Large giraffids (Mammalia, Ruminantia) from the new late Miocene fossiliferous locality of Kemiklitepe-E (Western Anatol
- PDF / 8,373,119 Bytes
- 15 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 51 Downloads / 215 Views
ORIGINAL PAPER
Large giraffids (Mammalia, Ruminantia) from the new late Miocene fossiliferous locality of Kemiklitepe-E (Western Anatolia, Turkey) Alexandros Xafis 1 & Serdar Mayda 2 Friðgeir Grímsson 6 & Doris Nagel 1
&
Mehmet Cihat Alçiçek 3
&
Tanju Kaya 4 & Kazım Halaçlar 5 &
Received: 15 October 2019 / Revised: 14 February 2020 / Accepted: 29 April 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Kemiklitepe is a well-known locality with four recognised fossiliferous horizons, KTA to KTD, which have yielded a plethora of mammalian remains. Previous taxonomic studies indicate the presence of three giraffid taxa: Samotherium major and Palaeotragus rouenii from the uppermost three horizons, KTA, KTB and KTC, as well as Palaeotragus rouenii and Samotherium? sp. from the lowermost KTD horizon. In this study a new locality, Kemiklitepe-E, is presented for the first time. Kemiklitepe-E is located approximately 350 m NW of the classic Kemiklitepe locality. The fossiliferous sedimentary rocks at Kemiklitepe-E occur at the same stratigraphic level as localities KTA, KTB and KTC. The preliminary faunal list includes representatives of Proboscidea, Chalicotheriidae, Equidae, Bovidae and Giraffidae. Comprehensive descriptions and comparisons of the Kemiklitepe-E Giraffidae specimens suggest the co-occurrence of two large giraffids: Samotherium major and Helladotherium duvernoyi. Samotherium major, previously documented from this region, is the most common taxon at Kemiklitepe. Helladotherium duvernoyi is rare at Kemiklitepe and here reported for the first time. The two taxa coexisted during the middle Turolian in Greece and Western Anatolia. In addition, it is suggested that specimens of Samotherium? sp described from KTD possibly belong to Samotherium neumayri. Based on the stratigraphic position of fossiliferous rocks, as well as the faunal data presented herein, the newly discovered locality is considered to be of middle Turolian (MN12) age. Keywords Artiodactyla . Giraffidae . Helladotherium . Samotherium . Turolian . MN12
Introduction The family Giraffidae includes pecoran ruminants, which, together with the Palaeomerycidae, are part of a large clade called Giraffomorpha (Sánchez et al. 2015). Giraffids, which most
* Alexandros Xafis [email protected]; [email protected] 1
Department of Palaeontology, Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
2
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ege University, 35100 Izmir, Turkey
3
Department of Geology, Pamukkale University, 20070 Denizli, Turkey
4
Natural History Museum, Ege University, 35100 Izmir, Turkey
5
Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China
6
Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria
likely originated during the late Oligocene (Mennecart et al. 2019) are characterised by the presence of ossicones, which are epiphyseal cranial appendages, bilobed canines and long limb bones (Janis and Scott 1987; Solounias
Data Loading...
