Pleistocene Carnivora (Mammalia) from Tighennif (Ternifine), Algeria |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg/Freiburg, Chemin du Musée 6, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland;2. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Torino, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125 Torino, Italy;3. CONICET and Museo Paleontologico Egidio Feruglio, Av. Fontana 140, 9100 Trelew, Chubut, Argentina;4. School of Geology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece;5. Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, (UAB), Edifici Z, Carrer de les Columnes s/n, Campus de la UAB, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain;1. Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China;2. School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;1. Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales-CSIC, Departamento de Paleobiología, C/José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain;2. Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, C/Escola Industrial 23, 08201 Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain;3. American Museum of Natural History, Division of Paleontology, NY, USA;1. Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Palaeoanthropology, Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, Rümelinstr. 23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany;2. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Department of Geology, Laboratory of Geology and Palaeontology, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece;3. Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Institute of Prehistory and Early History, Kochstr. 4/18, 90154 Erlangen, Germany;4. National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment, Department of Historical Geology and Palaeontology, Panepistimiopolis, 15784 Athens, Greece;1. School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Durham University, DH1 3LE, UK;2. Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK;1. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, “Sapienza – Università di Roma”, P.le A. Moro 5, 00185, Roma, Italy;2. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Firenze, via G. La Pira 4, 50121, Firenze, Italy |
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| Abstract: | 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. |
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| Keywords: | Mammalia Carnivora Felidae Mustelidae Pleistocene Mediterranean area Biogeography |
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