scholarly journals New insights into the giant mustelids (Mammalia, Carnivora, Mustelidae) from Langebaanweg fossil site (West Coast Fossil Park, South Africa, early Pliocene)

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e9221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Valenciano ◽  
Romala Govender
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
Eastern Africa ◽  
Large Species ◽  
Adult Individual ◽  
Early Pliocene ◽  
Dental Measurements ◽  
Juvenile Individual ◽  
Postcranial Remains ◽  
Fossil Site

Giant mustelids are a paraphyletic group of mustelids found in the Neogene of Eurasia, Africa and North America. Most are known largely from dental remains, with their postcranial skeleton mostly unknown. Here, we describe new craniodental and postcranial remains of the large lutrine Sivaonyx hendeyi and the leopard-size gulonine Plesiogulo aff. monspessulanus from the early Pliocene site Langebaanweg, South Africa. The new material of the endemic S. hendeyi, includes upper incisors and premolars, and fragmentary humerus, ulna and a complete astragalus. Its postcrania shares more traits with the living Aonyx capensis than the late Miocene Sivaonyx beyi from Chad. Sivaonyx hendeyi could therefore be tentatively interpreted as a relatively more aquatic taxon than the Chadian species, comparable to A. capensis. The new specimens of Plesiogulo comprise two edentulous maxillae, including one of a juvenile individual with incomplete decidual dentition, and a fragmentary forelimb of an adult individual. The new dental measurements point to this form being amongst the largest specimens of the genus. Both P3-4 differs from the very large species Plesiogulo botori from late Miocene of Kenya and Ethiopia. This confirms the existence of two distinct large species of Plesiogulo in Africa during the Mio/Pliocene, P. botori in the Late Miocene of Eastern Africa (6.1–5.5 Ma) and Plesiogulo aff. monspessulanus at the beginning of the Pliocene in southern Africa (5.2 Ma). Lastly, we report for the first time the presence of both Sivaonyx and Plesiogulo in MPPM and LQSM at Langebaanweg, suggesting that the differences observed from the locality may be produced by sedimentation or sampling biases instead of temporal replacement within the carnivoran guild.

Late Miocene−early Pliocene rodents and lagomorphs (Mammalia) from the southern part of Çankırı Basin, Turkey

2018 ◽  
Vol 93 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sevket Sen ◽  
Levent Karadenizli ◽  
Pierre-Olivier Antoine ◽  
Gerçek Saraç
Keyword(s):  
Late Miocene ◽  
Central Anatolia ◽  
Large Species ◽  
Southern Europe ◽  
Early Pliocene ◽  
Muroid Rodents

AbstractThree localities in the Çankırı Basin—Kale Tepe 1 (KT1), Kale Tepe 2 (KT2), and Mahmutlar—yielded reliably documented rodent and lagomorph assemblages. These are in the Akkaşdağı Formation, which covers large areas in the central and southern parts of this basin in Central Anatolia. The widening of the Kirikkale-Çorum highway produced fresh outcrops that allowed for the discovery of fossiliferous levels in a well-controlled stratigraphy. The assemblages from all three localities are dominated by muroid rodents (Apodemus gorafensisRuiz Bustos et al., 1984;A. gudrunaevan de Weerd, 1976;A. dominansKretzoi, 1959;Micromyssp. indet.;Allocricetussp. indet.;Pseudomerionessp. indet.; Cricetidae gen. indet. sp. indet.;Mimomyssp. indet.) in addition to a glirid (Dryomimuscf.D. eliomyoidesKretzoi, 1959), an eomyid (Keramidomysaff.K. ermannorumDaxner-Höck and Höck, 2009), two ochotonids (Prolagus sorbiniiMasini, 1989;Ochotonomasp. indet.) and one leporid. KT1 and KT2 yielded two large species ofApodemus(A. gorafensis;A. gudrunae) that are typical for the late Miocene/early Pliocene transition in southern Europe, and they are known in Greece and Turkey in localities dated to the latest Miocene, i.e., MN 13 mammalian zone. The occurrence ofA. dominansand a rooted arvicolid similar toMimomys davakosivan de Weerd, 1979 suggests correlation of Mahmutlar to the early Pliocene, or early MN 15 zone. An abundance of muroid rodents in these assemblages indicates woodlands and areas covered by grasses and shrubs, whereas early Pliocene deposits at Mahmutlar provided pollen of abundant herbaceous and shrub elements. Most rodents and lagomorphs from Kale Tepe and Mahmutlar are known in southern European bioprovinces, whereas some elements (PseudomerionesSchaub, 1934;OchotonomaSen, 1998) indicate Asiatic affinities.

scholarly journals Postcranial evidence of late Miocene hominin bipedalism in Chad

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franck Guy ◽  
Guillaume Daver ◽  
Hassane Taisso Mackaye ◽  
Andossa Likius ◽  
Jean-Renaud Boisserie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Miocene ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Eastern Africa ◽  
Bipedal Locomotion ◽  
Original Material ◽  
Left Femur ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Postcranial Remains

Abstract Terrestrial bipedal locomotion is one of the key adaptations defining the hominin clade. Evidences of undisputed bipedalism are known from postcranial remains of late Miocene hominins as soon as 6 Ma in eastern Africa. Bipedality of Sahelanthropus tchadensis was hitherto documented at 7 Ma in central Africa (Chad) by cranial evidence. Here, we present the first postcranial evidence of the locomotor behavior of the Chadian hominin with new insights on bipedalism at the early stage of our evolutionary history. The original material was discovered at locality TM 266 (Toros-Menalla fossiliferous area), and consists in one left femur and two antimeric ulnae. These new findings confirm that hominins were already terrestrial biped relatively soon after the human-chimpanzee divergence but also suggest that careful climbing arboreal behaviors was still a significant part of their locomotor repertoire.

Diversification and extinction patterns among Neogene perimediterranean mammals

1989 ◽  
Vol 325 (1228) ◽  
pp. 401-420 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Late Miocene ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Eastern Africa ◽  
European Continent ◽  
Southern France ◽  
Early Pliocene ◽  
Faunal Turnover ◽  
Extinction Event

The best mammalian fossil record during the Neogene of Western Europe is that of the rodents, the most successful and diversified mammal order. The study of origination and extinction during the Neogene (24-3 Ma BP) in one of the best documented areas, Spain and southern France, gives an insight into the dynamics of these communities and indicates the possible nature of the driving forces. Three main periods of time show a high rate of origination: the late Burdigalian (17.5 Ma BP), the early Vallesian (11.5-11 Ma BP) and the early Pliocene (4.2- 3.8 Ma BP). Two of these high origination-rate periods are immediately followed by important extinction events during which all cohorts are deeply affected (11.5-11 Ma BP and 4.2- 3.8 Ma BP). The most important extinction event seems to occur during the early Vallesian (11.5-11 Ma BP), which probably includes the middle/late Miocene boundary. At the Miocene/Pliocene boundary, and during the early Pliocene, the faunal turnover seems to become faster, inducing a strong decrease of the mean species duration. Whereas the main immigration event, which occurs at 17.5 Ma BP, can be related to other faunal migrations in terms of the closure of the Tethys, as it occurs also in eastern Africa and in southwest Asia, the middle/late Miocene boundary event may have been related to a period of ice growth in the Southern Hemisphere. The extinction event that affects the planktonic foraminifera at 12 Ma BP cannot be chronologically correlated to this southwestern European land-mammal extinction event, because the calibration of the marine fossil record during that time-span has to be precise. Some limited terrestrial faunal exchanges that occur during the Messinian between southwestern Europe and northwestern Africa do not deeply affect the general faunal dynamics. Both allochthonous cohorts of immigrants become rapidly extinct. Several endemic rodent faunas, indicating insular conditions, have been reported from the southern edge of the western European continent from the middle Miocene up to the Pliocene. All show low taxonomic diversity, strong endemism and short survival. Some of them, like those of the Gargano Islands during the late Miocene, underwent peculiar morphological changes and also speciation. The large number of rodent genera coevolving in the Gargano Islands is indicative of the large surface areas of these islands. The general geographic pattern of southwestern Europe during the Neogene may therefore correspond to a large continental province including Spain and southern France with some kind of fast-modifying archipelago on its southern rim.

scholarly journals A new species of Myotragus Bate, 1909 (Artiodactyla, Caprinae) from the Early Pliocene of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, western Mediterranean)

2010 ◽  
Vol 147 (6) ◽  
pp. 871-885 ◽  
Author(s):  
PERE BOVER ◽  
JOSEP QUINTANA ◽  
JOSEP ANTONI ALCOVER
Keyword(s):  
Late Miocene ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Balearic Islands ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Early Pliocene ◽  
Postcranial Remains ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
A New Species

AbstractMyotragus palomboi n.sp. (Artiodactyla, Caprinae) is described from the Early Pliocene of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, western Mediterranean). This species is the earliest representative of the Myotragus lineage known to date in the Balearic Islands. A metatarsal, and several teeth and postcranial remains were found in a karstic deposit located on the east coast of the island, near Caló den Rafelino (Manacor), together with remains of Hypolagus, two rodent species, an insectivore and several reptiles. The metatarsal and phalanges of the new bovid are short and robust and display a combination of characters only observed in Myotragus. The presence of a larger p2, a metatarsal robustness index lower than in M. pepgonellae (the earliest known species to date), together with the morphology of the incisors, all suggest that M. palomboi should be considered as the ancestor of M. pepgonellae. Short metapodials and the reduction of p2 displayed by M. palomboi could be linked to a first stage of evolution in insular conditions. The arrival of this bovid to the island of Mallorca probably took place during the Mediterranean Messinian Salinity Crisis (Late Miocene, 5.6–5.32 Ma ago). Although the relationship of the new taxon to other fossil caprines cannot be definitively established, it could be phylogenetically close to the Late Miocene European species Aragoral mudejar and Norbertia hellenica.

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