Paleoecology, biochronology, and paleobiogeography of Eurasian Rhinocerotidae during the Early Pleistocene: The contribution of the fossil material from Dmanisi (Georgia, Southern Caucasus)

The site of Venta Micena (Orce, Spain), c. 1.6 Ma, preserves one the best paleontological records of the early Pleistocene large mammals fauna in Europe. Here we describe the specimens of the genus Canis Linnaeus, 1758 in the context of the late Villafranchian and Epivillafranchian fossil dogs from Eurasia. Anatomical and metric data suggest that the Venta Micena Canis form differs from the classical records of Canis etruscus Forsyth Major, 1877 and Canis arnensis Del Campana, 1913, and that it forms part of the younger Canis mosbachensis Soergel (1925) lineage, also recorded in two slightly younger sites of the Orce site complex, Barranco León and Fuente Nueva-3, dated to c. 1.4 Ma. The anatomy of the Venta Micena fossil material shows features that resemble the Canis forms from the Caucasian site of Dmanisi, dated to 1.8 Ma, and Canis ex gr. C. mosbachensis. Nevertheless, dental peculiarities support the creation of a new chrono-species, Canis orcensis n. sp., from the town of Orce. Morphological and paleoecological data suggest that this species probably consumed more vertebrate flesh than other similar sized early Pleistocene canids (i.e., a trend to hypercarnivory), which had more omnivorous dietary habits.

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Myotis Gerhardstorchi Sp. N. and Comments on the European Fossil Record of Myotis Frater Group (Mammalia, Chiroptera)

Fossil Imprint ◽

10.2478/if-2019-0021 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 75 (3-4) ◽

pp. 315-342

Author(s):

Ivan Horáček ◽

Eva Trávníčková

Keyword(s):

Fossil Record ◽

Molecular Phylogenetics ◽

Early Pleistocene ◽

Late Cenozoic ◽

The Czech Republic ◽

European Species ◽

Fossil Material ◽

Extant Species ◽

History Of ◽

A New Species

Abstract A new species, Myotis gerhardstorchi sp. n., supposedly close to M. sicarius and M. frater group, is described from MN 15 site Beremend 26 (Hungary). M. frater group, now restricted to vicariant ranges in E Asia, Siberia and Central Asia, is further reported from three Pliocene and two Early Pleistocene mass bat assemblages from the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. The odontological diagnosis of the group is presented, together with comparisons of the fossil material with extant species of the group, and W Palearctic taxa of the genus, both fossil and Recent. Molecular phylogenetics reveals that the above-mentioned Asiatic taxa, together with the European species M. daubentonii and M. bechsteinii, the index fossil of the W Palearctic Late Cenozoic bat communities, compose a distinct phylogenetic entity called Myotis Clade III. Here we argue that the history of Clade III in the W Palearctics was contributed also by clades close to its stem line, and those related to the Asiatic forms that later disappeared from that region. Finally, a list of taxa, both fossil and Recent, composing the Myotis Clade III is provided.

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A Villafranchian Hipparion-Bearing Mammal Fauna from Sésklo (E. Thessaly, Greece): Implications for the Question of Hipparion–Equus Sympatry in Europe

Quaternary ◽

10.3390/quat1020012 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 12 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Athanassios Athanassiou

Keyword(s):

Early Pleistocene ◽

Museum Collection ◽

Fossil Assemblage ◽

Mammal Fauna ◽

Fossil Material

Recently collected fossil material in the Villafranchian locality of Sésklo, as well as a re-evaluation of a pre-existing, partly-published museum collection, allow the recognition of a lower faunal level in the locality, older than the main Equus-dominated fossil assemblage, dated in the Early Pleistocene (MNQ17). The lower level yielded, instead, an advanced hipparion, referred to the species Plesiohipparion cf. shanxiense, and a small number of associated taxa: an ostrich (Struthio cf. chersonensis), an unidentified proboscidean, the pig Sus arvernensis, two antelopes (Gazella cf. bouvrainae and Gazellospira torticornis), a large bovid (Bovini indet.), and a rhinoceros (Stephanorhinus sp.). The lower-level fauna is dated in the latest Pliocene (MN16) and indicates a rather open and dry palaeoenvironment. The faunal sequence in Sésklo shows that the hipparion did not co-occur with the stenonid horse, at least in this region. Previous reports on sympatry of these taxa may result from faunal mixing, requiring re-examination of the available samples.

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The first hunting dog from Dmanisi: comments of social behaviour in Canidae and hominins

10.21203/rs.3.rs-201727/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Saverio Bartolini Lucenti ◽

Joan Madurell-Malapeira ◽

Bienvenido Martínez-Navarro ◽

Paul Palmqvist ◽

Lorenzo Rook ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Evolutionary Biology ◽

First Record ◽

Early Pleistocene ◽

Mammal Species ◽

Adult Individual ◽

Hunting Dogs ◽

Hunting Dog ◽

Group Members ◽

Out Of Africa ◽

Southern Caucasus

Abstract The renowned site of Dmanisi in Georgia, southern Caucasus (ca. 1.8 Ma) yielded the earliest direct evidence of hominin presence out of Africa. In this paper, we report the first record of a large-sized canid from this site, namely dentognathic remains, referable to a young adult individual that displays hypercarnivorous features (e.g., the reduction of m1 metaconid and entoconid) that allow us to include these specimens in the hypodigm of the late Early Pleistocene European species Canis (Xenocyon) lycaonoides. Much fossil evidence suggests that this species was a cooperative pack-hunter that, unlike other large-sized canids, was capable of social care toward kin and non-kin members of its group. Interestingly, this rather derived hypercarnivorous canid attests to one of the earliest records in Dmanisi. Its dispersal from Asia to Europe and Africa followed a parallel route to that of hominins, but in the opposite direction. Hominins and hunting dogs, both recorded in Dmanisi at the beginning of their dispersal across the Old World, are the only two Early Pleistocene mammal species with proved altruistic behaviour towards their group members, an issue discussed over more than one century in evolutionary biology.

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Evidence of 'Mid-Pliocene (~3 Ma) global warmth' in the eastern Arctic Ocean and implications for the Svalbard/Barents Sea ice sheet during the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene (~3-1.7 Ma)

Boreas ◽

10.1080/03009480210652 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 31 (1) ◽

pp. 82-93 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Jochen Knies ◽

Jens Matthiessen ◽

Christoph Vogt ◽

Ruediger Stein

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Arctic Ocean ◽

Barents Sea ◽

Ice Sheet ◽

Early Pleistocene ◽

Late Pliocene

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Anti-Diabetic Activity of a Mineraloid Isolate, in vitro and in Genetically Diabetic Mice

International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research ◽

10.1024/0300-9831/a000048 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 81 (1) ◽

pp. 34-42 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Joel Deneau ◽

Taufeeq Ahmed ◽

Roger Blotsky ◽

Krzysztof Bojanowski

Keyword(s):

Dna Microarrays ◽

Human Fibroblasts ◽

Diabetic Animal ◽

In Vitro Tests ◽

Diabetic Mice ◽

Fossil Material ◽

Expression Of Genes ◽

Enhanced Expression ◽

Genetically Diabetic Mice

Type II diabetes is a metabolic disease mediated through multiple molecular pathways. Here, we report anti-diabetic effect of a standardized isolate from a fossil material - a mineraloid leonardite - in in vitro tests and in genetically diabetic mice. The mineraloid isolate stimulated mitochondrial metabolism in human fibroblasts and this stimulation correlated with enhanced expression of genes coding for mitochondrial proteins such as ATP synthases and ribosomal protein precursors, as measured by DNA microarrays. In the diabetic animal model, consumption of the Totala isolate resulted in decreased weight gain, blood glucose, and glycated hemoglobin. To our best knowledge, this is the first description ever of a fossil material having anti-diabetic activity in pre-clinical models.

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