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The late Miocene mammalian record in Samos Island, Greece, is extremely important for the Eurasian Neogene mammalian history and chronology. However, due to the mixed nature of old fossil collections and controversies on the stratigraphic... more
The late Miocene mammalian record in Samos Island, Greece, is extremely important for the Eurasian Neogene mammalian history and chronology. However, due to the mixed nature of old fossil collections and controversies on the stratigraphic position of fossil quarries, great confusion has arisen concerning the recognition of distinct faunal assemblages, their age(s) and biostratigraphic significance. This paper presents the magnetostratigraphy of the late Miocene continental deposits of the fossiliferous Mytilinii Basin, Samos Island, Greece. Old and new sites are stratigraphically controlled with accuracy and correlated with each other. The magnetostratigraphy of seven individual sections, covering the entire Mytilinii Formation, provides good correlation with the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale (GPTS). These results, as well as the relocation and precise litho- and magnetostratigraphic correlation of the old and new mammal localities, combined with new and reviewed paleontological data and thorough studying of the numerous radiometric dates, allowed us to define five biostratigraphic horizons. Their correlation with, and implications to the European Neogene mammal chronology ages and zones make up the following discussion and provides a modified determination of the middle Turolian (MN 12) boundaries.
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The late Miocene mammalian record in Samos Island, Greece, is extremely important for the Eurasian Neogene mammalian history and chronology. However, due to the mixed nature of old fossil collections and controversies on the stratigraphic... more
The late Miocene mammalian record in Samos Island, Greece, is extremely important for the Eurasian Neogene mammalian history and chronology. However, due to the mixed nature of old fossil collections and controversies on the stratigraphic position of fossil quarries, great confusion has arisen concerning the recognition of distinct faunal assemblages, their age(s) and biostratigraphic significance. This paper presents the magnetostratigraphy of the late Miocene continental deposits of the fossiliferous Mytilinii Basin, Samos Island, Greece. Old and new sites are stratigraphically controlled with accuracy and correlated with each other. The magnetostratigraphy of seven individual sections, covering the entire Mytilinii Formation, provides good correlation with the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale (GPTS). These results, as well as the relocation and precise litho- and magnetostratigraphic correlation of the old and new mammal localities, combined with new and reviewed paleontological data and thorough studying of the numerous radiometric dates, allowed us to define five biostratigraphic horizons. Their correlation with, and implications to the European Neogene mammal chronology ages and zones make up the following discussion and provides a modified determination of the middle Turolian (MN 12) boundaries.
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Fossil vertebrates discovered in 1986 from Cameroon, West Africa, occur in three different areas in the northern part of the country. Cretaceous rocks northeast of Garoua, in the Babouri-Figuil Basin, yield complete Lepidotes skeletons.... more
Fossil vertebrates discovered in 1986 from Cameroon, West Africa, occur in three different areas in the northern part of the country. Cretaceous rocks northeast of Garoua, in the Babouri-Figuil Basin, yield complete Lepidotes skeletons. Southeast of Garoua, Cretaceous rocks of the Mayo Rey Basin, near Koum, are more clearly terrestrial and contain diverse vertebrates. The Hama Koussou Basin, just north of Garoua, produces fragmentary Lepidotes and dinosaurs. Weathered from a veneer of Pleistocene sediment overlying the latter deposit, the well fossilized remains of Equus, Phacochoerus, and a bovid were recovered.
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... Basin?* Samil Sen 1 and Selin Yillar 1 ... Sener Usumezsoy and Esref Yalcinkaya (Istanbul University), Salih Saner (Schlumberger Oilfield Services, Saudi Arabia), Gilbert Kelling (Keele University), Aynur Buyukutku (Ankara... more
... Basin?* Samil Sen 1 and Selin Yillar 1 ... Sener Usumezsoy and Esref Yalcinkaya (Istanbul University), Salih Saner (Schlumberger Oilfield Services, Saudi Arabia), Gilbert Kelling (Keele University), Aynur Buyukutku (Ankara University), Mete Gurel, Zihni Aksoy, Hasan Emiroglu ...
ABSTRACT
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The Akka ș da ˘ gi area, situated in the southern margin of the Tertiary Çankiri- Çorum Basin, Central Anatolia, Turkey, includes a 280 m thick, mostly continental sediment sequence that overlies either marine Palaeogene trans- gressive... more
The Akka ș da ˘ gi area, situated in the southern margin of the Tertiary Çankiri- Çorum Basin, Central Anatolia, Turkey, includes a 280 m thick, mostly continental sediment sequence that overlies either marine Palaeogene trans- gressive deposits or metamorphic rocks of Kir ș ehir Massif. From bottom t o
The Neogene tuffs of the Akkasdag ˘ i region, in the south eastern part of the Çankiri-Çorum Basin in Central Anatolia, yielded one of the richest mammalian faunas of Turkey. The main aim of the present study is to
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from the late early Miocene of Turkey and a short overview of early Miocene small suoids in the Old World. Palaeontologia Electronica 18.2.30A: 1-18 palaeo-electronica.org/content/2015/1232-turkish-early-miocene-suids ABSTRACT Suoids are... more
from the late early Miocene of Turkey and a short overview of early Miocene small suoids in the Old World. Palaeontologia Electronica 18.2.30A: 1-18 palaeo-electronica.org/content/2015/1232-turkish-early-miocene-suids ABSTRACT Suoids are conspicuous components of late early Miocene faunas in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Strikingly, despite a rich fossil record at the Old World scale, no early Miocene suoid remains were known thus far from Anatolia, a region located at the crossroads between Africa, Arabia, Asia, and Europe. Here we describe a fragmentary cranium, mostly preserving the palate, and a dp4 of small suids from the Şemsettin locality in the Çankiri-Çorum Basin, north Central Anatolia. These remains document the first suoids ever recorded in the Early Miocene of Turkey. Both remains are attributed to the subfamily Hyotheriinae. The fragmentary cranium presents an original combination of characters and is attributed to Nguruwe? galaticum sp. nov. The isolated dp4, of much smal...
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A new species of Gobicricetodon is described from the middle Miocene of Aya Cave in the Lake Baikal area. It differs from the other species of this genus by its smaller size and some primitive characters of the dentition. In previous... more
A new species of Gobicricetodon is described from the middle Miocene of Aya Cave in the Lake Baikal area. It differs from the other species of this genus by its smaller size and some primitive characters of the dentition. In previous studies, Gobicricetodon together with Plesiodipus has been considered as belonging to a distinct Subfamily Gobicricetodontinae. However, great similarities of dentition suggest affinities with several other Eurasian genera grouped in the subfamily Cricetodontinae. To clear up phylogenetic relationships of Gobicricetodon and Plesiodipus with Cricetodontinae, and to enlighten generic and supra-generic systematics of this group, a cladistic analysis using Mesquite 2.72 was done. It reveals three main clades. One of them groups Gobicricetodon and Plesiodipus together with the genera Mixocricetodon and Tsaganocricetus and, surprisingly, with some European species of Cricetodon, including its type species C. sansaniensis. In addition, this analysis suggests a...
Among over 5000 large mammalian remains collected at Akkasdag ˘ i, only three specimens belong to a Chalicotheriidae, Ancylotherium pentelicu m (Gaudry & Lartet, 1856). The juvenile skull resembles the one from Hadjidimovo-1 in Bulgaria.... more
Among over 5000 large mammalian remains collected at Akkasdag ˘ i, only three specimens belong to a Chalicotheriidae, Ancylotherium pentelicu m (Gaudry & Lartet, 1856). The juvenile skull resembles the one from Hadjidimovo-1 in Bulgaria. A duplex bone and a calcaneum were also found. All these specimens, although similar in morphology, are about 10% smaller than the adult individuals from
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The continental sedimentary layers of the Republic of Djibouti have yielded, in the valleys of Chekheyti and Dagadle rivers, a fossil mammal fauna and some artifacts. This fauna can be divided into two sets, the first of early and the... more
The continental sedimentary layers of the Republic of Djibouti have yielded, in the valleys of Chekheyti and Dagadle rivers, a fossil mammal fauna and some artifacts. This fauna can be divided into two sets, the first of early and the second of middle Pleistocene age. Paleomagnetic and K/Ar data agree well with these results. Not far from the top of the second set we have found a human maxilla which belongs perhaps to an evolved Homo erectus or to a primitive Homo sapiens. -English summary
At Kemiklitepe, two distinct horizons, one 15 m above the other, yielded rich Turolian faunas. Magnetostratigraphic study of a 25 m thick section allowed identification of five polarity zones, mainly normal. The pattern of this succession... more
At Kemiklitepe, two distinct horizons, one 15 m above the other, yielded rich Turolian faunas. Magnetostratigraphic study of a 25 m thick section allowed identification of five polarity zones, mainly normal. The pattern of this succession is not obviously similar to that of the Turolian magnetic polarity time scale. Two hypothese are possible: the first one, based on pattern similarities between the polarity time scale and the Kemiklitepe magnetozones, suggests an age spanning from 6.4 to 7.2 Ma for this section, including thus both mammalian horizons in the middle Turolian; the second envisages large sedimentary gaps, and correlates roughly these magnetozones with a larger interval of the polarity time scale, in agreement with the mammalian ages (MN11 and MN12) of the fossiliferous horizons. -English summary
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ABSTRACT Early Paleogene mammal faunas from western Asia remain very poorly documented, and the few fossil data currently available raise more issues than they provide answers regarding the palaeobiogeography of the Peri-Tethys area... more
ABSTRACT Early Paleogene mammal faunas from western Asia remain very poorly documented, and the few fossil data currently available raise more issues than they provide answers regarding the palaeobiogeography of the Peri-Tethys area during a key period for the diversification and dispersal of modern group of mammals. Parabunodon anatolicum is an ungulate mammal whose both age and taxonomic affinities are disputable. The holotype of this monotypic genus was collected from the early? Eocene Çeltek Formation, Central Anatolia, Amasya Province, and described as a choeropotamid artiodactyl, making it the easternmost occurrence of the family which is mostly restricted to the middle–late Eocene of western Europe. Here, we revisit the relationships of Parabunodon anatolicum in the light of recent studies. The reassessment of dental features of this genus as well as of its phylogenetic relationships led us to reconsider the taxonomic assignment of this still enigmatic form. Cladistic analysis was undertaken to understand its relationships with the Pleuraspidotheriidae and the Choeropotamidae, in which Parabunodon had earlier been included. Our analysis supports the relationships of Parabunodon with other pleuraspidotheriids. It implies an early diversification and a vast geographic distribution from western Europe to Anatolia of pleuraspidotheriid ‘condylarths’ during the early Paleogene.