Biostratigraphic and palaeoecological implications of new fossil felid material from the Plio-Pleistocene site of Tegelen, the Netherlands |
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Authors: | Hannah J. O'Regan,& Alan Turner |
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Affiliation: | School of Biological and Earth Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, UK. e-mail; , School of Biological and Earth Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, UK. e-mail;  |
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Abstract: | The Plio-Pleistocene site of Tegelen in the Netherlands contains some of the oldest evidence for the presence of the medium-sized pantherine felid of the European Pleistocene, Panthera gombaszoegensis , based on published fragmentary dental specimens. Measurements of these specimens, together with those from other localities, suggest that earlier representatives of the species are small, but one of a small number of previously unstudied specimens from the site now indicates the presence of a larger pantherine individual. Such a size difference could point to the presence of a second species, or suggest that the Tegelen deposits encompass a longer time span than has been supposed. Either of these would have serious implications; the first would increase the complexity of the early Pleistocene carnivore guild, and the second would threaten the status of Tegelen as a type site in the European Pleistocene biostratigraphic scheme. However, consideration of the size range in sexed samples of extant pantherines in conjunction with a re-examination of the size distributions in the hypodigm of P. gombaszoegensis suggests that sexual dimorphism offers a more plausible interpretation. |
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Keywords: | Tegelen Felidae Panthera gombaszoegensis sexual dimorphism |
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