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.