2011 Eavp Abstracts

Program and Abstracts
European Association
of Vertebrate Palaeontologists
9th Annual Meeting
Heraklion, Crete, Greece
14-19 June, 2011

editors
Alexandra van der Geer
Athanassios Athanassiou
9th Annual Meeting

14-19 June, 2011
Host Committee
George Iliopoulos , Charalambos Fassoulas2, John de Vos3,
George Lyras3, Alexandra van der Geer3, Olga Tzortzakaki1,
Giannis Zidianakis1, Dimitris Kostopoulos4, Socrates Roussiakis5,
Athanassios Athanassiou6
1

Editors
Alexandra van der Geer3
Athanassios Athanassiou6
Cover and logo design
George Lyras3
Program
George Iliopoulos , George Lyras3, Olga Tzortzakaki1
1
Abstract reviewers
Athanassios Athanassiou6, John de Vos3, George Iliopoulos1,
Dimitris Kostopoulos4, George Lyras1, Socrates Roussiakis5,
Alexandra van der Geer1, Katerina Vasileiadou7
University of Patras; 2 Natural History Museum of Crete; 3 Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity
Naturalis; 4 Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; 5 National and Kapodistrian University of
Athens; 6 Hellenic Ministry of Culture; 7 Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest
1
The publication of this volume was made possible through the financial support of Heracles General
Cement Co.
Zaros Natural Mineral Water and Lyrarakis Wines provided the water and the wine served during this
meeting.
Table of Contents
Program at a glance
Program
Poster presentations
Abstracts
List of participants
1
3
9
13
63
Programataglance
TIME
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
9:00am
Welcome
Deesri:Lepidotes
PardoPrez:Platypterygius
9:15am
deVos:H.floresiensis
Cavin:MidCretaceusfishes
Meyer:taphonomy&ichnology
9:30am
Herridge:Cretanmammoth
Sytcgevskaya:Russianfishes
Iliopoulos:hyaenidfootprint
9:45am
Kolb:Cretandeer
Liston:Pachycormiformes
denOuden:woollymammoths
10:00am
Geiger:Giantrodents
Codrea:Transylvanianfishes
Wilson:SouthAmericanungulates
10:15am
Papayiannis:Minoanmicrom.
Argyriou:fishesofAegina
COFFEE
COFFEE
10:30am
10:45am
COFFEE
Monninger:pterosaurwings
11:00am
Mallison:stegosaurtails
Stein:bonemicrostructure
Frey:Rhamphorhynchusvsfish
11:15am
Reiss:Plateosaurusgrasp
Grigorescu:taphonomyofHaeg Buffetaut:Gargantuavis
11:30am
Lyras:carnivorebrain
Prondvai:Rhamphorhynchus
Bell:avianecomorphology
11:45am
Jungnickel:mustelidae
Mallouchou:bonemicrostruct.
OConnor:aviansternum
12:00pm
Kuhn:pinnipedlocomotion
Merceron:bovidO&Cisotopes
Michailidis:Pikermibirdofprey
12:15pm
si:Crocodyloformsjaw
Buckley:proteinmassspectrom.
12:30pm
LUNCH
12:45pm
13:00pm
LUNCH
LUNCH
13:15pm
13:45pm
14:00pm
14:15pm
Codrea:Eoc.Oligoceneboundary
POSTERSESSION
14:30pm
Athanassiou:Nyctereutessize
14:45pm
Weber:TheJournal
Wattanapituksakul:Thairumin.
15:00pm
Lauprasert:DinoThailand
Kostopoulos:Oioceroshorns
15:15pm
LeLoeuff:agiantsauropod
Palombo:Faunaldynamics
15:30pm
Tortosa:JasNeufSud
Geraads:L.Neogenemammals
15:45pm
Micklich:GrubeUnterfeld
16:00pm
Rabi:Archelon
16:15pm
Naksri:Asianboxturtles
16:30pm
POSTERSESSION
Mennecart:Gelocusquercyi
COFFEE
16:45pm
17:00pm
Walen:palaeoart
17:15pm
denOuden:Maasvlakte2
17:30pm
Vlachos:geotourism
17:45pm
Theodorou:Greekmuseums
18:00pm
Vasileiadou:biodiversityexpo
18:15pm
Dermitzakis:geoschools
COFFEE
Erbajeva:Siberianmicrom.
Vasileiadou:Lesvosmicrom.
Vasileiadou:Kessanimicrom.
Workshop:moldingandcastingtechniques
13:30pm
Mrs:Miocenecastorids
GENERALASSEMBLY
ELECTIONOFNEWBOARD
COFFEE
Vasilyan:giantsalamanders
Alcal:10thEAVPmeeting
Laa:Diictodon
Renesto:Triassicprotorosaurs
AUCTION
Marjanovi:Lissamphibiaorigin
Closingsession
9thAnnualMeetingoftheEuropeanAssociationofVertebratePalaeontologists
Heraklion,Crete,1419June2011
Program
TUESDAY14thofJune
17:0019:30 Registration(incl.payment)
19:30....
Icebreakerparty
WEDNESDAY15thofJune
8:009:00
9:009:15
Registration(incl.payment)
MeyerCh.A.andMylonasM.
Welcomeaddress
Chairperson:DeVosJ.
9:159:30
DeVosJ.,vanderGeerA.A.E.,LyrasG.
Homofloresiensisisahominidthatevolvedinaninsularenvironment
9:309:45
HerridgeV.,IliopoulosG.
CapeMelekasandCretanPleistoceneGeochronology
9:4510:00 KolbC.,deVosJ.,ScheyerT.M.,SnchezVillagraM.R.
TheontogenyofbonehistologyinthedwarfedislanddeerCandiacervusfrom
theLatePleistoceneofCrete
10:0010:15 GeigerM.,WilsonL.A.B.,CosteurL.,ScheyerT.M.,AguileraO.A.,SnchezVillagraM.R.
GiantrodentsfromthenorthernNeotropicstaxonomic,phylogeneticand
developmentalaspectsoftheirevolutionwithinthecaviomorphradiation
10:1510:30 PapayiannisK.
ThemicromammalsfromMinoanCrete:humaninterventionintheecosystem
oftheisland
10:3011:00 CoffeeBreak
Chairperson:SnchezVillagraM.
11:0011:15 MallisonH.
Hardhitters?Akinetic/dynamiclookatstegosaurtails
11:1511:30 ReissS.,MallisonH.
GraspingcapabilitiesofPlateosaurusengelhardti
11:3011:45 LyrasG.
Firsteatandthenthink:therelationbetweencraniodentaland
neuroanatomicalchangesincarnivoranevolution
11:4512:00 JungnickelS.N.,FreyE.
Anatomy,locomotionandconstructionalmorphologyofthepolecatandthe
ferret(MustelaputoriusputoriusandM.p.furo,Mustelidae,Carnivora)
12:0012:15 KuhnC.,FreyE.
WalkingLikeCaterpillars,FlyingLikeBatsPinnipedLocomotion
12:1512:30 siA.
Theevolutionofjawmechanismandoralfoodprocessing inheterodont
crocodyliforms
12:3014:00 LunchBreak
14:0014:45 PosterSession
Chairperson:BuffetautE.
14:4515:00 WeberS.
TheJournal"PalaeodiversityandPalaeoenvironments"
15:0015:15 LauprasertK.,WattanapituksakulA.,LaojumponC.,BuffetautE.,CunyG.,TongH.,MartinJ.,
LeLoeuffJ.,ClaudeJ.,WongkoK.,CavinL.,SrisukP.,KhamhaS.,SuteethornS.,DeesriU.,
NaksriW.,SuteethornV.
DinosaurValleyofThailand:ThespectacularvertebratefossilsitesinSoutheast
Asia
15:1515:30 LeLoeuffJ.,NraudeauD.,VulloR.,LeprinceA.,AllainR.,BuffetautE.
AgiantsauropodfromtheBarremianofFrance
15:3015:45 TortosaT.,DutourY.,BuffetautE.,CojanI.,CheylanG.
NewdiscoveriesofvertebratesfromtheUpperCampanianlocalityofJasNeuf
Sud(Var,SoutheasternFrance)
15:4516:00 MicklichN.
EmergencyexcavationintheGrubeUnterfeld(Frauenweiler)claypit
(Oligocene,Rupelian;BadenWrttemberg,S.Germany):Newrecordsand
palaeoenvironmentalinformation
16:0016:15 RabiM.,GhlichU.B.,KearB.P.
AnexceptionallycompletespecimenofthecolossalCretaceousseaturtle
Archelonischyros
16:1516:30 NaksriW.,TongH.,ThirakhuptK.,LauprasertK.,SuteethornV.,ClaudeJ.
AnewfossilofCuorafromtheMioceneofThailandshedsnewlightonthe
originofAsianboxturtles
Chairperson:TsoukalaE.
17:0017:15 WalenA.
Fromsmallpiecestobigdisplays:thereconstructionofgiantextinctspecies
17:1517:30 DenOudenN.
TheMaasvlakte2Project:combininguniquecollectionmethods,
multidisciplinaryscientificresearchandparticipationofthegeneralpublic
17:3017:45 VlachosE.,TsoukalaE.,MolD.
DevelopinggeotouristicroutesinNorthernGreece:acasestudyonthe
evolutionofproboscideansbasedonthefossilrecord
17:4518:00 TheodorouG.E.
Ontheneedofsystematicprotection,study,conservationandmanagement,of
theGreekpalaeontologicaltreasures:Proposalfortheestablishmentofthe
NationalNaturalHistoryMuseumatPikermi,Attica
18:0018:15 VasileiadouK.,ZourosN.,TsoukalaE.,KostopoulosD.S.,IliopoulosG.
Communicatingpastmammalianbiodiversity:Fromthedeinothereofthe
LesvosPetrifiedForesttotheManofthePetralonaCave,atemporary
exhibitionintheNaturalHistoryMuseumoftheLesvosPetrifiedForest
18:1518:30 DermitzakisM.,FermeliG.,MelndezG.
GEOschools:aEuropeanprojectforinnovativeteachingofgeosciencesin
secondaryschools
THURSDAY 16thofJune
8:009:00
Registration(forlatecomers)
Chairperson:ListonJ.
9:009:15
DeesriU.,CavinL.,LauprasertK.,SuteethornV.
Lepidotesbuddhabutrensis(Actinopterygii,Holostei)fromtheLateJurassic
EarlyCretaceousofNEThailand,andtheevolutionaryhistoryof
semionotiforms
9:159:30
CavinL.,LngE.
MidCretaceouscontinentalvertebrateassemblagesfromthesouthern
marginoftheTethys
9:309:45
SytchevskayaE.
ThenewlocalityoffreshwaterfishesfromtheEoceneofNorthernPrimorye
(RussianFarEast)
9:4510:00 ListonJ.J.
ThePalaeobiogeographyofCretaceousPachycormiformes
10:0010:15 CodreaV.,JipaC.
NewdataontheMaastrichtianfishes(LepisosteidaeandCharaciformes)from
Transylvania
10:1510:30 ArgyriouT.,TheodorouG.
NewfindingsfromthePliocene(Zanclean)ichthyofaunaofAeginaisland,Greece
Chairperson:KostopoulosD.
11:0011:15 SteinK.
Bonemicrostructuralrequirementsatlargesizeandfibrolamellarbone
convergence
11:1511:30 GrigorescuD.,CsikiZ.,Vasile.,ButiseacG.A.
Taphonomicbiasesinmacroandmicrovertebrateassemblagesfromthe
MaastrichtianoftheHaegBasin(Romania)andtheirrelevanceinthe
reconstructionofafossilecosystem
11:3011:45 ProndvaiE.,SteinK.,SanderM.,siA.
LifehistoryofRhamphorhynchusinferredfrombonehistology
11:4512:00 MallouchouM.S.,StathopoulouE.T.,TheodorouG.E.
Contributiontothestudyoftheeffectofchemicalconservativemeansonthe
microstructureoffossilisedbones
12:0012:15 MerceronG.,LcuyerCh.,KostopoulosD.S.,KoufosG.D.
Oxygenandcarbonisotopecompositionsofextinctbovidsandenvironments
ofprimatesintheLateMioceneofGreece
12:1512:30 BuckleyM.
Newapproachestopalaeobiologyusingproteinmassspectrometry
Chairperson:PalomboM.R.
14:0014:15 CodreaV.,MaridetO.,VenczelM.,FrcaC.,SolomonAl.
NewdataontheterrestrialEocene/OligoceneboundaryinTransylvania
(Romania)
14:1514:30 AthanassiouA.,LyrasG.
Nyctereutesmegamastoides(Mammalia:Carnivora:Canidae):variationand
evolution
14:3014:45 MennecartB.,BergerJ.P.
AnewtaxonomytoaccommodateGelocusquercyi(Ruminantia,Mammalia),
anditsrelationshipwithProdremotheriumelongatum
14:4515:00 WattanapituksakulA.,LauprasertK.,
DiversityofRuminantsintheQuaternarysitesofThailand
15:0015:15 KostopoulosS.D.
Horntwistingversusbovidphylogeny:theOioceroscomplexexample
15:1515:30 PalomboM.R.
Faunaldynamicsduringthelast5Ma:acasestudyoflargemammalsfromthe
WesternMediterraneanregion
15:3015:45 GeraadsD.,SpassovN.,HristovaL.,MarkovG.N.,GarevskaB.,GarevskiR.
15:4516:00
16:0017:15
LargemammalfaunasfromthelateNeogeneoftheF.Y.RepublicofMacedonia
CoffeeBreak
GeneralAssemblyandElectionofNewBoard
17:1517:30 AlcalL.
The10thEAVPmeeting
17:30.....
Auction
FRIDAY 17thofJune
Chairperson:MeyerCh.
9:009:15
PardoPrezJ.,FreyE.,StinnesbeckW.,RivasL.,Salazar,Ch.,LeppeM.
AnewspeciesofPlatypterygiusoramorphologicalvariation?Thedifficultyto
designateanewspecies,whentherecordfossilisscarce
9:159:30
MeyerCh.A.,FreyE.,ThringB.
Ichnologicalevidenceoftaphonomicfeedbackinvertebrates:Examplesfrom
theLateJurassicandCretaceous
9:3045
IliopoulosG.,RoussiakisS.,FassoulasC.
yaenidfootprintfromtheLateMioceneofWesternCrete
9:4510:00 DenOudenN.
BodysizepatternsinLatePleistocenewoollymammoths(Mammuthus
primigenius)fromEurope
10:0010:15 WilsonL.A.B.,MaddenR.H.,SnchezVillagraM.R.
Testingadevelopmentalmodelinthefossilrecord:molarproportionsinSouth
Americanungulatesandinothermammals
Chairperson:FreyE.
10:4511:00 MonningerS.,FreyE.
Backward,forwardorcompletelydifferent:wingsweepinpterosaurs
11:0011:15 FreyE.,TischlingerH.
OnthestrangerelationbetweenthelongtailedpterosaurRhamphorhynchus
andfishes.
11:1511:30 BuffetautE.
Gargantuavisphiloinos:giantbirdorgiantpterosaur?
11:3011:45 BellA.,ChiappeL.M.
IdentifyingTrendsinAvianEcomorphology:applicationstoEuropean
PaleogeneBirds
11:4512:00 OConnorJ.K.,ZhouZH
TheMorphologyandEarlyEvolutionoftheAvianSternum
12:0012:15 MichailidisD.,RoussiakisS.
FirstrecordedpresenceofabirdofpreyfromtheLateMioceneofPikermi
(Attica,Greece);preliminaryobservations
13:3015:30 PosterSession
13:3016:30 Workshop:IntroductiontobasicmoldingandcastingtechniquesbyAart
Walen(allmaterials,includingsafetygloves,willbeprovided)
Chairperson:VasileiadouK.
15:3015:45 ErbajevaM.A.,AlexeevaN.V.
PlioPleistocenesmallmammaldiversityinthesouthofEastSiberia
15:4516:00 VasileiadouK.,ZourosN.
MicromammalianinhabitantsoftheLesvosPetrifiedForest(Greece)
16:0016:15 VasileiadouK.,KonidarisG.,KoufosG.D.
NewdataonthelateMioceneearlyPliocenemicromammalianlocalityof
Kessani(Thrace,Greece)
16:1516:30 MrsT.
TemporalevolutionandbiogeographyofMiocenelargeCastoridae(Mammalia,
Rodentia)
Chairperson:AthanassiouA.
17:0017:15 VasilyanD.,BhmeM.
LifestyleandlifehistoryofrecentandfossilEurasianCenozoicgiant
salamanders(Cryptobranchidae;Amphibia)
17:1517:30 LaaM.,FreyE.
AnarchosaurlikeparatympanicsinussystemintheanomodontDiictodon
17:3017:45 RenestoS.
SkullmorphologymodificationanddietarydifferencesintheTriassicsmall
protorosaursMacrocnemusandLangobardisaurus
17:4518:00 MarjanoviD.,LaurinM.
Thematrix:detailedreevaluationofalargedatasetdemonstratessupportfor
thelepospondylhypothesisoftheoriginofLissamphibia
18:0018:30 Closingsession
Refreshmentsandremovingposters
SATURDAY 18thofJune
8:00.....
FieldtriptoPrassasandKatharo
SUNDAY 19thofJune
10:00.....
VisittoKnossos
PosterPresentations
(Wednesday14:0014:45andFriday13:3015:30)
AlexeevaN.V.,ErbajevaM.A.
PliocenePleistocenesciuridsoftheTransbaikalarea:timeofdiversificationandevolutionary
development
AthanassiouA.
TheLatePleistocenefaunaofPeneios
BaykinaE.M.
TwonewspeciesofthegenusSardinella(Pisces,Clupeiformes,Clupeidae)fromtheEastern
Paratethys(Ciscaucasianregion,Russia)
BelvedereM.,BauconA.,FurinS.,MiettoP.,FellettiF.,MuttoniG.
TheICHNOBASEproject:developmentofasharingtoolforichnologicaldata
CasanovasVilarI.,VanDamJ.A.,DeEstebanTrivignoS.
Mandibleshapeinsquirrelsanditsrelationshipwithsize,ecologyandphylogeny
CobosA.,RoyoTorresR.,GascF.,AlcalL.
AnewgiantturiasaurianspecimenfromRiodeva(Teruel,Spain)
CompanyJ.DeEstebanTrivignoS.,DondasA.
BonehistologyofanimmatureScelidotheriumfromtheLujanianofArgentina
DeEstebanTrivignoS.,FariaR.A.
Morphologicalvariabilityinthelowerjawofarmadillos:phylogenyordiet?
DelfinoM.,RabiM.,GemelR.,ChesiF.,ScheyerT.M.
ThetypelocalitymaterialofPsephophoruspolygonusMeyer,1847:whereabouts,gross
morphologyandhistology
DeMiguelD.,AzanzaB.
UnusualclimaticconditionsinthemiddleMioceneofcentralSpain:evidencefromthestudyof
teethofungulatemammals
Dermitzakis,M.,FermeliG.
Museumsdigitalizedvertebratecollectionsastoolsforeducationalscenariosforschoolstudents
ofcompulsoryeducation
GarciaG.,deLapparentdeBroinF.,deBonisL.,KoufosG.D.,ValentinX.,KostopoulosD.,MerceronG.
AnewterrestrialTestudinidaefromtheLateMiocenehominoidlocalityRavindelaPluie(Axios
Valley,Macedonia,Greece)
GascF.,CobosA.,RoyoTorresR.,AlcalL.,MampelL.
TheropodteethdiversityfromRiodeva(Teruel,Spain)
10
HiardF.,FaselA.,BergerJ.P.
PaleocenePlesiadapiformsandEoceneEuprimatesfromEurope:Newmaterial
IliopoulosG.,AthanassiouA.,KonstantinouG.
AnewdwarfelephantlocalityfromtheLatePleistoceneofCyprus
KostopoulosD.,KoufosD.G.
GreekAnthracotheriids:breakingupa50yearsilence
KmmelS.,FreyE.
EvolutionofautopodialrotationinSynapsidabetweenthePermianandtheCretaceous
LaojumponC.,SuteethornS.,SuteethornV.,LauprasertK.
NewvertebratebearinglocalitiesfromTheTriassicofThailand
ManiakasI.,YoulatosD.
MyologicaladaptationstofastenduringflightinEuropeanfreetailedbats,Tadaridateniotis
(Rafinesque,1814)
MinwerBarakatR.,MarigJ.,MoySol,S.
AnewformofPseudoloris(Omomyidae,Primates)fromtheMiddleEoceneoftheAlmaznBasin
(IberianPeninsula)
MitsopoulouV.,IliopoulosG.
TheeffectoftectonicmovementsandeustaticfluctuationsontheimmigrationofPleistocene
mammalsintheSouthAegeanSea
RabiM.,VremirM.
EvolutionofdortokidturtlesintheLateCretaceous PaleogeneofEurope.
RagerL.,SnchezVillagraM.R.
HeterochronyincranialsutureclosureofrecentandfossilXenarthra
RoyoTorresR.,AlcalL.,CobosA.,EsplezE.,GascF.,GonzlezA.,MampelL.,PesqueroM.D.
AdinosaurnurseryinaLowerCretaceousclayquarry(GalveMaestrazgoGeopark,Teruel,
Spain)?
RozziR.,PalomboM.R.
Functionalmorphologyandpalaeohabitatpredictions:thecasestudyofPlioPleistoceneendemic
bovidsfromSardinia
ScherlerL.,MennecartB.,BeckerD.,BergerJ.P.
OligocenetoEarlyMioceneevolutionoflargeterrestrialhoofedmammalsinWesternEurope
SheltonC.,SteinK.,SanderM.
Utilizingmorphometricsandhistologyofappendicullarskeletalelementstodeterminewhat
DimetrodonspeciesarepresentintheBriarCreekbonebed(LowerPermian,ArcherCounty,Texas)
SzentesiZ.,VenczelM.
ThefirstdiscoglossidfrogfromtheLateCretaceous(Santonian)ofHungary(Iharkt,Bakony
Mountains)
11
VanderGeerA.A.E.,IliopoulosG.,LyrasG.A.,deVos,J.
TheMiddlePleistocenedeeroftheKatharobasin(Crete,Greece)anditsimportanceforabetter
understandingoftheevolutionaryhistoryoftheinsularfaunaofCrete
VasileiadouK.,ZourosN.,FassoulasC.,IliopoulosG.
VertebratefossilsinGeoparks:atoolforthepromotionofresponsibletourismandtheeconomic
developmentofruralareas
VislobokovaI.
OntheevolutionandsystematicsofthetribeMegacerini(Artiodactyla,Cervidae)
VlachosE.,TsoukalaE.
NewfindsofgianttortoisesfromThessalonikiarea:themostcompleteofCheirogaster
Bergounioux,1935skeletoninGreece
WalenA.
Takingscientificstudiestothepublic:theDinoExposkeletons
WattanapituksakulA.,AsselinG.,LauprasertK.,SrisukP.
AncientsettlementfromKaoEgo,PhetchaburiProvince,Thailand
WongkoK.,LauprasertK.,BuffetautE.,SuteethornS.,SuteethornV.
ThepalaeoenvironmentofthespinosauridbearingstrataintheKhokKruatFormationfrom
NortheasternThailand
13
Abstracts
PliocenePleistocenesciuridsofthe
Transbaikalarea:timeofdiversificationand
evolutionarydevelopment
Alexeeva,N.V.1,Erbajeva,M.A.1
1
GeologicalInstitute,SiberianBranch,RussianAcademyof
Sciences,UlanUde,Russia;
ochotona@mail.ru,erbajeva@gin.bscnet.ru
TheTransbaikalarea,locatedinthemiddleofthecon
tinental interior of Asia, is characterized by the alter
nation of deep intermountain depressions and chains
ofrangescoveredwithdeeptaiga,foreststeppesand
steppes. They are inhabited by small mammal faunas
including the steppe (Marmota sibirica) and black
cupped(Marmotacamtschatica)marmots,longtailed
Siberiangroundsquirrel(Spermophilusundulatus)and
Siberianchipmunk(Tamiassibiricus).
TheearliestfossilrecordofTransbaikalianmarmotsis
knownfromtheMiddlePliocene.Theoldestspeciesis
Marmotatologoica,acomponentofHipparionfaunas.
Thespeciescompositionofthosefossilfaunas,pollen,
flora and geological data show that savannalike for
eststeppes were prevailing during the Middle Plio
cene. The climate was moderately warm, but not
sharply arid. Detailed morphological analysis shows
thatthisextinctspecieswasclosetomodernMarmota
camtschaticainthetoothstructureandskullfeatures.
TheMiddlePleistocenewasthetimeofdiversification
andspeciationofbothTransbaikalianmarmots,which
became an ancestral form of the extant Marmota si
biricaandMarmotacamtschatica.
The earliest record of ground squirrels in the area is
also known from the Middle Pliocene (Beregovaya
site),buttheirfossilsareratherscarce.DuringtheLate
Pliocene explosive radiations of the genus Spermo
philus took place. It was represented by two subgen
era,SpermophilusandUrocitellus,whichcontinuedto
existduringtheEarlyPleistocene.IntheMiddlePleis
tocene S. (Spermophilus) tologoicus disappeared and
S.(Urocitellus)gromovibecamethedominantformin
thefaunas.DuringtheLatePleistocenethistaxonwas
replacedbytheextantform(Spermophilusundulatus)
whichisoneofthemostimportantrepresentativesof
themodernTransbaikalianfaunas.
NewfindingsfromthePliocene(Zanclean)
ichthyofaunaofAeginaisland,Greece
Argyriou,T.1,Theodorou,G.1
1
MuseumofPalaeontologyandGeology,Nationaland
KapodistrianUniversityofAthens,Athens,Greece;
argthod@gmail.com,gtheodor@geol.uoa.gr
The presence of fossil fish in the Pliocene (van Hins

bergen et al., 2004) diatomites of Aegina island was
first mentioned by Livaditis (1974). However, it was
only recently that the components of this fossil ich
thyofauna were studied (Argyriou, 2010, Gaudant et
al.,2010).Duringthelastthreeyearsaseriesofexca
vations (SARG NKUA 70/4/3370, 70/3/1685) of these
Pliocene(Zanclean)diatomitesledtotherecoveryofa
considerable number of fossil fish samples. This work
focusesontherecoveredmaterialfromanewlocality,
situated approximately 800 m to the southeast of
Aghios Thomas Hill. The identifications are based on
theliterature(e.g.Arambourg,1927;Carnevale,2003)
whilethetotalnumberofidentifiedfishremainsis44.
Among them, the remains of Bregmaceros albyi
(Bregmacerotidae) and Spratelloides gracilis (Clupei
dae)arethecommonest.Thenumberofindividualsof
both identified species is 26 and 15 respectively.
Moreover, remains of two individuals of pipefish
Syngnathuscf.acus(Syngnathidae)andoneindividual
of deepsea hatchet fish Argyropelecus sp. (Sternop
tychidae) were also recognized. Finally, the overall
compositionoftheichtyofaunaindicatesthatthefos
siliferous diatomites were deposited in shallow tropi
calwatersincontactwiththeopensea.
References
Arambourg,C.1927.LespoissonsfossilesdOran.
MatriauxpourlaCartegologiquedAlgrie,6:298.
Argyriou,T.2010.Studyofthefossilizedichthyofauna
fromtheLowerPlioceneofAeginaIsland(Greece).
UnpublishedB.Sc.thesis,NationalandKapodistrian
UniversityofAthens,DepartmentofGeologyand
Geoenvironment.
Carnevale,G.2003.Redescriptionandphylogenetic
relationshipsofArgyropelecuslogearti(Teleostei:
Stomiiformes:Sternoptychidae),withabriefreviewof
14
fossilArgyropelecus.RivistaItalianadiPaleontologiae
Stratigraphia,109:6376.
Gaudant,J.,CourmeRault,M.D.,SaintMartin,S.
2010.Onthefossilfishes,diatoms,andforaminifera
fromZanclean(LowerPliocene)diatomiticsediments
ofAeginaIsland(Greece):astratigraphicaland
palaeoenvironmentalstudy.Palaeodiversity,3:
141149.
VanHinsbergen,D.J.J.,Snel,E.,Garstman,S.A.,
Marunteanu,M.,Langereis,C.G.,Wortel,M.J.R.,
Meulenkamp,J.E.2004.Verticalmotionsinthe
Aegeanvolcanicarc:evidenceforrapidsubsidence
precedingvolcanicactivityonMilosandAegina.
MarineGeology,209:329345.
TheLatePleistocenefaunaofPeneisValley
(Lrissa,Thessaly,Greece):newcollected
material
Athanassiou,A.1
1
HellenicMinistryofCulture,Ephorateof
Palaeoanthropology Speleology,Athens,Greece;
aathanas@geol.uoa.gr
PeneisisthemainriverthatdrainstheThessalianBa
sin. In the eastern part of the basin (subbasin of
Lrissa)therivercutsintoitsownPleistocenedeposits
bringing mammal fossils, as well as Palaeolithic arte
facts,tolight.Thefindsarelocatedwestofthecityof
Lrissa, at the riverbed area between the mouth of
Kalamki gorge and the city. The Peneis fauna is al
readyknownfromearlierpublications(Miljietal.,
1965; Schneider, 1968; Athanassiou, 2001). Most of
the new material was collected during the last ten
years, at time periods when the water level was low
enoughtorevealthefossilsontheriverbed.Themost
abundanttaxaaretheelephantElephasantiquusand
theaurochsBosprimigenius.Thepresenceoftheibex
Capra ibex, at least three cervid taxa (referable to
Megaloceros, Cervus and Capreolus), two species of
horses (Equus ferus and E. hydruntinus), the rhino
Stephanorhinus hemitoechus and a hippo (Hippo
potamussp.)isalsoconfirmedintheavailablesample.
The new collection does not add any newfaunal ele
ment for the locality, but contributes to the better
knowledge of the Late Pleistocene fauna of eastern
Thessaly,byaddingmanynewspecimens.Thefaunais
biochronologically dated to the Late Pleistocene,
which is corroborated by existing radiometric dates
(about40ka)forthelowerterraceoftheriver(Demi
track,1986).
References
Athanassiou,A.2001.Newfindingsoffossillarge
mammalremainsinthePenisValley(areaofLarissa,
Thessaly,Greece).BulletinoftheGeologicalSocietyof
Greece,34:533539.
Demitrack,A.1986.TheLateQuaternarygeologic
historyoftheLarissaplain,Thessaly,Greece:Tectonic,
climatic,andhumanimpactonthelandscape.PhD
thesis,StanfordUniversity.
Milji,V.,Boessneck,J.,Jung,D.,Schneider,H.1965.
PalolithikumumLarissainThessalien.RudolfHabelt
Verlag,Bonn:65pp.
Schneider,H.E.1968.Zurquartrgeologischen
EntwicklungsgeschichteThessaliens(Griechenland).
RudolfHabeltVerlag,Bonn:127pp.
Nyctereutesmegamastoides(Mammalia:
Carnivora:Canidae):variationandevolution
Athanassiou,A.1,Lyras,G.2
1
2
NetherlandsCentreforBiodiversity,Naturalis,Leiden,the
Netherlands;glyras@geol.uoa.gr
The extant raccoondog, Nyctereutes procyonoides, is

characterised by marked morphological and metrical
variation across its rapidly expanding Eurasian bio
geographical range (Kauhala et al., 1998). The Villa
franchian (Late Pliocene Early Pleistocene) faunas
alsoincludeawidelyspreadraccoondog,largerthan
the extant one and known as N. megamastoides in
Europe and N. sinensis in Asia. Our study focuses on
the variation of N. megamastoides, based mainly on
fossil samples collected from Early Pleistocene locali
ties of Greece. Two of them, Ssklo (Thessaly) (Atha
nassiou, 1998) and Vater (Lesbos Island) (De Vos et
al., 2002) are particularly interesting, because they
have yielded morphologically and metrically extreme
samples, despite their similar age and the small geo
graphical distance between them. The N. megamas
toides from Ssklo is very large and robust; its denti
tion is high crowned and the molar grinding area is
weak, implying thus a more carnivorous diet. The
Vater specimens are instead much smaller and slen
derer, with a dentition implying a hypocarnivorous
diet. Other localities yielded intermediate samples.
We conclude that N. megamastoides has a wide in
traspecificmorphologicalandmetricalvariation,which
is mainly expressed as differences among localities
than as intrapopulation variation. This reflects that
each population was evolutionary adapted to slightly

different niches, separated from each other geo
graphicallyand/orchronologically.
References
Athanassiou,A.1998.Contributiontothestudyofthe
fossilmammalsofThessaly.PhDthesis(1996),
NationalandKapodistrianUniversityofAthens.Gaia,
5:1393.
DeVos,J.,vanderMade,J.,Athanassiou,A.,Lyras,G.,
Sondaar,P.Y.,Dermitzakis,M.D.2002.Preliminary
noteontheLatePliocenefaunafromVatera(Lesvos,
Greece).AnnalesGologiquesdesPaysHellniques,
39:3770.
Kauhala,K.,Viranta,S.,Kashimoto,M.,Helle,E.,
Obara,I.1998.SkullandtoothmorphologyofFinnish
andJapaneseraccoondogs.AnnalesZoologiciFennici,
35:116.
TwonewSarmatianspeciesofthegenus
Sardinella(Pisces,Clupeiformes,Clupeidae)
fromtheEasternParatethys(Ciscaucasian
region,Russia)
15
thefossilspecies.
The Middle Sarmatian form from the Pshekha River
basinalsorepresentsanewspeciesofSardinella.This
largerform(upto160mmofstandardlength)ischar
acterizedbyauniqueshapeofthepraeoperculumand
alargenumberofvertebrae.Thepelvicfinsareplaced
belowthecentralpointofthedorsalfinbase;thedor
sal fin is above the centre of the body. Vert 4850
(5+28 (30) +15 (16)), D 1617, A 18, V 8. This species
differs from all recent species of the subgenus Sardi
nellabytheshapeofthepraeoperculumandagreater
number of vertebrae. Large size, greater number of
vertebraeandthepositionofpelvicfinsdistinguishit
fromtheLowerSarmatianspeciesandthemajorityof
the other fossil species. These Sardinella species may
beusedasindexfossilsfortheSarmatiandepositsof
theEasternParatethys.
References
Carnevale,G.,Bannikov,A.F.,Landini,W.,Sorbini,Ch.
2006.Volhynian(EarlySarmatiansensulato)fishes
fromTsurevsky,NorthCaucasus,Russia.Journalof
Paleontology,80(4):684699.
Danilchenko,P.G.1980.OtryadClupeiformes.In:
Novitskaya,L.I(ed),Iskopayemyyekostistyyeryby
SSSR.TrudyPaleontologicheskogoInstitutaAkademii
NaukSSSR,178:726.
Baykina,E.M.1 2011RaymondeRivoallanGrand
1
M.V.LomonosovMoscowStateUniversity,Moscow,
RussianFederation;baikina.eug@mail.ru
Two collections of clupeid fishes of the genus Sardi

nellahavebeenstudiedfromtheLowerandtheMid
dleSarmatianofthePshekhaRiverbasin(Ciscaucasian
region, Russia). Originally the Lower Sarmatian form
hasbeendetermined(Carnevaleetal.,2006)asSardi
nella sardinites (Heckel) based on similarity to the
specimensfromtheMiddleOligoceneoftheCaucasus
(Danilchenko,1980:910).Itwasestablishedthatthe
Lower Sarmatian species of Sardinella represents a
newtaxon,synonymoustoneitherMelettasardinites
Heckel,norClupeasardinitesandSardinellasardinites
(seesynonymyinCarnevaleetal.,2006).
Thenewspeciesischaracterizedbylowbody,unique
shape of the praeoperculum and presence of seven
branchiostegal rays. The pelvic fins are placed below
theposteriorthirdofthedorsalfinbase;thedorsalfin
is situated forward to the middle point of the body.
Vert.4446(4+28(29)+12(13)),D1718,A1314,V8.
Theshapeofthepraeoperculum,thenumberofbran
chiostegal rays, the fewer number of vertebrae and
raysintheanalfinandalsothelengthofthelowerjaw
distinguish the Lower Sarmatian form from all recent
speciesofthesubgenusSardinellaandthemajorityof
Identifyingtrendsinavianecomorphology:
applicationstoEuropeanPaleogenebirds
Bell,A.1,Chiappe,L.M.1
1
DinosaurInstitute,NaturalHistoryMuseumofLosAngeles
County;abell@nhm.org,lchiappe@nhm.org
Asmembersofthemosttaxonomicallydiversegroup
of organisms, the Archosaurs, modern birds are
strikingly diversified. They occupy a wide ambient
range, and thus display an amazing variety of
lifestyles. Skeletal morphometrics are a reasonable
proxy to understand avian ecomorphological trends.
This study expands on a previous ecomorphological
analysis of 500 modern bird species through the
additionofapproximately20EuropeanPaleogenebird
species. Europes excellent Early Tertiary record of
fossil birds enables the use of morphometric tools to
quantitatively analyze the ecological distribution of
earlycrowngroupavians.Paleogenebirdsincludedin
this study cover a broad taxonomic range, including
earlyrepresentativesoftheGalliformes,Apodiformes,
and Coraciiformes, among others; and range in age
fromtheLatePaleocene/EarlyEoceneFurFormation
16
of Denmark to the LateMiddle Eocene Messel

Formation of Germany. The results of this analysis
allow us to compare basal members of crownclade
birds with their modern counterparts in terms of
skeletal proportions and correlated ecological roles,
offeringauniqueperspectiveontheearlyevolutionof
modernbirdsinEurope.
toexchangeclassicaland3Ddata,geographicalinfor
mation. It thus enlarges the possibility for each re
searcher to access objective data and improve the
shifttowardquantitativeichnology.
Newapproachestopalaeobiologyusing
proteinmassspectrometry
TheICHNOBASEproject:developmentofa
sharingtoolforichnologicaldata
Belvedere,M.1,Baucon,A.2,3,Furin,S.4,Mietto,P.1,
Felletti,F.2,Muttoni,G.2
1
UniversitdiPadova,DipartimentodiGeoscienze,Padova,
Italy;matteo.belvedere@unipd.it
2
UniversitdegliStudidiMilano,DipartimentodiScienze
dallaTerra,Milano,Italy;andrea@tracemaker.com,
giovanni.muttoni1@unimi.it,fabrizio.felletti@unimi.it
3
UNESCOGeoparkNaturtejoMesetaMeridional,Geology
andPaleontologyOffice,CentroCulturalRaiano,Idanhaa
Nova,Portugal
4
UniversitdiFerrara,DipartimentodiScienzedellaTerra,
Ferrara,Italy;furins@gmail.com
During the last decade, several research groups have

started usingnew methodsfor thedocumentation of
footprints (laserscanner, photogrammetry) that
broughttothediffusionofthreedimensionalmodels.
These techniques come alongside the classical meth
odologies used since the beginning of vertebrate ich
nologytosharedataandtracemorphologies,i.e.,out
line drawings and qualitative descriptions of tracks.
Though these methods are still fundamental for the
definitionandtheunderstandingofvertebratetracks,
they introduce a high level of subjectivity, which do
not allow a precise quantitative approach to ichnol
ogy. Modern approaches introduce an objective way
forcollectingdata,but,theirsharingisstillrelatedto
direct contact among authors, thus preventing that
jump towards a quantitative approach that ichnology
needs.
The ICHNOBASE project thus aims to create the first
comprehensiveonlinedatabaseontracefossils,allow
ing to organize, store, and retrieve large amounts of
ichnological information. The project bases on a rela
tionaldatabasecontrolledbyawebinterfacefordata
input and retrieval. The architecture of ICHNOBASE
consistsofthreeinterconnectedlevels,corresponding
to bibliographic, taxonomic and morphological data,
as well as detailed stratigraphical and sedimentologi
caldataofthesite/surfacebearingthetraces
TheintentionoftheICHNOBASEprojectistobecome
thereferencedatabaseforichnologists,whocanuseit
Buckley,M.1
1
ManchesterInterdisciplinaryBiocentre,FacultyofLife
Sciences,UniversityofManchester,Manchester,United
Kingdom;m.buckley@manchester.ac.uk
Recent advances in mass spectrometry techniques

nowallowfortheanalysisofsmallamountsofprotein
recoverablefromparticularwellpreservedfossils.The
main interest to palaeontologists is in the ability to
utilisesequenceinformationfromlongextincttaxafor
improving our understanding of phylogeny, some ex
amplesofwhicharegiveninthispaperincludingmas
todons, mammoths and various species of dwarfed
Mediterranean hippopotami. However, in addition to
detailed sequence analysis, relatively simple peptide
mass fingerprints (PMFs) can be obtained to quickly
identify large numbers of morphologically unidentifi
ablebonefragmentstobetterunderstandthepalaeo
biodiversityofaparticularsite.Althoughtheabilityto
recoversuchinformationfromMesozoicfossilsinclud
ing dinosaurs is highly debated, which likely depends
onboththeageandpreservationofthefossilaswell
as the methods used to extract and analyse the pro
tein,thisresearchdemonstratesthatsimplePMFscan
be regularly obtained from fossils of at least 1.5 Ma
from British sites. What is particularly unexpected is
that even with a highly conserved bone protein such
as collagen it is possible to obtain speciesspecific in
formationamongstvarioustypesoftaxa.
Gargantuavisphiloinos:giantbirdorgiant
pterosaur?
Buffetaut,E.1
1
CNRS,UMR8538,LaboratoiredeGologiedelEcole
NormaleSuprieure,Paris,France;eric.buffetaut@sfdr.fr
ThepresenceofagiantbirdintheLateCretaceousof
southernFrancewasfirstreportedbyBuffetautetal.
(1995)onthebasisofasynsacrumfragmentfromFox
Amphoux (Provence). Subsequently, Buffetaut and Le
Loeuff (1998) described a new taxon, Gargantuavis
philoinos,onthebasisofapelvisandareferredfemur
from two Late Cretaceous localities (Campagnesur
Aude and Villespassans) in Languedoc. All currently
known Gargantuavis specimens are from localities of
late Campanian to early Maastrichtian age. G.
philoinoswasdescribedasanostrichsizedbirdshow
ingvariousprimitivecharacterssuggestingthatitwas
arelativelybasal,nonornithurineform.Althoughthe
avian nature of Gargantuavis has been accepted by
many authors, Mayr (2009: 21), quoting a personal
communication from Worthy, suggested a possible
pterosaurianidentityofGargantuavisandhintedthat
itwasinfactalargeazhdarchid.Thiswasbasedmainly
ontheassumptionthatthecraniallylocatedacetabu
lumofGargantuavisismorereminiscentofpterosaurs
thanofbirds.However,inpterosaurstheacetabulum
isnotinacranialposition,andfromthatpointofview
Gargantuavisismorereminiscentofsomegiantbirds,
such as Gastornis, than of pterosaurs. Similarly, the
stoutfemurofGargantuavisisverydifferentfromthe
long, slender femur of pterosaurs. Mayrs contention
thatthewidepelvisofGargantuavisisveryunlikethe
narrow one typically found in large groundbirds (rat
ites, Gastornithidae, Phorusrhacidae) is only partly
correct.Runninggroundbirdssuchaslivingratitesand
phorusrhacidsdohavenarrowpelves,butvariousex
tinct graviportal groundbirds, including some moas,
gastornithids and dromornithids, had broad pelves.
There is thus no reason to assume that Gargantuavis
wasagiantpterosaurratherthanagiantbird.More
over,therecentdiscoveryintheUpperCretaceousof
Cruzy(southernFrance)ofatypicallyavianlargecervi
cal vertebra, presumably belonging to Gargantuavis,
further confirms the original conclusion that Gargan
tuaviswasagiantgroundbird.
References
Buffetaut,E.,LeLoeuff,J.,Mechin,P.,MechinSalessy,
A.1995.AlargeFrenchCretaceousbird.Nature,377:
110.
Buffetaut,E.,LeLoeuff,J.1998.Anewgiantground
birdfromtheUpperCretaceousofsouthernFrance.
JournaloftheGeologicalSociety,London,155:14.
Mayr,G.2009.Paleogenefossilbirds.Springer,Berlin:
262pp.
17
Mandibleshapeinsquirrelsandits
relationshipwithsize,ecologyand
phylogeny
CasanovasVilar,I.1,vanDam,J.A.1,
DeEstebanTrivigno,S.1
1
InstitutCataldePaleontologiaMiquelCrusafont,
CerdanyoladelValls,Barcelona,Spain;
isaac.casanovas@icp.cat,jan.vandam@icp.cat,
soledad.esteban@icp.cat
We analyzed mandible shape in extant squirrels (Sci

uridae, Rodentia) using twodimensional landmark
based morphometrics and further assess its correla
tionwithsize,phylogenyandbroadecologicalprefer
ences. The correlation of shape with size was tested
using a multivariate regression of Procrustes shape
coordinates on centroid size. Our results show that
scalinginsquirrelmandibleisgenerallyisometric,and
that the different squirrel subfamilies show the same
sizerelatedtrendsinmandibleshape.Thepresenceof
a phylogenetic signal in the morphometric data was
tested using a permutation test which simulates the
null hypothesis of complete absence of phylogenetic
structure.Inaddition,wecalculatedshapeconsistency
andshaperetentionindexes,whichprovideameasure
of homoplasy in morphometric data. In most cases,
the null hypothesis of independency could not be re
jectedandtheindicesconsistentlyindicatedalowde
gree of homoplasy, clearly stressing the role of phy
logeny. Finally, the relationship between shape and
ecology was studied with canonical variates analysis
(CVA)usingdifferentgroupingvariables:broaddietary
preferences,mainhabitatandlifestyle.Thosesquirrels
showingthemoreextremeadaptations(suchasthose
feeding mainly on insects, mosses or grasses) are
clearly distinguished, although the discrimination of
the most abundant dietary classes, frugivory and
granivory, remains problematic. Because of its strong
relationshipwithphylogeny,weconcludethatmandi
ble shape is probably not a good proxy to the pa
laeoecology of extinct squirrels, even though some
particularadaptationsmaybeeasilyrecognizable.
18
MidCretaceouscontinentalvertebrate
assemblagesfromthesouthernmarginof
theTethys
Anewgiantturiasaurianspecimenfrom
Riodeva(Teruel,Spain)
Cavin,L.1,Lng,E.1
MusedhistoirenaturelledelaVilledeGenve,Geneva,
Switzerland;
lionel.cavin@villege.ch,emilie.lang@villege.ch
During the late Early Cretaceous and the early Late

Cretaceous, the southern margin of the Tethys was
mainly formed by North Africa and the northern part
ofSouthAmerica,bothblocksbeingseparatedbythe
incipientSouthAtlantic.InNorthAfrica,acontinental
series named Continental Intercalaire records de
posits mostly from the Early Cretaceous to the Early
Cenomanian (basal Late Cretaceous). There is now
good evidence that Cenomanian deposits that occur
fromeasternNorthAfrica(Bahariya,Egypt)towestern
NorthAfrica(KemKembeds,Morocco)containasimi
lar vertebrate assemblage. New findings from the
CenomanianAlcntaraFormationinnortheasternBra
zil indicate that vertebrate components of North Af
ricaarealsopresentontheSouthAmericanblock.The
typical taxa characterizing these assemblages are the
shark Onchopristis, the lungfish Neoceratodus afri
canus, the coelacanth Mawsonia, the polypterid
Bartschichthys and several dinosaur taxa (Rebbachi
sauridae, Spinosaurinae, Carcharodontosauridae). Al
though the degree of phylogenetic affinity between
most of the taxa from these different localities re
mainstobemeasured,thecorrespondenceofthetaxa
atgenericor(sub)familialrank,aswellasthesimilarity
betweenthecompositionoftheassemblagesand,ap
parently, between ecological conditions may indicate
the existence of rather similar ecosystems spreading
overhugespatialarea.Observationshavebeenmade
of localised fish assemblages with high degree of en
demism, for instance the OT1 assemblage in the
Kem Kem beds, Morocco, but these seem to have
been isolated elements, and they do not alter the
general impression of the occurrence of a spatially
huge similar ecosystem extending along the southern
margin of the Tethys. This hypothesis should now be
tested by comparing the available published data
more deeply, and by accumulating new field data.
Suchanecosystem,ifreal,wouldhavehadnoequiva
lenttoday.
Cobos,A.1,RoyoTorres,R.1,Gasc,F.1,Alcal,L.1
FundacinConjuntoPaleontolgicodeTeruelDinpolis,
Teruel,Spain;cobos@dinopolis.com,royo@dinopolis.com,
gasco@fundaciondinopolis.org,alcala@dinopolis.com
Supervisingsurveysonthemorethanfiftyplaceswith
dinosaurs documented in Villar del Arzobispo Forma
tion (TithonianBerriasian) in Riodeva (RD) (Teruel,
Spain) in 2010, new remains appeared in the site
called San Lorenzo (RD28). This site was found in
2004 and has provided 217 dinosaur fossils ex situ,
mostofthemnotidentified,althoughananteriorcau
dal vertebra has been classified as Macronaria indet.
Once the excavation works were initiated, cranial
fragments (including ten isolated teeth) of a large
sauropod dinosaur have been identified. From its
postcranialskeleton,whichisoutstandingforitsgreat
robustness, we have recovered until now: a nearly
completeulna,arightfemurandtibiawithlengthsof
about1.92mand1.25m,respectively,fifteenanterior
and medial caudal vertebrae with their respective
chevrons, and two astragali. The teeth of this speci
men exhibit heartshaped crowns with a pointed and
asymmetrical apex that is strongly compressed labio
lingually,aswellasaconvexlabialsurfacewithabulge
that extends from the base towards the apex. These
characters are distinctive of the Turiasauria clade. If
the study of new remains confirms its attribution to
Turiasaurus riodevensis, which was defined in RD10
site and is also present in RD13, then its skeleton
wouldbenearlycomplete.
Acknowledgements: Dep. Educacin, Cultura y De
porteandDep.Ciencia,TecnologayUniversidad(Go
bierno de Aragn), Obra Social Ibercaja, Ministerio
Ciencia e Innovacin and FEDER funds (Project
DINOSARAGN CGL200907792), Ministerio Educa
cin (AP200800846), Grupo Investigacin Consoli
dado FOCONTUR (E62), IAF and Ayuntamiento de
Riodeva.
NewdataontheMaastrichtianfishes
(LepisosteidaeandCharaciformes)from
Transylvania
NewdataontheterrestrialEocene/
OligoceneboundaryinTransylvania
(Romania)
Codrea,V.1,Jipa,C.2
Codrea,V.1,Maridet,O.2,Venczel,M.3,Frca,C.4,
Solomon,Al.1
DepartmentofGeology Paleontology,FacultyofBiology
Geology,BabeBolyaiUniversity,ClujNapoca,Romania;
vlad.codrea@ubbcluj.ro
2
FacultyofEnvironmentalScience,BabeBolyaiUniversity,
ClujNapoca,Romania
Until now, the single location with continental Maas

trichtian fauna including fishes was the Haeg Basin,
with fossils originating from typical fluvial sequences.
ThematerialcollectedthereisreferredtoAcipenseri
formes,CharaciformesandLepisosteidae.Recentsur
vey in the Maastrichtian sedimentary Metaliferi area
(Alba County) revealed a new, extremely rich site at
Oarda de Jos, bearing various microvertebrates, in
cluding bones and teeth of dinosaurs (Zalmoxes, Tel
matosaurus),fishes,lissamphibians,crocodiles,turtles
andmammals.Thefishremainsconsistmostlyofiso
lated teeth, a few jaws fragments, scales and verte
brae. These fossils document the presence in this lo
calityoftwofamilies:LepisosteidaeandCharacidae.
Lepisosteids are represented by various different
morphotypesofteeth.Thefirsttypeismassive,cylin
drically shaped, with rounded base and crowned oc
clusal surface. It could be related to ?Lepidotes. The
second type is more robust than the previous one,
with the tip becoming suddenly narrow, straight or
curved. The third type predominant is conical,
moreelongatethantype2,exposingparallelridgeson
the enamel surface. Here, two subtypes can be out
lined:pointed,whichmaybeassignedtoLepisosteus,
and lanceolate, referable to Atractosteus. Scales are
predominant rhomboidal,thick and covered bygano
ine. A few but fragmentary opisthocoelous vertebrae
belongtothesamelepisosteids.
Characiformesaredocumentedonlybyasmallsample
of isolated teeth. Two types can be separated, based
on the number of cusps. The first type bears two
cusps,onehigherandmuchlargerthantheother.The
lingualandlabialfacesoftheteethareslightlyconvex
and have a triangular outline. The second type has
threecusps:ahigheroneinthemiddleflankedbytwo
smaller cups that are relatively similar to each other
bothinsizeandshape.
This new locality is the richest one in Maastrichtian
fishes in Romania (until now, 556 teeth and scales
were collected), because in Haeg Basin such fossils
arebyfarrarer.
19
DepartmentofGeologyPaleontology,BabeBolyai
University,Romania;vlad.codrea@ubbcluj.ro
2
InstituteofVertebratePaleontologyand
Paleoanthropology,ChineseAcademyofSciences,Beijing,
China
3
riiCriurilorMuseum,NaturalHistoryDepartment,
Oradea,Romania
4
FacultyofEnvironmentalScience,BabeBolyaiUniversity,
Romania
Eocene/Oligocenecontinentaldepositsoffluvialorigin
deposited on northwestern side of the Transylvanian
Basin(Romania)arecurrentlyincludedinthefollowing
formations:ValeaNaduluiandTurbua(lateEocene,
Priabonian), Moigrad and Dncu (early Oligocene,
Rupelian).Duringthelastyears,severalvertebratelo
calitiesfoundintheseformationsyieldedassemblages
indicative of the faunal turnover that took place
aroundtheEocene/Oligoceneboundary.
The Priabonian localities Bociu, Morlaca, Rdaia,
Treznea and Stna yielded: glassfishes (Ambassidae)
and garfishes (Lepisosteidae), frogs, lizards, turtles
(?Mauremys),crocodilians,butalsomammals:marsu
pials (Peratherium ?lavergnense), insectivores, the
oldest European hamsters (?Eocricetodon), as well as
some newly discovered large herbivores: an amyno
dont (probably Sharamynodon) and the first bronto
therefoundinTransylvaniaafteracenturyandahalf
(Brachydiastematheriumsize).
The Rupelian vertebrate localities ClujNapoca,
Suceag, Mera, Huedin yielded various teleostean
fishes (Dapalis, Morone, etc), salamanders (Miopro
teus),frogs(Latonia,Pelophylax,aswellasanewspe
ciesofpalaeobatrachidfrog),lizards(Anguidaeindet.)
snakes (Eoanilius, cf. Bransateryx sp.), turtles, croco
diles (Diplocynodon) and mammals: insectivores
(Quercysorex), hamsters (Paracricetodon and Eucrice
todon), a dormouse (?Bransatoglis), small sized an
thracotheres (Elomeryx borbonicus), and large herbi
vores already reported previously, such as indricoth
ers,entelodons,rhinos(Ronzotherium)etc.
These vertebrate faunas document the arrival in Ro
mania of mammals of Asian origin before the Eo
cene/Oligocene boundary, supporting the closing of
theTurgaistraitinthelateEocene.IntheearlyOligo
cenevertebratesarenoticeablydifferentfromtheEo
ceneones,suggestingasecondmigrationevent,pos
siblyoccurringatthebeginningoftheOligocene.
20
Bonehistologyofaninmature
ScelidotheriumfromtheLujanian
ofArgentine
Morphologicalvariabilityinthelowerjawof
armadillos:phylogenyordiet?
Company,J.1,DeEstebanTrivigno,S.2,Dondas,A.3
DepartamentodeIngenieradelTerreno.Universidad
PolitcnicadeValencia,Valencia,Spain;company@uv.es
2
3
MuseoMunicipaldeCienciasNaturalesLorenzoScaglia,
MardelPlata,Argentina
Fossilxenarthransconstituteoneoftheworstknown
mammalian group. Ecology and physiology of this
group remain mostly uncertain. Moreover, recent
xenarthrans species display peculiar physiological ad
aptations.Extantslothsarealmostheterothermic,and
most species of armadillos have body temperatures
two degrees below the normal temperature in other
mammals.Forthisreasonitisespeciallyinterestingto
studythehistologyoftheseextintspecies.
Scelidotherium was a ground sloth with welldevel
opeddiggingabilities,whichbodymasswasabouthalf
atonne.Ithasbeenproposedasthepossiblebuilder
for the large late Cenozoic burrows present in the
Pampeanregion.Thebonesanalyzedwererecovered
from the Mar del Plata area and belong to the same
individual.
Transverse thinsections of cortical bone taken from
appendicularelementsandribsofanimmatureSceli
dotherium specimen exhibit a wellvascularised pri
mary fibrolamellar bone dominated by woven tissue
and large vascular canals, organized in circular rows.
The canals are board and in most cases incompletely
filled with centripetally deposited osteonal bone. The
outermostvascularcanalsareevenlargerbecauseos
teonaltissuehasnotstartedtodepositinthisrecently
formedbone.Theinnermostperiostealcortexishighly
resorptive, displaying large erosion rooms reflecting
the expansion of the medullar cavity. As it would be
expected,nostructuresofarrestedgrowtharedevel
oped.Thisrichlyvascularisedfibrolamellarbonetissue
referstotherelativelyfastbonegrowthcharacteristic
oflatejuveniletosubadultindividuals.
DeEstebanTrivigno,S.1,Faria,R.A.2
2
DepartamentodePaleontologia,FacultaddeCiencias,
Montevideo,Uruguay;faria@fcien.edu.uy
Armadillos are the most widespread and speciesrich

group of the typically South American order Xenar
thra,acladewithrelativelyfewlivingtaxabutwitha
longanddiverseCenozoichistory.Therelationshipbe
tweenshapeanddietinthisgrouphasbeenstudied,
but it is not clear to which extent phylogenetic or
functional factors have been more important in the
evolutionofthegroup.Heretheextentofthedietary
adaptations in extant cingulates is analysed with the
aim of helping to understand the adaptations of ex
tinct species by using generalized Procrustes analysis
on 17 landmarks in lateral view of the jaws of 11 ar
madillospecies.
After removing the effects of size, a PCA was carried
out on the shape variables. PC1, clearly associated
withphylogeny,explains80%ofthevarianceinshape,
separating terrestrial generalist insectivores from the
rest.Dasypusshowsahighcoronoidprocess,reduced
angular process and the ascending ramus forming a
wider angle with the dentary. When Dasypus is re
moved from the analysis the phylogenetic signal per
sists, although at a smaller degree. The negative part
of PC2 (11.8 %) characterises specialised insectivores
ashavingaproportionallylongerdentaryandasmal
ler condylar process. Both features are usually found
in insectivorous species and are associated to small
muscleattachmentareas.Clamyphorustruncatus,de
spite being a generalist insectivore, is grouped with
the rest of its clade (omnivorous forms). The historic
factorseemstoberesponsibleforitsshape,withthe
exception of its reduced coronoid process, the only
character related to an insectivorous diet. Dasypus
showsamixedmorphology,withcharacteristicsasso
ciated with an insectivorous diet (elongated and low
dentary, reduced angular process) and others related
to food processing in the mouth, such as the high
coronoidprocessthatimpliesaleverageimprovement
forthetemporalmuscles.Thatcombinationofcharac
ters explains 80% of the lower jaw shape variance in
extant armadillos. Even when nonxenarthran species
areincluded,Dasypusremainspeculiarinitsmorphol
ogy,beingplacedinthemostpositivevaluesofPC1.
21
UnusualclimaticconditionsintheMiddle
MioceneofcentralSpain:evidencefromthe
studyofteethofungulatemammals
Homofloresiensisisahominidthatevolved
inaninsularenvironment
DeMiguel,D.1,Azanza,B.2
InstitutCataldePaleontologia,UniversitatAutnomade
Barcelona,Spain;daniel.demiguel@icp.cat
2
DepartamentodeCienciasdelaTierra,reade
Paleontologa,UniversidaddeZaragoza,Instituto
UniversitariodeinvestigacinenCienciasAmbientalesde
Aragn(IUCA),Zaragoza,Spain;azanza@unizar.es
The Early to Middle Miocene is one of the most re

markableandinterestingintervalsforinvestigatingthe
influenceofmajorclimaticchangesonenvironments.
InthecaseofthemeridionalareasofEurope,suchas
the Mediterranean regions, several global climatic
transitions profoundly affected the ecosystems and
had an important driving force in mammalian evolu
tion.TheMioceneClimateOptimum(onset17Ma,off
set15Ma)representsawarmandhumidperiodchar
acterizedbytropicalanddryconditions,anditssignal
andeffectsincentralSpainhavebeenrecentlyidenti
fiedthroughthedentalwearofmanyoftheherbivo
rous mammals that witnessed this event. From this
point, subsequent global climatic changes are known
tohaveoccurred.
Here,wereconstructthedietsofmiddleMioceneLate
Aragonian (MN6MN7/8; 13.7511.1 Ma) cervids and
bovidsfromcentralSpain(CalatayudDarocaBasin)by
analysesofdentalmicroandmesowear,andusediets
as environmental proxies to reconstruct the climatic
conditionsthatprevailedinthisareaafteranepochof
allegedclimatictransition.Ourresultsindicatethat,in
general, ruminants inhabited dry and seasonal land
scapes, as has been interpreted traditionally. How
ever,morebrowsingandlessintermediatesignatures
and less grassdominated mixed feeders in assem
blages of MN7/8 strongly point to the presence of
somewhat different conditions. Thus, wear patterns
onteethseemtoreflectaconsiderablehumidepisode
andachangeinthevegetationinthetransitionfrom
MN6 to MN7/8, which is in full agreement with the
suddendecreaseintemperature,thesocalledmiddle
MioceneCoolingthatiswellknowntohaveoccurred
justaftertheMioceneClimateOptimum.
DeVosJ.1,VanderGeerA.A.E.1,LyrasG.A.1
NetherlandsCentreforBiodiversityNaturalis,Leiden,the
Netherlands;john.de.vos@ncbnaturalis.nl
SincethediscoveryofHomofloresiensismanypapers
have been published expressing different opinions
aboutitsorigin(foranoverview,seeAiello2010).The
originalideawasthatH.floresiensisisadescendantof
H.erectusandthatitssmallsizeistheresultofanevo
lutionaryadaptationtotheinsularenvironmentofFlo
res. However, this scenario was soon challenged.
Some researchers suggested that the specimen is a
modernbutpathologicalHomosapiensandsomeoth
ers that it is phylogenetically related to a, yet undis
covered,preHomoerectus/ergasterhominid.Thein
terpretation of a pathology had limited acceptance,
but many researchers accepted the origin from a
smallbodiedearlyHomo.Suchaphylogeneticscheme
can be justified by many anatomical features of this
hominid. However, it requires the adoption of an hy
pothetical scenario, namely, that hominids more
primitivethanHomoergaster/erectuswerethefirstto
exit Africa. The oldest Homo found outside Africa is
the 1.7 million yearold H. georgicus from Dmanisi,
Georgia,whichisintermediatebetweenH.habilisand
H.erectus(Vekuaetal.,2002)
In this contribution we demonstrate that insular
dwarfism is the most plausible explanation for the
anatomicalfeaturesseeninthissmallhominid.Sucha
phylogeneticschemeisinlinewiththepalaeontologi
calevidence(VanderGeeretal.,2010),anddoesnot
requiretheadoptionofanew,hypotheticalscenario.
The most parsimonious solution is that hominids
evolveonislandsinthesamefashionastherestofthe
mammalsdo.
References
Aiello,L.C.,2010.FiveyearsofHomofloresiensis.
AmericanJournalofPhysicalAnthropology,142(2):
167179.
VanderGeer,A.,Lyras,G.,deVos,J.,Dermitzakis,M.
2010.Evolutionofislandmammals:adaptationand
extinctionofplacentalmammalsonislands.Wiley
Blackwell,Oxford:479pp.
Vekua,A.,Lordkipanidze,D.,Rightmire,G.P.,Agust,J.,
Ferring,R.,Maisuradze,G.,Mouskhelishvili,A.,
Nioradze,M.,PoncedeLen,M.S.,Tappen,M.,
Tvalchrelidze,M.,Zollikofer,C.2002.Anewskullof
earlyHomofromDmanisi,Georgia.Science,297
(5578):8589.
22
Lepidotesbuddhabutrensis(Actinopterygii,
Holostei)fromtheLateJurassicEarly
CretaceousofNEThailand,andthe
evolutionaryhistoryofsemionotiforms
Deesri,U.1,3,Cavin,L.2,Lauprasert,K.1,3,
Suteethorn,V.1
1
PalaeontologicalResearchandEducationCentre,
MahasarakhamUniversity,MahaSarakham,Thailand
2
DepartmentofGeologyandPalaeontology,Musum
dHistoirenaturelle,Genve,Switzerland
3
DepartmentofBiology,FacultyofScience,Mahasarakham
University,MahaSarakham,Thailand
Lepidotes buddhabutrensis is a semionotiform fish

speciesdescribedonthebasisoffragmentaryremains
from the Late Jurassic Early Cretaceous of NE Thai
land(Cavinetal.,2003).Systematicexcavationsofthe
site Phu Nam Jun yielded ca 300 specimens. Mor
phometric analyses of this sample showed that all
specimensbelongtoasinglepopulation(Deesrietal.,
2009).AdetailedmorphologicaldescriptionofL.bud
dhabutrensis makes it one of the best known species
of semionotiforms. It shows a number of specialisa
tions,inparticularrelatedtoitsjawapparatus,indicat
ingadetritiousorherbivorousdietverydifferentfrom
the durophagous diet of the Jurassic type species L.
elvensis.NewexaminationsofJurassicandCretaceous
semionotiforms, together with recent descriptions of
newtaxabyvariousauthors,revealedthatthisgroup
of fish diversified in freshwater environments during
theEarlyandmidCretaceousworldwide,andproba
bly occupied ecological niches similar to those of
modern cypriniforms. A phylogenetic analysis includ
ing the best known species of semionotiforms indi
cates that several taxa, including L. buddhabutrensis,
arestemLepisosteiforms(Cavin,2010).Togetherwith
therecentlyrecognisedfamilyObaichthyidae(Grande,
2010), these taxa shed new light on the evolutionary
historyofgarsduringthelateMesozoic.SeveralJuras
sic and Cretaceous localities from NE Thailand have
yielded semionotiform remains, some of them com
plete enough to be assigned at a specific level. The
current study of this material will provide important
dataforabetterassessmentofthediversityofthese
fishesinSEAsiaandoftheirpossiblerolesintheevo
lutionaryhistoryofthegarlineage.
References
Cavin,L.2010.DiversityofMesozoicsemionotiform
fishesandtheoriginofgars(Lepisosteidae).
Naturwissenschaften,97:10351040.
Cavin,L.,Suteethorn,V.,Khanshuba,S.,Buffetaut,E.,
Tong,H.2003.AnewSemionotid(Actinopterygii,
Neopterygii)fromtheLateJurassicEarlyCretaceous
ofThailand.ComptesRendusPalevol,2:291297.
Deesri,U.,Cavin,L.,Claude,J.,Suteethorn,V.,
Yuangdetkla,P.2009.Morphometricandtaphonomic
studyofarayfinnedfishassemblage(Lepidotes
buddhabutrensis,Semionotidae)fromtheLateJurassic
EarlyCretaceousofNEThailand.In:Buffetaut,E.,
Cuny,G.,LeLoeuff,J.andSuteethorn,V.(eds).Late
PalaeozoicandMesozoicContinentalEcosystemsinSE
Asia,pp.115124.GeologicalSociety,London,special
publication315.
Grande,L.2010.Anempiricalsyntheticpatternstudy
ofgars(Lepisosteiformes)andcloselyrelatedspecies,
basedmostlyonskeletalanatomy.Theresurrectionof
holostei.AmericanSocietyofIchthyologistsand
Herpetologists,SpecialPublication6,supplementary
issueofCopeia10:2a:1871.
ThetypelocalitymaterialofPsephophorus
polygonusMeyer,1847:whereabouts,gross
morphologyandhistology
Delfino,M.1,2,Rabi,M.3,Gemel,R.4,Chesi,F.5,
Scheyer,T.M.6
1
DipartimentodiScienzedellaTerra,UniversitdiTorino,
Italy;massimo.delfino@unito.it
2
InstitutCataldePaleontologia,UniversitatAutnomade
Barcelona,Spain
3
slnytaniTanszk,EtvsLorndTudomnyEgyetem,
Budapest,Hungary;iszkenderun@gmail.com
4
HerpetologischeSammlung,NaturhistorischesMuseum
Wien,Austria;richard.gemel@nhmwien.ac.at
5
DipartimentodiScienzedellaTerra,UniversitdiFirenze,
Italy;francesco.chesi@gmail.com
6
PalontologischesInstitutundMuseum,UniversittZrich,
Switzerland;tscheyer@pim.uzh.ch
Psephophorus polygonus Meyer, 1847 (Testudines,

Dermochelyidae) was described on the basis of shell
ossicles coming from the Middle Miocene (MN67/8)
of Devnska Nov Ves (Slovakia). The whereabouts of
thismaterialisuncertainbutitpossiblyisinthecollec
tionoftheNaturhistorischesMuseumWien:aslabon
display at the same institute with partly connected
andpartlydisarticulatedossicles,isconsideredasthe
neotype. We recently analyzed isolated ossicles from
the type locality in the collections of the same Mu
seum (87 ossicles), the Institut fr Palontologie at
Universitt Wien (5 ossicles), and the Magyar Ter
mszettudomnyi Mzeum in Budapest (112 isolated
ossiclesandasmallslabwithafewdozenconnected
ossicles). We reevaluated the gross morphology of
these ossicles of P. polygonus and described for the
first time their microstructure, by comparing them
withDermochelyscoriacea,theonlylivingdermoche
lyid turtle. The gross morphology of this material is
congruent with that already described for P. poly
gonus, with one significant exception that requires a
reconsiderationofthediagnostictraitsofP.polygonus
and D. coriacea: one keeled ossicle has a distinctly
concave,andnotaflat,ventralsurface.Bothflatand
keeledossiclesofP.polygonusshowsimilarhistologi
cal structures, i.e. compact diploe structures with an
internal cortical coarse fibrous meshwork, whereas
the thinner D. coriacea ossicles lose the internal cor
tex,anthustheirdiploe,duringontogeny.Theossicles
ofbothP.polygonusandD.coriaceadifferfromthose
of other lineages of amniotes whose armour is com
posed of polygonal ossicles or platelets, in having
growthcentressituatedattheplatecentresjustinte
rior to the external bone surface and not within the
cancellouscoreorclosertotheinternalcompactbone
layer.
23
portantstudyarea.TheNorthSeamammothslivedat
the western edge of the species natural distribution.
Asclimaticchangesarelikelytoinfluencethepopula
tions in the periphery of the biotope first, we would
expectphysicalchangesforinstanceduetohabitat
fragmentation to be observable in the Dutch and
Britishwoollymammothfossils.Alargeportionofthe
North Sea specimens have been measured, focusing
initiallyonthird(last)molars.Anumberofspecimens
were subsequently selected for radiocarbon dating.
The results of both the morphological and the radio
carbonanalysesprovideabaselinevariationstudy,al
lowingacomparisontothoseofotherlocalities.
Preliminary results show that the variation in the
woollymammothislargerthanisgenerallypresumed.
New material uncovered since the study of Maglio
(1973)hasconsiderablybroadenedtherangeofmor
phologicalfeaturesfoundwithinthespecies.Also,we
tentatively suggest that the Lilliput effect is at least
notaspronouncedashasbeenpreviouslyclaimed.
References:
BodysizepatternsinLatePleistocene
woollymammoths(Mammuthus
primigenius)fromEurope
Maglio,V.J.,1973:Originandevolutionofthe
Elephantidae,TransactionsoftheAmerican
PhilosophicalSociety,63:1149.
DenOuden,N.1
1
NetherlandsCentreofBiodiversity/Naturalis,Leiden,the
Netherlands;natasja.denouden@ncbnaturalis.nl
Variousclaimshavebeenmadethatthewoollymam
moth Mammuthus primigenius dwindled in size to
wards its extinction. This presumed Lilliput effect has
ledtospeculations.Itcould,forinstance,betheresult
of habitat fragmentation, leading to isles of suitable
habitatwithintheecosystem.Thus,sizechangescould
berelatedtoaspecialvarietyoftheislandrule.How
ever,aquickscanofthedataintheliteraturemakes
onewonderifsometimesthissmallsizeexistsonlyin
theeyesofthebeholder.Conspicuouslymissinginthe
discussionisanoverviewofthevariationofthewoolly
mammoth through time, which has not been quanti
fiedsincetheepicworkofMaglio(1973).Particularly
in a species which displays a respectable amount of
sexualdimorphism,suchabaselineneedstobeestab
lishedbeforewecandrawanyconclusions.
TheNorthSeaisoneofthelargestresourcesformam
moth material in the world. Most of the material is
housed in the Dutch natural history museums and in
private collections in the Netherlands. These collec
tions provide an extraordinary opportunity to study
the size and morphology of the mammoths from this
area,spanningtheperiodbetween50,000and22,000
years ago. Not only the sheer size of the collections
available, but also their find location makes it an im
TheMaasvlakte2Project:combiningunique
collectionmethods,multidisciplinary
scientificresearchandparticipationofthe
generalpublic
DenOuden,N.1
1
NetherlandsCentreofBiodiversity/Naturalis,Leiden,the
Netherlands;natasja.denouden@ncbnaturalis.nl
In the 1960s a large area of land was created just

southofRotterdamtomakeanexpansionoftheRot
terdam port possible. The sand used to create this
landyieldedalargeamountofPleistocenefossilsand
theMaasvlaktehaseversincebeenaverypopularlo
calityforamateurpalaeontologists.Nowasecondex
pansion of the Port of Rotterdam (Maasvlakte 2) is
well underway. Understandably, the expectations for
thisnewlocalityareveryhigh.
Scientifically, Maasvlakte 2 is a very interesting pro
ject.Becausethedredginganddepositingofthesands
are minutely monitored, it is possible to reconstruct
provenanceareasforthefossilswithinit.Thepossibil
ity of linking fossils to other find categories such as
mollusks, gravels, flints, wood and peat clumps is an
added value in comparisonto the isolated finds from
Maasvlakte1.
24
Because the area is classified as work terrain, it is

closedoffforcollectionactivities.Fortunatelytheau
thorities did allow a test with a Mega Beach Cleaner
for collection of sediments. This Mega Beach Cleaner
collected the first fifteen centimetres of top soil in a
trajectory of 2.5 km and deposited it into large bags
whichwerethentransportedtoNCBNaturalisforfur
therresearch.TotesttheefficiencyoftheMegaBeach
Cleaner against traditional surveys by trained people,
we also conducted a regular survey of the research
area.
The processing of the sediments collected by the
Mega Beach Cleaner provided an excellent opportu
nitytogiveamateurpalaeontologistsachancetowork
onthematerialandalsotoeducatethegeneralpublic.
Intotalseventyamateurresearchershelpedustosort
twelvecubicmetresofsediments,theresultsofwhich
will be used for further scientific research. Another
cubicmetrewascollectedespeciallyforscientificpur
poses and we were able to educate seven hundred
childrenandtheirparentsabouttheprehistoryofthe
NorthSeaandhavetheminvolvedinpickingoutand
recognisingbonesandshells.
Museumsdigitalizedvertebratecollections
astoolsforeducationalscenariosforschool
studentsofcompulsoryeducation
iosforinteractiveeducationalmultimediaapplications
for school students. Through an educational environ
ment thatpromoted thedevelopment ofobservation
skills, quest for information, decisionmaking proce
dures,criticalthinkingandsystematizationandfollow
ingthespiraldevelopmentofthematerial,twosetsof
activitiesweredesigned:oneforPrimaryandonefor
Secondaryeducation(FermeliandDermitzakis,2010).
Through describing such initiatives, we hope to pro
videinspirationtootherresearcherstoopenscien
tific collections to school students, as well as to de
velopcomputersupportedcollaborativelearningenvi
ronmentsinordertosupportgeosciencesliteracy.
References
Fermeli,G.,Dermitzakis,.,2008.Thedigitized
collectionsoftheMuseumsofGeologyand
Palaeontologyeducationaltoolsforschooleducation.
33rdInternationalGeologicalCongress,614/8Oslo
Norway,VolumeofAbstracts.
Fermeli,G.,Dermitzakis,M.,2010.Thecontributionof
museumsdigitalizedpalaeontologicalcollectionsto
thescientificliteracyofcompulsoryeducation
students:Thecaseofaninteractivemultimedia
productionofthePalaeontologicalandGeological
MuseumoftheUniversityofAthens.Proceedingsof
the12thInternationalCongress,Patras,May,2010,
BulletinoftheGeologicalSocietyofGreece,XLIII(2):
978988.
Dermitzakis,M.1,Fermeli,G.1
1
DepartmentofHistoricalGeologyandPalaeontology,
FacultyofGeologyandGeoenvironment,Nationaland
mdermi@geol.uoa.gr,gfermeli@geol.uoa.gr
The Geological and Palaeontological museum of the

UniversityofAthens,basedonthedigitizationproject
of a part of the Museums collections, has created a
trilingual interactive multimedia production designed
in order to enhance the awareness, provision of in
formationandeducationofschoolstudentsmainlyin
mattersofpalaeontology.Theaimofthisproduction,
under the title Journey in Time and Space, was to
support: a) the scientific literacy of school students
and b) encourage cross thematic educational proce
dureinschools(FermeliandDermitzakis,2008).
Journey in Time and Space through interactive ac
tivities lead to further questions for investigation
which may be answered through examination of the
real objects and information available at the mu
seum. Especially, the vertebrate collection offers an
excellent opportunity to combine exhibition material
anddigitalizedcollectionsinordertodevelopscenar
GEOschools:aEuropeanprojectfor
innovativeteachingofgeosciencesin
secondaryschools
Dermitzakis,M.1,Fermeli,G.1,Melndez,G.2
1
FacultyofGeologyandGeoenvironment,Nationaland
mdermi@geol.uoa.gr,gfermeli@geol.uoa.gr
2
DipartimientoC.Tierra,UniversitaZaragoza;Zaragoza,
Spain;gmelende@unizar.es
Teachinggeologyasaseparatedisciplineinsecondary
schoolcurriculahasbeenprogressivelyreducedduring
the last twenty years in most European countries.
Withinthisunfavorablesituationaproposalwasmade
for an innovative Geoscience teaching in secondary
schools(GEOschools)intheframeworkofaEuropean
research project. The main objective would be, by
means of a thorough analysis of the current educa
tional situation, to provide the European earth sci
ences education school community with advice, sup
port, and different teaching aid instruments (Fermeli

et al., 2011). GEOschools aims to bring together geo
scientists from universities, museums, geoparks,
teaching training institutions and schoolteachers.
Among the key results of the project is the develop
ment of teaching modules on specific geological sub
jects.Theultimategoalofthispartoftheprojectisto
find effective ways of engaging students and geo
sciencesteachersinanewlearningapproach,placing
geology at the same level of other sciences in secon
daryschools.Geologyisasciencelaboratoryofwhich
isEarth.Forthisreason,fieldworkisselectedasthe
mainmethodologicalbackgroundforthedevelopment
of this topic. In order to test and evaluate the pro
posed modules some selected activities will be pro
posed to bring the teachers and practicing geoscien
tists together. This will include fieldwork in geoparks,
exomuseums(e.g.KatharoinCrete,Greece)andgeo
topes,aswellasteachingactivitiesinmuseumsandin
the classroom (Melndez et al., 2009). GEOschools
whishes to improve teachers teaching and students
understanding of geosciences. Moreover, combining
educational research and practice in the schools;
ideas, knowledge and skills that it supports will con
tributetothedevelopmentofaqualitylifelonglearn
ingandpromoteaEuropeandimensioninsystemsand
practicesinthefieldhelpingyoungpeopleacquirethe
basic lifeskills and competences necessary for their
personaldevelopment,forfutureactiveEuropeanciti
zenship.
This work is a part of the International EU Project:
GEOschools, supported by the Lifelong Learning Pro
gramme(EACEALLP).
References
Fermeli,G.,Steininger,F.,Melndez,G.,Dermitzakis,
M.,Calonge,A.,DArpa,C.,DiPatti,C.,Koutsouveli,
An.,NetodeCarvalho,C.,Rodrigues,J.2011.
GEOschoolsteachinggeosciencesinsecondary
schools.EGU2011,GeophysicalResearchAbstracts,13.
Melndez,G.,Page,K.N.,Rodrigues,J.,Calonge,A.,
Dermitzakis,M.,Fermeli,G.,LpezCarrillo,M.D,2009.
Exomuseums(sitebasedinterpretation)andlocal
museums:keyeducationalactivitiesforteachingEarth
Science.Proposedinitiativesforsharingstrategies
acrossEurope.5thInternationalProGEOSymposium
onGeoconservationoftheGeologicalheritageand
ProGEOWorkingGroup1AnnualMeeting,1
5/10/2008,Rabisland,Croatia,Abstracts:5253.
25
PlioPleistocenesmallmammaldiversityin
thesouthofEastSiberia
Erbajeva,M.A.1,Alexeeva,N.V.2
1
GeologicalInstitute,SiberianBranch,RussianAcademyof
Sciences,UlanUde,Russia;
erbajeva@gin.bscnet.ru,ochotona@mail.ru
Small mammals (insectivores, lagomorphs and ro

dents) are important components of modern mam
malian faunas of Siberia. They belong at least to
twelve families, including more than 28 genera. The
studied region consists of two territories Transbai
kaliaandPrebaikalia.Inthepast,smallmammalswere
moreabundantanddiverse.Theearliestrecordofex
tinct small mammals in the region is from the Late
Miocene, characterized by predominance of archaic
dipodids,lophocricetinsandthepresenceofMicroto
don and Microtoscoptes. Early Pliocene faunas were
morediverse,includingtaxawithwideEurasiandistri
bution,suchasmurids,Hypolagus,Stachomys,Kowal
skia,Sicista,Ochotonoides,Prosiphneus,Promimomys.
The latter two genera were dominant in the faunas.
The Middle Pliocene was characterized by the reduc
tion of siphneids and Promimomys and the increase
anddiversificationoflagomorphsandrodents.Forthe
first time, the arvicolids Mimomys, Villanyia, Pitymi
momys,thepeculiarhamsterGromoviaandthesmall
sized Cricetulus appeared, whereas Kowalskia still ex
isted. The characteristic features of the Late Pliocene
are the explosive radiation and abundance of the
ground squirrel Spermophilus, the first appearance of
Clethrionomys,CromeromysandAllactaga,thereduc
tionoftherootedvoleMimomys.ThecementlessVil
lanyia eleonorae and Prosiphneus praetingi were re
placedrespectivelybythemoreadvancedV.klochnevi
and P. youngi. In the beginning of the Early Pleisto
cene, reorganization in the small mammalian faunas
occurred. Almost all Pliocene rooted voles disap
peared and Borsodia, Allophaiomys, Terricola, Lasio
podomys, Eolagurus, Microtus appeared and flour
ished. The observed biodiversity increase was proba
bly caused due to a climatic change towards cooler
and drier conditions. Faunal analysis indicates that
duringthePlioceneandEarlyPleistocenesouthernSi
beria was inhabited by common Transbaikalian and
Prebaikalian taxa. In the Middle Pleistocene the first
three abovementioned genera disappeared. Ellobius,
LagurusandMerionesappearedduetotheincreaseof
aridity and decrease of temperature. During the Late
Pleistocene the climate in the Transbaikal area be
came cold and arid, and in Prebaikalia cold, but less
dry.Faunasdifferedsignificantly.InPrebaikaliainhabi
tants of tundraforeststeppe or mammoth steppe
landscapes were characteristic, whereas in Transbai
26
kaliainhabitantsofopendrycoldwormwoodsteppes
werepredominant.
DallaVecchia,F.M.,Muscio,G.,Wild,R.1989.
PterosaurremainsinagastricpelletfromtheUpper
Triassic(Norian)ofRioSeazzaValley(Udine,Italy).
GortianaAttiMus.Friul.StoriaNat.,10(1988):
121132.
Onthestrangerelationbetweenthelong
tailedpterosaurRhamphorhynchusand
fishes
Wellnhofer,P.1975.DieRhamphorhynchoidea
(Pterosauria)derOberjuraPlattenkalke
Sddeutschlands.TeilIII.Palkologieund
Stammesgeschichte.PalaeontographicaA,149:130,
13plates.
Frey,E.1,Tischlinger,H.2
1
StaatlichesMuseumfrNaturkunde,Karlsruhe,Germany;
dinofrey@aol.com
2
Tannenweg16,85134Stammham,Germany;
htischlinger@online.de
AnewterrestrialTestudinidaefromtheLate
MiocenehominoidlocalityRavindela
Pluie(AxiosValley,Macedonia,Greece)
Pterosaurs,thosemagnificentreptilesfromtheMeso
zoic, were predominantly piscivorous with the excep
tionofsomeinsectivoressoitisspeculated.Indeed,
thereisonlylittledirectfossilevidenceforofthefinal
meal inside the digestive tract of pterosaurs. Rem
nants of fish inside the body cavity or the throat are
reported Eudimorphodon, Rhamphorhynchus, Ptero
dactylus and Pteranodon (Benton 1994, Bown 1943,
Wellnhofer1975,Wild1978).However,itremainsun
clearwhereandhowthesefisheswerecollected,and
in which condition they were prior to being eaten.
Evenmoresparseistherecordofpterosaursthatfell
prey to other animals. The sad remnants of an Eudi
morphodon within an assumed fish pellet is to date
theonlyevidenceforaviolentterminationofaptero
saurslife(DallaVecchiaetal.1989).Anewspecimen
from the Solnhofen limestone, a Rhamphorhynchus
thatliesintheimmediatevicinityofthejawsofalarge
Aspidorhynchus, proves evidence that this Rhampho
rhynchushadaveryambiguousrelationshiptofishes:
The stomach of the pterosaur is full of halfdigested
fishremains.Acompleteleptolepididfishisstillstick
ing in the throat of the pterosaur. The little fish was
abouttobeswallowedheadfirst,whenthepterosaur
was seized by the Aspidorhynchus. The fish attacked
from behind and grabbed the wing membrane. The
membrane tissue got tangled between the teeth of
the fish and jammed. The pterosaur almost certainly
drownedafterbeingpulledunderwater.Thefish,un
abletocontinueswimmingproperly,exhaustedlysank
intothehostiledepthsoftheSolnhofenlagoon,where
itfinallysuffocated.Sadly,thewingmembraneofthe
pterosaurfailedtopreserve.
Numerousfossiliferousoutcropshavebeendiscovered
along the Axios Valley in Northern Greece. Among
them,theVallesianlocalityofRavindelaPluie(MN
10) located in the redbrown clastic deposits of the
NeaMessimvriaFormation,hasyieldedarichdiversi
fied mammal fauna, including the hominoid Ourano
pithecusmacedoniensis(BonisandKoufos,1999;Kou
fos, 2006). A single terrestrial testudinid specimen
foundinthislocalitycorrespondstothegenusTestu
do: the specimen, a small, nearly complete carapace,
hasawelldistincthypoxiphiplastralhinge,adiagnos
ticcharacterofthisgenus.Thespecimenischaracter
ized by the following features which allow us to pro
pose a new species: tectiform shell shape with a
deeplyindentednuchalanteriorborderandlong,pos
teriorlyelevated,androundedfromsidetoside,dor
sal epiplastral lip. It represents the most ancient ter
restrial Testudinidae known, prior to T. marmorum
from Pikermi, Greece (MN 1112), the previous most
ancientrecord(LapparentdeBroinetal.,2006a,b).
References
References
Benton,S.C.1994.ThePterosaursoftheNiobrara
Chalk.TheEarthScientist,11(1):2225.
Bonis,L.de,Koufos,G.D.,1999.TheMiocenelarge
mammalsuccessioninGreece.In:Agust,J.,Rook,L.,
Andrews,P.(eds),HominoidEvolutionandclimatic
changeinEurope,1:TheevolutionoftheNeogene
terrestrialecosystemsinEurope:205237.Cambridge
Brown,B.1943.Flyingreptiles.Nat.Hist.,52(3):
104111.
Garcia,G.1,LapparentdeBroin,F.de2,Bonis,L.de1,
Koufos,G.D.3,Valentin,X.1,Kostopoulos,D.3,
Merceron,G.4
1
IPHEP,UMRCNRS6046,UniversityofPoitiers,France
DepartmentofEarthHistoryUMRCNRS7207,MNHN
Paris,France
3
DepartmentofGeology,AristotleUniversityof
Thessaloniki,Greece
4
DepartmentofGeology,UMRCNRS5276,Universityof
Lyon1,France
UniversityPress,London.
Koufos,G.D.2006.TheNeogenemammallocalitiesof
Greece:faunas,chronologyandbiostratigraphy.
HellenicJournalofGeosciences,41:183214.
LapparentdeBroin,F.de,Bour,R.,Perl,J.F.2006a.
MorphologicaldefinitionofEurotestudo(Testudinidae,
Chelonii):Firstpart,AnnalesdePalontologie,92(3):
255304.
27
Therelationshipbetweentheaveragedenticledensity
onthedistalmargin(DAVG)versuscrownbaselength
(CBL) in the 17 best preserved teeth is visualized be
low. The linear regression includes morphotype A
(x = 1.6, y = 1.3) although it is not represented in this
graph(r = 0.9656).
LapparentdeBroin,F.de,Bour,R.,Perl,J.F.2006b.
MorphologicaldefinitionofEurotestudo(Testudinidae,
Chelonii):Secondpart,AnnalesdePalontologie,92
(4):325357.
TheropodteethdiversityfromRiodeva
(Teruel,Spain)
Gasc,F.1,Cobos,A.1,RoyoTorres,R.1,Alcal,L.1,
Mampel,L.1
1
Teruel,Spain;gasco@fundaciondinopolis.org,
cobos@dinopolis.com,royo@dinopolis.com,
alcala@dinopolis.com,mampel@fundaciondinopolis.org
Thirteenisolatedtheropodteethhavebeenrecovered
fromfivedifferentoutcropsinRiodeva(Teruel,Spain)
belonging to the Villar del Arzobispo Formation
(TithonianBerriasian).Onlyoneoftheseteeth,whose
apical length measures 9.8 cm, was previously as
signed(toanAllosauroidea).Alinearregressionanaly
sis including the seventeen best preserved teeth
whichcouldberegardedasmaxillaryorposteriorden
tary teeth showed that the main sample could be
dividedinthreegroups:
MorphotypeA,includingonlytheaforementionedAl
losauroideatooth.
MorphotypeB,includingagroupofsmallerteeth,but
with an apical length larger than 25 mm. Their mor
phology is similar to Allosaurus teeth, and theycould
belongtoamiddlesizedallosauroid.
MorphotypeC,agroupofquitesmallteethlabelledas
beingmorestronglycurvedintheirmesialborderthan
in the distal border. These teeth could be related to
maniraptorans.
(Finally, there is a fourth morphotype D, which was
not included in the analysis because it was problem
atic to measure all needed parameters. This group
consistsoftwoteethwhichhaveDshapedcrosssec
tions of the crown and are labiolingually less com
pressed. This morphotype could be related to Tyran
nosauroidea.)
Acknowledgements: Dep. Educacin and Dep. Ciencia

(GobiernodeAragn),MinisterioCienciaeInnovacin
and FEDER funds (Project DINOSARAGN CGL2009
07792), Ministerio Educacin (AP200800846), Grupo
Investigacin Consolidado FOCONTUR (E62), IAF and
AyuntamientodeRiodeva.
GiantrodentsfromthenorthernNeotropics:
taxonomic,phylogeneticanddevelopmental
aspectsoftheirevolutionwithinthe
caviomorphradiation
Geiger,M.1,Wilson,L.A.B.1,Costeur,L.2,Scheyer,
T.M.1,Aguilera,O.A.3,SnchezVillagra,M.R.1
1
PalontologischesInstitutundMuseumderUniversitt
Zrich,Switzerland;madeleine.geiger@uzh.ch,
tscheyer@pim.uzh.ch,m.sanchez@pim.uzh.ch
2
NaturhistorischesMuseumBasel,Switzerland;
loic.costeur@bs.ch
3
MuseuParaenseEmilioGoeldi,CoordenaodeCinciasda
TerraeEcologia,DepartamentodeGeocincias,Belm,
Brasil;orangel.aguilera@gmail.com
Inthelastdecade,severalfossilsofgiantcaviomorph
rodents from the Miocene of Venezuela were col
lectedbyteamsfromZrichandCoro.Thesematerials
allow the first examination of ontogenetic and taxo
nomicvariationintheseanimalsinthecontextofcav
iomorph evolutionary radiation. We examined con
tinuousanddiscretefeaturesinasampleofsevenfos
sil specimens (cf. Phoberomys) and 149 recent ones
representing46species.Weinvestigatedtheorderof
maturationandfusionoftheepiphysesoflongbones
(humeri and femora) and the pattern of evolution of
ninediscretecharactersofthefemur,thepostcranial
element most commonly preserved among the stud
28
iedfossils.Wefoundthattheepiphysealclosureseries
offemoraisconservativewithintherodentclade.The
ossification of the humeral epiphyses is similar in ro
dents and other mammalian clades (e.g. Carnivora,
Eulipotyphla).Thepatternofevolutionoffemoralfea
turesislargelyhomoplasticandtherearenoobvious
correlationswithecologyorphylogeny.Somebutnot
all peculiarities of the fossils are most likely linked to
their gigantic size. The reexamination of a Miocene
femur of a giant rodent from Trinidad in the collec
tionsoftheNaturhistorischesMuseuminBaselleadto
itsidentificationascf.Phoberomys,ataxonprincipally
known from the Urumaco section in northwestern
Venezuela. Current studies of its palaeohistology are
revealing features of the growth pattern and func
tionalarchitectureofthebonemicrostructureofthese
giants.
Largemammalfaunasfromthelate
NeogeneoftheF.Y.RepublicofMacedonia
Geraads,D.1,Spassov,N.2,Hristova,L.2,Markov,G.N.2,
Garevska,B.3,Garevski,R.3
1
CNRSUPR2147,Paris,France;
denis.geraads@evolhum.cnrs.fr
2
NationalMuseumofNaturalHistory,BulgarianAcademyof
Sciences,Sofia,Bulgaria;
nspassov@nmnhs.com,latihristova@abv.bg,
markov@nmnhs.com
3
Ul.DimitarMirasciev1,1000Skopje,Republicof
Macedonia(FYROM)
TherearemanylateNeogenelocalitiesintheRepublic
ofMacedonia,mostofthemlocatedintheVardar(Ax
ios) basin,but their large mammal faunas remain vir
tuallyunknown,astheyareeitherstillunpublished,or
publishedonlyinlocaljournals.Wehaveundertakena
revisionorstudyofthematerialhousedintheMace
donian Museum of Natural History, and preliminary
results are presented here. More than 40 species,
from 22 localities probably ranging in age from the
Vallesian/TurolianboundarytothelateTurolian,have
been identified as belonging to the late Miocene.
Amongthemainlocalities,thoseofUminDol,KiroKu
cuk, Karaslari, Vozarci, can easily be referred to the
middle Turolian, in spite of some peculiar features.
Perhaps the localities of Prsten and Bachibos, in the
southeasternpartofthecountry,areolderinage,as
thelatterlocalityhasyieldedthebovidMesembriace
rus, previously known only from Ravin de la Pluie in
Greece.Mostspeciesareidenticalwiththosefromthe
nearbylocalitiesofGreeceandBulgaria,butimportant
specimens of the proboscideans Deinotherium, Tetra
lophodon and Mammut, of the felid Paramachaero
dus, of the primate Mesopithecus, of several rhinos

andhipparions,ofthegiraffeBohliniaandofanewly
described gigantic species of Sivatherium, the latter
probably of Pliocene age, are worth noticing. Well
preserved skulls of the ailurid Simocyon primigenius
andofthefelidMetailurusparvulusentitledustore
vise these species and address the systematics and
phylogenyofthesegenera.Intermsofrelativeabun
dance, by comparison with nearby localities, the Up
per Miocene localities of the Republic of Macedonia
arenoticeablebytheabundanceofthesuidPropota
mochoerus, the absence of the rhino Ceratotherium,
and especially by the rarity of the antelopes of the
Protoryx Pachytragus group, but the abundance of
spiralhorned forms, rare farther north, and the ab
senceoftheUkrainianHipparionverae,showthatthis
regiondefinitely belongsto the BalkanoIranianprov
ince.
Taphonomicbiasesinmacroand
microvertebrateassemblagesfromthe
MaastrichtianoftheHaegBasin(Romania)
andtheirrelevanceinthereconstructionof
afossilecosystem
Grigorescu,D.1,Csiki,Z.1,Vasile,.1,Butiseac,G.A.1
1
UniversityofBucharest,DepartmentofGeology,
Bucharest,Romania;
dangrig@geo.edu.ro,zoltan.csiki@g.unibuc.ro,
yokozuna_uz@yahoo.com,nefertiti_geanina@yahoo.com
In spite of, mostly objective, constrains, palaeoeco

logic reconstructions can be performed with accept
able accuracy when detailed and reliable taxonomic,
taphonomic and sedimentologic data are available.
These conditions are fulfilled for the Maastrichtian
continental deposits of the Haeg Basin, that yielded
more than seventy vertebrate taxa from fishes to
mammals, from various continental, mostly alluvial,
environments, and were subjected to rigorous ta
phonomicanalyses.
One important contribution to the reconstruction of
anancientecosystemarisesfromthecombineduseof
data derived from vertebrate accumulations with dis
tinctive sets of taphonomic features. Such accumula
tions underwent different taphonomic histories, and
thus potentially sampled the same ecosystem under
differential biases. In order to gauge the influence of
differentpreservationalsettingsonourunderstanding
ofthelocalfaunalcomposition,someofthemostim
portant macro and microvertebrate sites from the
Hateg Basin were investigated in the present study.
These sites are representative for different sedimen

tary settings and accumulation types, have yielded a
largenumberofspecimens,andwereexcavatedthor
oughly. Thus, these different types of accumulations
are considered to provide a good estimate of the bi
asesandpotentialplusinformation.
The investigated sites include one largely autochtho
nous (Budurone) and one allochthonous (Fntnele)
microvertebrate bonebed from poorly drained flood
plains, one allochthonous macrovertebrate bonebed
(Crare) from channel deposits, and one largely
autochthonous macrovertebrate bonebed with mi
crovertebrates (Tutea) from welldrained floodplain
deposits. Each of these sites yielded different faunal
assemblages, both in taxonomic composition, and in
abundance of the individual taxa, but interpreted to
gethertheyofferakeytothebetterunderstandingof
thecompositionofthelocalpaleoecosystem.
CapeMelekasandCretanPleistocene
geochronology
1
2,3
Herridge,V. ,Iliopoulos,G.
1
29
introduce our current project to establish a robust

geochronology for key Pleistocene localities on Crete
andotherMediterraneanislands.
References
Bate,D.M.A.1907.OnelephantremainsfromCrete,
withdescriptionofElephascreticus,sp.n.Proceedings
oftheZoologicalSocietyofLondon,1907:238250.
MolD.,deVosJ.,vandenBerghG.D.,SondaarP.Y.
1996.Thetaxonomyandancestryofthefossil
elephantsofCrete:faunalturnoverandacomparison
withproboscideanfaunasofIndonesianislands.In:
Reese,D.S.(ed.),PleistoceneandHolocenefaunaof
Creteanditsfirstsettlers:8198.PrehistoryPress,
Madison,WI.
Poulakakis,N.,Parmakelis,A.,Lymberakis,P.,
Mylonas,M.,Zouros,E.,Reese,D.S.,Glaberman,S.,
Caccone,A.2006.AncientDNAforcesreconsideration
ofMediterraneanpygmyelephantids.BiologyLetters,
2:451454.
PaleocenePlesiadapiformsandEocene
EuprimatesfromEurope:Newmaterial
NaturalHistoryMuseum,London,England;
v.herridge@nhm.ac.uk
2
DepartmentofGeology,UniversityofPatras,Patras,
Greece;iliopoulosg@upatras.gr
3
NaturalHistoryMuseumofCrete,UniversityofCrete,
HeraklionCrete,Greece
Hiard,F.1,2,Fasel,A.2,Berger,J.P.1
The Cape Melekas fossil fauna has become the focus

of renewed interest following the publication of an
cientDNAdata(aDNA)byPoulakakisetal.(2006)sup
porting a Mammuthus ancestry for Elephas creticus
Bate, 1907. This aDNA evidence was further claimed
bytheauthorstobeoneoftheoldestfragmentsam
plifiedtodate,withanestimatedageofover800,000
years. Although this study was strongly contested by
theancientDNAcommunity,theattributionofMam
muthus has gained traction within the palaeontologi
cal, as it is in agreement with previously expressed
views(Bate,1907;Moletal.,1996),andtheageofthe
CapeMelekasfaunaisalsowidelyaccepted.Herewe
review the underlying geochronological evidence for
Cretan Pleistocene vertebrate localities and present
morphological evidence, and preliminary data from
recent field work that demonstrates the following: (i)
that the Cape Melekas elephants are indeed Mam
muthus, and probably descended from M. meridion
alis;(ii)thatKritimyskiridusandM.creticusarefound
together in the same depositional units; but that (iii)
CapeMalekascannotbeassignedanageof>800,000
yearsonthebasisofcurrentevidence.Inaddition,we
In February 2011, the Museum of Natural History of

Fribourg(Switzerland)acquiredseveralmandiblesand
jawbonesofPlesiadapiformsandEuprimates.Theen
tirebatchincludesthespeciesPlesiadapistricuspidens
(1halfmandible),Platychoeropssp.(1halfmandible),
Adapis parisiensis (2 halfmandibles and 1 half
jawbone), Leptadapis magnus (1 mandible), Crypta
dapistertius(1halfmandible),Cryptadapissp.(1half
mandible),Necrolemurantiquus(3halfmandiblesand
3 halfjawbones) and Pseudoloris parvulus (3 half
mandibles and 2 halfjawbones). Most of them only
showmolarsandpremolars,exceptthehalfmandible
of Platychoerops sp. in which the tooth row is nearly
complete(onlythem3islost)andinwhichtheincisor
is well preserved. Both plesiadapiforms (Plesiadapis
tricuspidens and Platychoerops sp.) are from North
Eastern France (CernaylesReims and Le Quesnoy).
LeptadapismagnusisfromEuzet,inSouthernFrance.
The other specimens are from the Quercy phos
phoritesinSouthWesternFrance(LaBouffie,Perriere
and Sainte Nboule). All are dated to the Eocene ex
cept for Plesiadapis tricuspidens, which is Late Paleo
ceneinage.
DepartmentofGeosciences_EarthSciences,Universityof
Fribourg,Switzerland;florent_hiard@unifr.ch
2
MusedHistoireNaturelledeFribourg,Fribourg,
Switzerland.
30
ThemandibleofPlatychoeropssp.,foundinLeQues
noy, could correspond to Platychoerops n. sp. an
nounced and described by Godinot et al. (1998) but
not yet named (Godinot pers comm.). In this case,
givenitswellpreservedstate,thismandiblemaybeof
greatinteresttotheknowledgeofthisnewspecies.
lected. The discovery of a mammalbearing bed in a

lagoonal sequence can provide significant data con
cerning the stratigraphy and the palaeoenvironment
ofCyprusduringtheLatePleistoceneinrelationtoits
endemiclargemammals.
References
References
Godinot,M.,Dutheil,D.,Galoyer,A.,Gheerbrant,E.,
Nel,A.,dePloeg,G.,Russell,D.E.1998.The
PlesiadapidaeacrossthePaleoceneEoceneBoundary
intheParisBasin.Strata,9:5354.
Newdwarfelephantmaterialfromthe
PleistoceneofCyprus
Iliopoulos,G.1,2,Athanassiou,A.3,Konstantinou,G.4
1
DepartmentofGeology,UniversityofPatras,Patras,
2
Heraklion,Crete,Greece
3
4
Kerynias6,2200Geri,Nicosia,Cyprus
Cyprus is a large Mediterranean oceanic Island that

was inhabited during the Late Pleistocene by an en
demic fauna, consisting mainly of a pygmy hippo
potamus (Phanourios minor) and a dwarf elephant
(Elephas cypriotes). Until now, more than forty fos
siliferouslocalitieshavebeenfoundontheisland(Van
derGeeretal.,2010),themajorityofwhicharecaves,
collapsed caves and rockshelters. Recently, fossil
specimensofelephantsandhipposwerecollectedby
oneoftheauthors(GK)fromanewopenairlocality,a
roadcutsectionintheareaofXylophagou(EasternCy
prus). The same area has already yielded fossil mam
mal remains (Boekschoten and Sondaar, 1972; Theo
dorou et al., 2005). The bonebearing bed consists of
wellcemented green sandstone. The fossils were
foundscatteredinadistanceofmorethan500m.The
sandstoneislocatedinthemiddleofasequencewith
alternations of marls and thin marly limestones with
Cerastoderma shells, overlain by coarse and poorly
sortedconglomerates.Themarlsandmarlylimestones
indicate deposition in a lagoonal environment. The
material recovered at the new locality comprises
mainlycranialandpostcranialelementsreferredtoE.
cypriotes, including several complete molars and one
complete tusk. The P. minor specimens are scarce at
Xylophagou,unlikeotherCypriotlocalities.Inaddition
to mammalian specimens, a small number of bird
bonesthatbelongtoalargeraptorhavebeenalsocol
Boekschoten,G.J.,Sondaar,P.Y.1972.Onthefossil
MammaliaofCyprus.ProceedingsoftheKoninklijke
NederlandseAkademievanWetenschappen,75:
306338.
Theodorou,G.,Panayides,J.,Tsiolakis,E.,Filippidi,A.
2005.Preliminaryobservationsonnewdwarfelephant
remainsfromthePleistoceneofXylophagouarea,
Cyprus.2ndInternationalCongressTheWorldof
ElephantsSept.2225,2005MammothSite,Hot
Springs,SouthDakota,USA,AbstractVolume.
VanderGeer,A.,Lyras,G.,Dermitzakis,M.,DeVos,J.
2010.Evolutionofislandmammals:adaptationand
extinctionofplacentalmammalsonislands.Wiley
Blackwell,Oxford:479pp.
yaenidfootprintfromtheLateMioceneof
WesternCrete
Iliopoulos,G.1,2,Roussiakis,S.3,Fassoulas,C.2
1
DepartmentofGeology,UniversityofPatras,Greece;
iliopoulosg@upatras.gr
2
Heraklion,Crete,Greece;fassoulas@nhmc.uoc.gr
3
UniversityofAthens,Greece;srousiak@geol.uoa.gr
AlthoughterrestrialMiocenedepositsaswellasfaunal
and floral findings are numerous and widespread in
Greek Neogene sedimentary rocks, trace fossils are
sparseandarelimitedmainlytocastsofrootsandin
vertebrate ichnofossils. No footprints of terrestrial
vertebratesandespeciallyofmammalshavebeenre
portedfromtheGreekNeogenetodate.Thisisfairly
strange considering that there are several important
Miocene mammal localities found all over Greece.
Nine terrestrial mammal localities of Miocene age
have been reported from the island of Crete: five in
Lassithiprefecture,oneinHeraklionprefecture,twoin
Rethymnon prefecture and one in Chania prefecture.
TheiragespansfromtheMiddletotheLateMiocene.
A new locality has recently been discovered in West
ern Crete where footprints of terrestrial mammals
wereexposed.Theactuallocalityissituatednearthe
villageVouves,tothewestofthetownofChania.The
ichnofossilscomefromlacustrinedepositsthatbelong
31
to the Chatzi Formation. Two ichnotaxa are repre

sented in the findings so far. The first and more im
pressive finding is a very welldefined footprint that
can be related to a largesized hyaenid (ichnofossil
Felipeda). The second group of footprints are the
tracesofruminanthoofs.Morespecificallythehoof
traces belong to a largesized ruminant. The hyaenid
footprint(leftmanus)hasamaximumanteroposterior
diameterof126mmandatransversediameterof95
mm.Itconstitutesacastwherenotonlytheimprintof
the foot with the four fingers is well preserved, but
alsothefulltracesoftheclawsofallfourfingers.This
footprintcanbeconsideredasanew ichnospeciesof
the ichnogenus Felipeda. The age of nearby marine
depositsoftheChatziFormationisconsideredasLate
Tortonian.Therefore,anequivalentage(Turolian)can
also be inferred for the fossiliferous layer with the
footprints. This is the first recorded case of footprint
tracefossilfindingsfromNeogenesedimentarydepos
its of Crete and Greece in general. In addition, these
findings provide more evidence for the presence of
wellestablished terrestrial environments and faunas
intheareaofCreteduringtheLateMiocene.
bouncing forces. The strong front limbs play a major

roleinverticalclimbingandsubterraneanlocomotion
in very low but wide tunnels. Mustela climbs vertical
structures with a walklike striding pattern with the
vertebral column held straight. On horizontal or
obliquesubstrates,thetrunkiskeptkyphotic.Thisky
phosisresultsinahighcentreofmass.Thus,Mustela
often fails in the attempt to move on substrates nar
rower than its body or in walking downwards head
firstonobliquesubstrateswithanangleofmorethan
25againstthehorizontalplane.Ifthesubstratedoes
notallowclawfrictionoriftheindividualisverymas
sive, the hindlimbs, which are weakly muscularized
compared to the front limbs, may fail to support the
body mass. However, a mustelidspecific muscle, m.
atlantoscapularisdorsalis,reinforcestheneck shoul
derunitespeciallyduringcrawlingorclimbing.
Anatomy,locomotionandconstructional
morphologyofthepolecatandtheferret
(MustelaputoriusputoriusandM.p.furo,
Mustelidae,Carnivora)
Theontogenyofbonehistologyinthe
dwarfedislanddeerCandiacervusfromthe
LatePleistoceneofCrete
References
Horner,A.,Biknevicius,A.R.2010.Acomparisonof
epigeanandsubterraneanlocomotioninthedomestic
ferret(Mustelaputoriusfuro:Mustelidae:Carnivora).
Zoology,113:189197.
Jungnickel,S.N. ,Frey,E.
Kolb,C.1,DeVos,J.2,Scheyer,T.M.1,
SnchezVillagra,M.R.1
Among Mustelinae, Mustela putorius has a very long

trunkrelativetoitslimbs.Theratioisevenhigherthan
those of the European species of the genus Martes.
Themuscularstrengthandtherangeofmovementof
the body of Mustela is high. The thorax is conically
pointedandthetrunkasawholeshowsgreatflexibil
ity.Duringstanceandterrestriallocomotion,thetrunk
ismostlyheldinkyphosis,thedegreeofwhichcanbe
activelycontrolled.Incontrasttomostpublicationson
mustelid locomotion, but partly described by Horner
and Biknevicius (2010), Mustela very often performs
almostnooronlyslightlyinchwormlikeverticaloscil
lations of thethoracolumbar vertebral column during
slowandmediumgallopuptoapproximately10km/h.
Theflexiblethoraxissupportedventrallyespeciallyby
the hydraulic effect of the contracted m. pectoralis
profundus. For the Mustela construction, halfbound
and bound are adequate types of gallop because the
trunk then is braced against torsion caused by the
The Late Pleistocene deer Candiacervus Kuss, 1975

from the Mediterranean island of Crete is an out
standing example of insular dwarfism. The smallest
morphotypesarecharacterizedbyashorteningoflimb
bonesandahigherdegreeofbonefusions,beingtypi
cal of island ruminants (Van der Geer et al., 2006). A
large amount of specimens of the second smallest
morphotype,Candiacervussp.II(DeVos,1979)isrep
resentedbydifferentontogeneticstagesinspecimens
from Liko Cave, Crete. Humeri, femora, and metatar
sals of newborn, juvenile (one to two years old), and
adult specimens have been sampled histologically.
Thisisthefirstbonehistologicalexaminationofanon
togeneticseriesofadwarfedislanddeer.
StaatlichesNaturkundemuseumKarlsruhe(SMNK),
DepartmentofGeology,Karlsruhe,Germany;
sandrajn@web.de,dino.frey@smnk.de
Zrich,Zrich,Switzerland;
christian.kolb@pim.uzh.ch,tscheyer@pim.uzh.ch,
m.sanchez@pim.uzh.ch
2
Netherlands;john.devos@ncbnaturalis.nl
In humeri, femora, and fused metatarsals III+IV of ju

venilesandadultsgrowthmarksarepresent.Ontoge
32
netic changes are traceable throughout stylo and

autopodial development. However, large parts of the
growth record in the primary cortex have been re
moved by remodeling and resorption. Humeri and
femoraofnewbornsstartwithfibrolamellarboneand
show a plexiform arrangement of vascular canals. In
juveniles and adults, layers of secondarily deposited
endosteallamellarboneoccurintheinnerpartofthe
cortexaswellasareasofHaversianboneorpocketsof
secondary osteons. In adults, bone remodeling is
strong,leadingtolargeareasofdenseHaversianbone
in the inner cortex. Metatarsals of newborns show
wovenfibred bone. During ontogeny wovenfibred
bone is substituted by laminar or plexiform fibro
lamellar bone in the outer parts of the cortex. In the
metatarsalsofjuvenilesandadults,secondarydeposi
tion of lamellar bone is alsofound in the anterior re
gionoftheinnercortex.Afullgrownmetatarsalofthe
closely related continental Megaloceros giganteus
showsasimilararrangementofbonetissuetypesasin
Candiacervus.Inbothgeneratheamountofbonere
modeling,i.e.thepresenceofHaversianbone,ishigh
estintheposteriorcorticalregionsofthefusedmeta
tarsals.Inordertodecipheradaptivepatternsofbone
tissuetypesinCandiacervusincomparisontoitscon
tinental relatives, histological sampling of additional
deermaterialisbeingconducted.
References
DeVos,J.1979.TheendemicPleistocenedeerof
Crete.ProceedingsoftheKoninklijkeAkademievan
Wetenschappen(SeriesB),82(1):5990.
Kuss,S.E.1975.DiepleistoznenHirscheder
ostmediterranenInselnKreta,Kassos,Karpathosund
Rhodos(Griechenland).BerichtederNaturforschenden
GesellschaftzuFreiburgimBreisgau,65(1/2):2579.
VanderGeer,A.,deVos,J.,Lyras,G.,Dermitzakis,M.
2006.NewdataonthePleistoceneCretandeer
Candiacervussp.II(Cervinae,Mammalia).Courier
ForschungsinstitutSenckenberg256:131137.
Horntwistingversusbovidphylogeny:the
Oioceroscomplexexample
Kostopoulos,D.S.1
1
AristotleUniversityofThessaloniki,Departmentof
Geology,Thessaloniki,Greece;dkostop@geo.auth.gr
Although the emergence of horns in bovids is corre

lated with the evolution of boundary patrol by terri
toral males, as a result of the Neogene global envi
ronmentalchanges(Janis,1982),thehornmorphology
appears to have been weakly related to the environ

ment but highly correlated to the body size, and ani
mals behavior (Lundrigan, 1996). Two of the most
strikingfeaturesofhornsandconsequentlyhorncores
are torsion and spiraling, altogether referred to as
twisting.
Twisting appears as early as Middle Miocene in the
fossil bovid records. Independent source of evidence
suggest that torsion predates spiraling in an evolu
tionaryscale.Bothlivingandfossilbovidsexhibittwo
types of spiraling/torsion: heteronymous (observed
from base to top, the right horn/horncore is anti
clockwise twisted) and homonymous, albeit there is
notyetreasonablefunctionalorphylogeneticmecha
nismtoexplainthesetwooppositetrendsinhornde
velopment. Fossil evidence indicates, however that
homonymous twisting appears earlier than heterony
mous one. Heteronymous horn twisting is a highly
convergent character repeatedly seen in several phy
logenetically distinct living bovid lineages. Bovid taxa
with homonymously twisted horns are much less fre
quentinthelivingrecordseenasaruleinBovini,Alce
laphini, and Caprini. Even though all of them exhibit
ramming as the predominant fighting behavior (Lun
drigan, 1996), the mechanical respond towards ho
monymoushorntwistinginBovini/AlcelaphiniandCa
prini is distinct enough in order to suggest divergent
evolutionarypathsthatmightbephylogeneticallycon
strained.
TheoriginoftheCaprinitypeofhomonymoustwist
ingcanbetracedbacktotheMiddleMiocene.Arevi
sion of the Oioceros complex of genera (Kostopou
los, submitted) allows recognizing several phyloge
netic lineagesand leads thepartial restoration of the
relationships between the three main groups of Neo
genehomonymousspiralhornedantelopes,i.e.,Hyp
sodontinae,OioceriniandUrmiatheriini.
References
Janis,G.1982.Evolutionofhornsinungulates:ecology
andpaleoecology.BiologicalReviews,57:261318.
Kostopoulos,D.S.(submittedmanuscript).Taxonomic
reassessmentandphylogeneticinterpretationsof
homonymouslyspiralhornedantelopes.Acta
PalaeontologicaPolonica.
Lundrigan,B.1996.Morphologyofhornsandfighting
behaviorinthefamilyBovidae.Journalof
Mammalogy,77:462475.
GreekAnthracotheriids:breakingupa50
yearsilence
Kostopoulos,D.S.1,Koufos,G.D.1
1
Geology,Thessaloniki,Greece;
dkostop@geo.auth.gr,koufos@geo.auth.gr
Greek anthracotheriids are barely known by some

sporadicfindingspresentedduringthe60s.Lttigand
Thenius (1961) in their pioneer work described a pal
ateofthesmallbothriodontanthracotheriidElomeryx
Marsh,1894fromChandras,GreekThrace.Thisspeci
men was later rediscussed by Hellmund (1991), who
referredittoasE.crispuscrispus.The2009reorgani
zation of the collections of the Museum of Geology
andPaleontologyoftheAristotleUniversityofThessa
loniki revealed some coal blocks including a few iso
latedupperandlowerteethofasingle,old,maleindi
vidualofElomeryx.Althoughthesamplelacksaccom
panyinginformationaboutlocationandstratigraphy,a
comparativestudyofthecoal(DrK.Christanis,inpro
gress)indicatesMoschopotamos(Katerini,Thermaikos
Basin)asthemostpossibleprovenance.
33
References
Ducrocq,S.,Lihoreau,F.2006.Theoccurrenceof
bothriodontines(Artiodactyla,Mammalia)inthe
PaleogeneofAsiawithspecialreferencetoElomeryx:
paleobiogeographicalimplications.JournalofAsian
EarthSciences,27:885891.
Hellmund,M.1991.RevisiondereuropischenSpecies
derGattungElomeryxMarsch,1894
(Anthracotheriidae,Artiodactyla,Mammalia)
OdontologischeUntersuchungen.Palaeontographica
AbteilungA,220:1101.
Lttig,G.,Thenius,E.(1961).bereinen
AnthracotheriidenausdemAlttertirvonThrazien
(Griechenland).PalontogischeZeitschrift,35:
179186.
Walkinglikecaterpillars,flyinglikebats
Pinnipedlocomotion
KuhnC.1,FreyE.2
1
carolin_burkhardt@gmx.net,dinofrey@aol.com
Thestudiedteetharesimilarinoverallmorphologyto
E. crispus, but they do show some advanced features
such as the compressed and distally serrated upper
canine(Fig:medianview;scale2cm),theverticalcrest
onthelingualcuspofP4,andtheYpatternonthe
posteriorlobeofm3thatsuggestaspeciesintermedi
atebetweenE.crispusandE.borbonicus.Additionally,
the size of the studied molars indicates a species
smallerthanE.borbonicusandcloserdimensionallyto
E.crispusoreventothesmallerE.cluai.Asecondlook
attheChandraspalateshowsthesamemorphological
and evolutionary trends (i.e., continuous transverse
valleysofm1/2).
Fossil evidence indicates that Elomeryx originated in
AsiaduringtheMiddleEoceneandspreadintoEurope
in the Upper Eocene (Ducrocq and Lihoreau, 2006).
The Paleogene terrains of Thrace and adjacent area
prove to be a keyarea for the understanding of the
genuspaleozoogeographyandevolution.
The pinnipeds seals (phocids), sea lions (otariids)

and walruses (odobenids) show different kinds of
locomotion on land and under water. While otariids
and odobenids can walk with their limbs held under
their body like other mammals, the extremities of
phocids cannot support the body on land. Therefore,
phocids show a caterpillarlike movement with chest
andpelvisascontactpointswiththeground.Because
of this unusual locomotion mode these body regions
areprotectedbymusclesandblubber(i.e.connective
tissue plus adipose cells) that act as shockabsorbers.
The land locomotion of otariids also shows some dif
ferences with other mammalian constructions. The
lumbar vertebral column is flexed ventrally during lo
comotion as in sitting mammals. Apparently,because
of the nearvertical orientation of the pelvis, otariids
are unable to extend their hind limbs. The land loco
motionofodobenidsisnotyetanalysed.Theyareable
towalkonallfourlimbsbutalwayswiththeirbellyon
theground,presumablyduetotheirlargebodymass.
Therefore, an additional forward thrust is necessary.
Whetherornotthehindlimbsofodobenidscannotbe
extendedlikethoseofotariidsandwhetherornotthe
blubber and pectoral musculature also work as shock
absorbers has still to be solved. The aquatic move
ment of phocids is a lateral undulation of body and
hindlimbs.Therebyonepesproducesthrustwithab
duced spread toes while the other with adduced
folded toes performs a recovery stroke. Because one
34
flipperatthetimeworksasafunctionalunitwiththe
body axis, the type of thrust generation is not really
axial like in trout, but pseudoaxial with the power
strokeofthepesattheveryendofthebody.Thislo
comotion mode must have evolved from a paraxial
paddlingmovement.Apossibleintermediatestateisa
pelvisheavyconstructionlikee.g.inbeavers.Otariids
producethrustbyusingtheirfrontflippersforpropul
sionduringunderwaterflight.Apossibleintermediate
statefromaterrestrialquadrupedtothesubaqueous
flight of otariids is a shoulderheavy construction like
e.g.inpolarbears.Theodobenidscombinebothpho
cidandotariidswimmingmodesandoftenswitchbe
tweenthetwosuggestinganequallengthofthelimbs
inthepreconstruction.Probablythehindlimbswere
alittlestronger,becausetheundulatingpropulsionis
used more frequently. Observations have revealed
that both swimming types in odobenids show small
differences to the phocid and otariid locomotion
modes, whichmay be essential for the interpretation
oftheodobenidevolution.
Evolutionofautopodialrotationin
SynapsidabetweenthePermianandthe
Cretaceous
differenceinthemetapodialiaIIIVmirrorsthedegree
of autopodial rotation. The length of the digits, how
ever,isnearlyindependentfromtherollingmode,be
cause their functional length can be actively changed
bytheflexionofthedigitalarcades.
In the digital joints the excursion angle of abduction
and rotation increases with the degree of extension.
The autopodial rotation therefore can be compen
sated with an increasing extension of the autopodial
raysdespitetherewasacoherentjointcontactinthe
digital joints during most of the propulsion phase.
Therefore Synapsida with digital arcades can transfer
impulse forces through their digital joints. They are
impulsewalkers.
In Kannemeyeriiformes (Dicynodontia) and in Meso
zoicMammaliamorphathelengthofthemetapodialia
is almost equal. In these forms the middle joint is or
nearly is ahinge joint. The autopodium is then rolled
in anterior direction almost without autopodial rota
tion. The decrease of autopodial rotation is aligned
with the decrease of ab and adduction of the limbs
duringwalking.Thiscanbeachievedwithaparasagit
tal limb position, like possibly in the Mesozoic Mam
maliamorpha,orbygeneratingpropulsiononlybyro
tation of the stylopodium without retraction and a
zeugopodium, which is orientated rectangular to the
stylopodium,asisprobablythecaseinthefrontlimbs
oftheKannemeyeriiformes.
Kmmell,S.B.1,Frey,E.2
1
InstitutfrEvolutionsbiologie,Universitt
Witten/Herdecke,Witten,Germany;
susanna.kuemmell@uniwh.de
2
dinofrey@aol.com
Thetrunkofanimalswalkingwithabductedlimbsand
lateral undulation of the vertebral column passes
around the fixed autopodium medially during the
stride. During this motion autopodial rotation occurs:
Either the entire autopodium rotates over the sub
strate in lateral direction (lateral or horizontal rota
tion)ortherotationagainstthesubstrateiscompen
satedinthejointsandduringrolling.Herebyrotation
andmedialabductioninthedigitaljointsoccur.
Extant Lacertilia and probably also the pre
constructions of the Synapsida, which did not yet
show a digital arcade use their claws as anchoring
points. During the rolling phase the digital joints are
movedpassively.Thelengthofdigitsandmetapodials
in most cases increases until the autopodial ray IV,
whichfacilitatestherollingmovementinanteromedial
direction.InSynapsidawithadigitalarcadetherolling
movementhappensinthedistalheadsofthemetapo
dialia IIIV until the body weight is transferred to the
distal part of the acropodium. Therefore, the length
Anarchosaurlikeparatympanicsinus
systemintheanomodontDiictodon
Laa,M.1*,Frey,E.2 *2011RaymondeRivoallanGrand
1
RuprechtKarlsUniversittHeidelberg,Heidelberg,
Germany;michael.laass@gmx.de
2
StaatlichesMuseumfrNaturkunde,AbteilungGeologie,
Karlsruhe,Germany;dino.frey@smnk.de
Theevolutionofthemammalianmiddleearisoneof
the best documented evolutionary events within
Theriodontia. Nevertheless, the presence of a tym
paniccavityandatympanuminnonmammaliansyn
apsids are still controversially discussed. An examina
tionofaskulloftheanomodontDiictodonbyneutron
tomography revealed paratympanic sinuses in the
bones forming the brain cavity and the occipital re
gion, in the quadrates and the lower jaw. Probably,
the mandibular sinus was connected to the cavity in
thequadratebyasyphoniumsimilartotheonecroco
dilians have (Witmer and Ridgely, 2008). As paratym
panicsinusesderivefromthemiddleearsac(Witmer,
1997)atympaniccavityintheoticregionofDiictodon
canbesuggested.Paratympanicsinusesdecreasethe
complianceofthemiddleear,increasethesensitivity
tolowfrequencysound,contributetosoundlocalisa
tion (Witmer, 1997) and act as Helmholtz resonators
(Dufeau and Witmer, 2010). Consequently, anomo
dontsmusthavehadawelldevelopedacousticappa
ratus as crocodilians have and presumably were able
tohearbothgroundandairbornesounds.Soundwas
probablyperceivedbyskinandbonesofthelowerjaw
and either transmitted via articular and quadrate
and/orviathehyoidapparatustothestapes.Timedif
ferencesinsoundperceptionbetweenthetwoacous
tically independent caudal parts of the mandible
would have allowed Diictodon to localise a sound
source.
References
Witmer,L.M.1997.Theevolutionoftheantorbital
cavityofarchosaurs:Astudyinsofttissue
reconstructioninthefossilrecordwithananalysisof
thefunctionofpneumaticity.JournalofVertebrate
Paleontology,17,Suppl.1.
Witmer,L.M.,Ridgely,R.C.2008.Theparanasalair
sinusesofpredatoryandarmoreddinosaurs
(Archosauria:TheropodaandAnkylosauria)andtheir
contributiontocephalicstructure.TheAnatomical
Record,291:13621388.
Dufeau,D.L.,Witmer,L.M.2010.Acousticresonance
ofthemiddleearinAlligatorimplicationsfor
behavioralcorrelations.AbstractSICB.
Newvertebratebearinglocalitiesfromthe
TriassicofThailand
Laojumpon,C.1,Suteethorn,S.1,2,Suteethorn,V.2,
Lauprasert,K.1,2
1
University,Thailand;laojumpon@gmail.com
2
MahasarakhamUniversity,Thailand
Despite thirty years of fossil vertebrate excavation in

Thailand,reportsofvertebratefossilsfromtheTriassic
are not as extensive as those from the Early Creta
ceous. Recent field survey in NorthEastern Thailand
by the Palaeontological Research and Education Cen
tre (PRC) identified two vertebrate fossils localities in
Chaiyaphum Province, Huai Hin Lat Formation, Late
Triassic.First,theHuaiNamAunlocalityyieldedanew
recordofsharkteethassignedtothegenusHybodus,
bonyfishscales,postcranialelementsofasinglelarge
specimen of temnospondyl amphibian as well as nu
merous coprolites. The whole assemblage has been
preserved in alternating beds of mudstone and clay
35
stone.Thesecondlocality,HuaiPhaPhueng,presents
rathercompletebonyfishspecimens,teethofphyto
saurs and osteoderms of crocodiles, which are under
detailedstudy.
DinosaurValleyofThailand:Thespectacular
vertebratefossilsitesinSoutheastAsia
Lauprasert,K.1,2,Wattanapituksakul,A.2,Laojumpon,
C.1,Buffetaut,E.3,Cuny,G.4,Tong,H.2,Martin,J.2,
LeLoeuff,J.5,Claude,J.6,Wongko,K.7,Cavin,L.8,
Srisuk,P.2,Khamha,S.1,Suteethorn,S.1,2,Deesri,U.1,
Naksri,W.1,Suteethorn,V.2
1
University,MahaSarakham,Thailand;
lauprasert@gmail.com
2
MahasarakhamUniversity,MahaSarakham,Thailand
3
CNRS(LaboratoiredeGologiedelEcoleNormale
Suprieure),Paris,France
4
NaturalHistoryMuseumofDenmark,Universityof
Copenhagen,Copenhagen,Denmark
5
MusedesDinosaures,Espraza,France
6
InstitutdesSciencesdelEvolution,Universitde
Montpellier2,Montpellier,France
7
BureauofFossilResearchandMuseum,Departmentof
MineralResources,Bangkok,Thailand
8
DepartmentofGeologyandPalaeontology,Musum
dHistoirenaturelle,Genve,Switzerland
TheThaiKhoratGroup,northeasternpartofThailand,
has yielded a succession of nonmarine fossil verte
brates such as dinosaurs, pterosaurs, crocodiles, tur
tles,bonyfishesandsharks.Thesevertebrateremains
are mostly collected from three formations, the Phu
Kradung (LateJurassic toEarly Cretaceous), SaoKhua
(Berriasian Berremian), and Khok Kruat (Aptian
Albian)formations(BuffetautandIngavat1985;Buffe
tautandSuteethorn1999;Tongetal.,2003;Cavinet
al., 2004; Lauprasert et al., 2007, 2009). At present,
wefocusonlyonthefossillocalitiesfoundinthePhu
Phan Mountain Range, which lies in the northwest
southeast direction and separates the Khorat Plateau
into two basins, i.e. Sakon Nakhon basin and Khorat
basin.Asagoodexample,asitethatshowsthegreat
potentialofpalaeontologicalresearchinthePhuPhan
MountainRangeisPhuNoiinKalasinprovince.Almost
five hundred dinosaur specimens have been discov
eredhere,aswellasseveralmoreinneighbouringar
eas. This is the reason why we decided to use the
name Dinosaur Valley forall excavationsites in the
PhuPhanMountainRange.
36
References
Buffetaut,E.,Ingavat,R.1985. Unusual theropod
dinosaur teeth from the upper Jurassic of Phu Wiang,
Northeastern Thailand. Revue de Palobiologie,5:
217220.
Buffetaut,E.,Suteethorn,V.1999.Thedinosaurfauna
oftheSaoKhuaFormationofThailandandthe
beginningoftheCretaceousradiationofdinosaursin
Asia.Palaeogeography,Palaeoclimatology,
Palaeoecology,150(12):1323.
CavinL.,Suteethorn,V.,Buffetaut,E.,Chitsing,S.,
Lauprasert,K.,LeLoeuff,J.,Lutat,P.,Philippe,M.,
Richter,U.,Tong,H.2004.Anewfishlocalityfromthe
ContinentalLateJurassicEarlyCretaceousofNorth
easternThailand.RevuedePalobiologie,9:161167.
Lauprasert,K.,Cuny,G.,Buffetaut,E.,Suteethorn,V.,
Thirakhupt,K.2007.Siamosuchusphuphokensis,a
newgoniopholididfromtheEarlyCretaceous(ante
Aptian)ofnortheasternThailand.BulletindeSocit
Gol.deFrance,178(3):201216.
Lauprasert,K.,Cuny,G.,Thirakhupt,K.,Suteethorn,V.
2009.Khoratosuchusjintasakuligen.etsp.nov.,an
advancedneosuchiancrocodyliformfromtheEarly
Cretaceous(AptianAlbian)ofNEThailand.In:
Buffetaut,E.,Cuny,G.,LeLoeuff,J.,Suteethorn,V.
(eds.),LatePalaeozoicandMesozoicEcosystemsinSE
Asia.TheGeologicalSocietyofLondon,Special
Publication,315:175187.
Tong,H.,Buffetaut,E.,Suteethorn,V.2003.Mesozoic
turtlesofThailand.1stInternationalConferenceon
PalaeontologyofSoutheastAsia,Mahasarakham
UniversityJournal,22(SpecialIssue):4148.
points of the quarry (reworked in recent alluvia or in

situ in Cretaceous strata) represents a single taxon.
Whatcanbesaidisthattheteetharereminiscentof
Turiasaurus riodevensis RoyoTorres et al., 2006, a
Tithonian Berriasian taxon from the Villar del Arzo
bispo Formation from Teruel in Spain. However, this
kind of heartshaped spatulate teeth is known from
various Jurassic and Early Cretaceous localities in
Europe (see for example the teeth of Neosodon illus
tratedbyBuffetautandMartin,1993).Itcanbenoted
thatTuriasaurusissupposedtohavestronglyopistho
coelous caudal vertebrae (as far as the single caudal
vertebrareferredtoitbyRoyoTorresetal.(2006)in
deed does belong to this animal). The caudal verte
braefromAngeacareprocoelous(anteriorcaudals)or
amphiplatyan(middlecaudals)andthusstronglydiffer
from Turiasaurus. They share many characters with
anotherpartiallyknownSpanishsauropod,namelythe
EarlyAptianTastavinsaurussanziCanudoetal.,2008,
also found in Teruel, the teeth of which are still un
known. The most spectacular discovery in Angeac is
unquestionablythatofa2.34metreslongfemur,the
longest known in the world to our knowledge. It can
benotedthatbothTastavinsaurusandTuriasaurusare
considered as nonTitanosauriformes sauropods
(RoyoTorresetal.,2006;RoyoTorres,2009).
References
Buffetaut,E.,Martin,M.1993.LateJurassicdinosaurs
fromtheBoulonnais(northernFrance):areview.
RevuedePalobiologie,Volumespcial7:1728.
Canudo,J.I.,RoyoTorres,R.,CuencaBescos,G.2008.
Anewsauropod:Tastavinsaurussanzigen.etsp.nov.
fromtheEarlyCretaceous(Aptian)ofSpain.Journalof
vertebratePaleontology,28:712731.
RoyoTorres,R.2009.ElsauropododePennaroyade
Tastavins.Monografiasturolenses,6:548pp.
AgiantsauropodfromtheBarremianof
France
LeLoeuff,J.1,Nraudeau,D.2,Vullo,R.2,Leprince,A.2,
Allain,R.3,Buffetaut,E.4
RoyoTorres,R.,Cobos,A.,Alcala,L.2006.Agiant
Europeandinosaurandanewsauropodclade.Science,
314:19251927.
MusedesDinosaures,Espraza,France;
jeanleloeuff@yahoo.fr
2
UniversitRennes1,Gosciences,Rennes,France
3
MusumNationaldHistoireNaturelle,Paris,France
4
ENSCNRS8538Paris,France
ThePalaeobiogeographyofCretaceous
Pachycormiformes
Liston,J.J.1
Excavationsin2010nearAngeacCharenteinCharente
(between Cognac and Angoulme, southwestern
France)haverevealedaveryrichdinosaurbonebedof
EarlyCretaceousage(Hauterivian Barremian).Sauro
pods are known from teeth, several limb bones and
caudal vertebrae of very large size; it is not clear
whether this material which was found from several
DivisionofEnvironmentalandEvolutionaryBiology,School
ofLifeSciences,CollegeofMedicalVeterinaryandLife
Sciences,UniversityofGlasgow,Glasgow,Scotland;
jeff.liston@glasgow.ac.uk
The recent identification of pachycormiform material

from a variety of global localities has caused a reas
sessment of the significance of this group. Although

therearestillbiasesthatskewthepicture,anincreas
ing number of Gondwanan occurrences (e.g. the Tu
ronian of Mexico, the Aptian of Colombia, the Albian
of Australia) have made the palaeogeographical pic
tureincreasinglyclear,andbeguntobalancewhathad
been emphatically an EarlyMiddle Jurassic European
signal for a century and a half. From tusked agile
protobarracuda predators to a dynasty of large
bodied suspension feeders, this group was as diverse
asitwassuccessfulthroughouttheMesozoic.
Firsteatandthenthink:therelation
betweencraniodentalandneuroanatomical
changesincarnivoranevolution
Lyras,G.A.1
1
Netherlands;glyras@geol.uoa.gr
Some Carnivora lineages evolved large size and par

ticular craniodental characters (e.g. deep jaws, large
canine and incisor teeth, reduced molar grinding ar
eas), which allowed them to prey on largebodied
animals. Despite the extensive modifications of their
craniodental anatomy, their brain retained the same
degreeoffissurationasseenintheirancestors(Lyras,
2009). Such cases of stasis can be noted in canids,
mustelids,felidsandnimravids.Thisevolutionarysta
sisisbecauseofenergeticconstraints.Carnivoresprey
onlargeanimalsinordertoexpendlessenergyduring
predation.Sincetheneuraltissueisenergeticallyone
ofthemostexpensivetissues,theadvancementofthe
braincouldbetoocostlytotakeplace.Therefore,al
though there is a general selective pressure towards
thedevelopmentofcomplexbrains,inthesecasesthe
developmentofteethandskullswasofhigherpriority.
References
Lyras,G.A.2009.TheevolutionofthebraininCanidae
(Mammalia:Carnivora).ScriptaGeologica,139:193.
Hardhitters?Akinetic/dynamiclookat
stegosaurtails
1
Mallison,H.
1
MuseumfrNaturkundeLeibnizInstituteforResearchon
EvolutionandBiodiversityattheHumboldtUniversityBerlin,
Berlin,Germany;heinrich.mallison@gmail.com
37
Themorphologyofstegosaurtailssuggeststheywere
used as weapons in interspecific and intraspecific
combat. Previous studies either did not detail the
rangeofmotionandthekineticsanddynamicsoftail
motions(e.g.,Hennig,1925;Janensch,1925),orused
much simplified physicsbased calculations (e.g., Car
penter et al., 2005; Arbour, 2011), sometimes with
significanterrorsintheequationsandmeasurements.
Onthebasisofhighresolutionlaserscansofthelecto
type(Mallison,2011)andotherwellpreservedmate
rialofthesmallAfricanstegosaurKentrosaurusaethi
opicusHennig,1915aCADmodelwascreated,based
on comparison with extant animals. These compari
sonshighlightedthatmostreconstructionssufferfrom
vastly insufficient musculature volumes in the tail. A
detailedkinetic/dynamicmodelingofthetailmotions
indicatesthatitstailwasaformidableweapon,easily
capableofdeliveringdebilitating,ifnotlethal,impacts
on predators of all sizes, across a large portion of its
significant motion range. The most likely impact sce
nario, blunt impacts, likely created mainly soft tissue
trauma, as well as deformationrelated fractures of
thin bones close to the surface (facial bones, ribs),
whereas steep impact angles probably led to deep
penetratingtrauma,resultingincrushingofsuperficial
and deeply located bones and soft tissues. Such inju
ries were probably often fatal, and a fossil example
hasbeenfoundintheformofacrushedanteriorcau
dalofanallosauridtheropod(Carpenteretal.,2005).
References
Arbour,V.M.2009.Estimatingimpactforcesoftail
clubstrikesbyankylosauriddinosaurs.PLoSONE
4:e6738.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006738.
Carpenter,K.,Sanders,F.,McWhinney,L.A.,Wood,L.
2005.Evidenceforpredatorpreyrelationships.
ExamplesforAllosaurusandStegosaurus.In:
Carpenter,K.(ed.),TheCarnivorousDinosaurs:
325350.IndianaUniversityPress,Bloomington.
Hennig,E.1925.Kentrurosaurusaethiopicus.Die
StegosaurierFundevomTendaguru,Deutsch
Ostafrika.Palaeontographica,2Supplement7:
101254.
Janensch,W.1925.EinaufgestelltesSkelettdes
StegosauriersKentrurosaurusaethiopicusHennig,
1915ausdenTendaguruSchichtenDeutsch
Ostafrikas.Palaeontographica,2Supplement7:
255276.
Mallison,H.2011.ThereallectotypeofKentrosaurus
aethiopicusHennig,1915.NeuesJahrbuchfrGeologie
undPalontologie,259:197206.
38
Contributiontothestudyoftheeffectof
chemicalconservativemeansonthe
microstructureoffossilizedbones
Mallouchou,M.S.1,Stathopoulou,E.T.1,
Theodorou,G.E.1
1
UniversityofAthens,SubfacultyofGeologyand
Geoenvironment,DepartmentofHistoricalGeologyand
Palaeontology,Greece;myrto7clouds@yahoo.gr,
estathop@geol.uoa.gr,gtheodor@geol.uoa.gr
Theobjectiveofthispresentationistopresentthere
sultsconcerningthebehavioroffossilizedboneunder
theinfluenceofspecificchemicalmeansofconserva
tion that have been used on such material for dec
ades.Thefossilizedmaterialusedincludesfossilbone
parts from two different fossiliferous sites in Greece:
Tilos Island (Dodecanese) and Kerassia (Euboea Is
land).
The chemicals chosenfor this experimental study are
hydrogenperoxide(perhydrol),aceticacidandformic
acid,asthesearesomeofthemostcommonchemical
conservation materials used with fossils till this day,
mainlyduringtheremovalofthesurroundingmaterial
(Lindsay,1995).Inordertoconcludeontheextentof
damagecausedtothebonemicrostructurebythedif
ferent chemicals and also possibly suggest their opti
mum use so as to avoid it, numerous experiments
were realized. In each of these, samples from both
sites were exposed to different combinations of pa
rameters such as the type and concentration of
chemical and the duration of exposure. The method
ologyappliedincludesthedetailedobservationofmi
crostructure through Scanning Electron Microscopy
(SEM) and the qualitative chemical analysis by Xray
microanalysis(EDXA)(Child,1995;FernndezJalvo
andMarnMonfort,2008).
From the results of this study, it is obvious that the
materials initial condition seems to be the most im
portantparameterwhendecidingonthetypeofcon
servativemean.
References
Child,A.M.1995.MicrobialTaphonomyof
Archaeologicalbone.StudiesinConservation,40(1):
1930.
FernndezJalvo,Y.,MarnMonfort,M.D.2008.
Experimentaltaphonomyinmuseums:Preparation
protocolsforskeletonsandfossilvertebratesunder
thescanningelectronmicroscopy.Geobios,41:157
181.
Lindsay,W.1995.AReviewoftheacidtechnique,In:
Collins,C.(ed.),TheCareandConservationof
PalaeontologicalMaterial:95102.Butterworth
Heinemann,London.
Myologicaladaptationstofastenduring
flightinEuropeanfreetailedbats,Tadarida
teniotis(Rafinesque,1814)
Maniakas,I.1,Youlatos,D.2
1
SolonosSt,54644Thessaloniki,Greece;
imaniaka@hotmail.com
2
AristotleUniversityofThessaloniki,SchoolofBiology,
DepartmentofZoology,Thessaloniki,Greece;
dyoul@bio.auth.gr
Molossids are a family of highly specialized bats that

have evolved structural adaptations in the forelimb
associated with fast, enduring, and longdistance
flights within uncluttered environments. The present
studyaimstoinvestigateanymodificationsinselected
musclesoftheEuropeanfreetailedbat,Tadaridaten
iotis involved in the upstroke/downstroke of the
shoulder region, flexion/extension of the elbow and
wristjoints,andtensionofthepatagiumthatcouldbe
associated to such flight patterns. For these reasons,
we calculatedstandard external ecomorphological in
dices(AR,Q,Itip)andappliedgrossanatomicaldissec
tionsonsixadultspecimensfromnorthernGreecein
order to qualitatively (origin, arrangement, insertion)
andquantitatively(muscleweightfractions,PCSA)ex
amineanypatternsofmechanicaladvantageandrela
tivemusculardevelopmentandstrength.
Intermsofforelimbanatomy,thespecieswascharac
terized by: (i) welldeveloped wing adductors (mm.
pectorales) and a significantly enlarged and powerful
m.subscapularis,(ii)areducedqualitativeandquanti
tative differentiation among upstroke muscles with
the m. spinodeltoideus dominating over the other
partsofthedeltoidgroup,(iii)shareddevelopmentof
elbowjointflexorsandextensors,(iv)theapomorphic
enlargementofthecoracoidheadofm.bicepsbrachii,
and (v) the presence of patagial muscles (mm. hu
meropatagialis,tensorplagiopatagii)uniquetomolos
sids, along with the enlargement and empowerment
of the other patagial muscles (mm. occipitopolicallis,
coracocutaneus).
Thissuiteofcharacters,maygenerateapowerfuland
controlled downstroke at the shoulder, keep the el
bow balanced, the distal forelimb in extension, and
the wing membrane under controlled tension and ul
timatelycontributetothefast,steady,nonmanouver
ableandagileflightofthespecies.
Thematrix:detailedreevaluationofalarge
datasetdemonstratessupportforthe
lepospondylhypothesisoftheoriginof
Lissamphibia
1
Marjanovi,D. ,Laurin,M.
1
HugoMeislWeg15,A1100Wien(Vienna),Austria;
david.marjanovic@gmx.at
2
CNRS,UniversitPierreetMarieCurie,Musumnational
dHistoirenaturelle,CollgedeFrance;Centrede
RecherchessurlaPalobiodiversitetles
Paloenvironnements,MusumnationaldHistoire
naturelle,BtimentdeGologie,Paris,France;
michel.laurin@upmc.fr
The origin of the modern amphibians (Salientia, Cau

data, Gymnophionomorpha, and Albanerpetontidae)
is one of the greatest remaining mysteries in verte
bratephylogenetics.Theseanimalscouldformaclade
(Lissamphibia), which could be nested among 1) the
PermoCarboniferous temnospondyls (temnospondyl
hypothesis,TH)or2)thecoevallepospondyls(lepo
spondyl hypothesis, LH); alternatively, 3) the frogs
(Salientia) and the salamanders (Caudata) could stem
from two groups of temnospondyls while the caecili
ans (Gymnophionomorpha) would be lepospondyls
(polyphyly hypothesis, PH). The largest data matrix
for this question was published by Ruta and Coates
(2007), who found the TH to be most parsimonious,
while the LH required nine more steps and the PH
twentysevenmore.BuildingonChapterVofGermain
(2008), we have compared thousands of cells in this
matrixtothedescriptiveliteratureandtospecimens,
merged many correlated characters, tried to account
for the effects of ontogeny on phylogenetics, and or
deredpotentiallycontinuouscharacters.(Anearly,in
completeversionofthisworkformsChapter5ofMar
janovi(2010)).WefindtheLHtobemostparsimoni
ous,withtheTHcurrentlyrequiringelevenandthePH
twelve more steps. When we add eleven taxa to the
matrix, including Gerobatrachus (expected to bolster
the PH: Anderson et al., 2008), these differences be
tween the hypotheses do not change. We review se
lectedcharactersthatwerethoughttosupportanyof
thethreehypotheses.
References
Anderson,J.S.,Reisz,R.R.,Scott,D.,Frbisch,N.B.,
Sumida,S.S.2008.AstembatrachianfromtheEarly
PermianofTexasandtheoriginoffrogsand
salamanders.Nature,453:515518.
Germain,D.2008.AnatomiedesLpospondyleset
originedesLissamphibiens.Unpublisheddoctoral
thesis,MusumnationaldHistoirenaturelle,Paris.
Marjanovi,D.2010.Phylogenyofthelimbed
39
vertebrateswithspecialconsiderationoftheoriginof
themodernamphibians.Unpublisheddoctoralthesis,
UniversittWien,ViennaandUniversitPierreet
MarieCurie,Paris.
Ruta,M.,Coates,M.I.2007.Dates,nodesand
characterconflict:addressingthelissamphibianorigin
problem.JournalofSystematicPalaeontology,5:
69122.
AnewtaxonomytoaccommodateGelocus
quercyi(Ruminantia,Mammalia),andits
relationshipwithProdremotherium
elongatum
MennecartB.1,BergerJ.P.1
1
UniversityofFribourg,DepartmentofGeosciences,
Fribourg,Switzerland;bastien.mennecart@unifr.ch
The reassessment of Gelocus quercyi Jehenne, 1987,

fromtheoldcollectionsfromtheQuercy(France)and
the description of new material from several well
dated localities in France and Switzerland allow for a
new interpretation of this species. The presence of a
largecingulumontheuppermolarsandtheelongated
lower premolars are considered primitive features.
However, it also possesses selenodont cusps with
elongated crests and the metaconule is well
developedgivinga quadratic shape to theupper mo
lars.Themolarspossessawelldevelopedmetastylid.
Thep1seemstobelacking.ThisisnotseeninGelocus,
andweproposeheretomoveG.quercyitoanewge
nus. In the referred material, there is one maxillary
withclearlymorebunodontandtriangularmolarsdue
to the reduction of the metaconule. This feature is
typical for Gelocus and could explain the species
originalattributiontothisgenus.Thedistinctivechar
acteristics of G. quercyi are shared with the latest
MiddleEocenegenusNotomeryxandthelatestOligo
cenespeciesProdremotheriumelongatum.
As suggested by many authors, Prodremotherium
shouldnotbeconsideredaGelocidaesensustricto.As
weshow,itsharesimportantcharacterswithG.quer
cyi. Furthermore, Dremotherium did not evolve from
Prodremotherium. 80% of D. guthi (latest Oligocene)
described by Jehenne (1987) possess a p1, which is
lostinmostD.feignouxi(EarlyMiocene).Thistoothis
alreadylostinallobservedspecimensofP.elongatum.
ThesabertoothedcanineofDremotheriumclearlydif
fers from the tragulidtype of Prodremotherium. The
metapodial bone presents different stages of fusion.
These characteristics, and others, show that Prodre
motherium belongs to a distinct lineage than Dremo
40
theriumandcannotbeitsancestorassuggestedbyits
name.
We propose to ascribe the new genus, P. elongatum,
and Notomeryx to a new family which presents a
modular evolution and is a sister group of the Eupe
cora. Thepresence of G. quercyi and P. elongatum in
welldated localities permits to assess the biostrati
graphicrangesofthisnewfamilyinEurope.Thefam
ily, already present in Asia during the Eocene, ap
peared during MP25 in Europe with G. quercyi, coin
ciding with the extinction of the Gelocidae. This spe
cies, inhabiting woodland as deduced from its post
cranial remains, is succeeded by the more open area
species P. elongatum, which is restricted to MP28.
These time intervals correspond to the major climate
eventsoftheOligocene:theglaciationsOi2,Oi2c,and
theLateOligoceneWarming.
ThanksareduetotheSwissNationalFund(projectn
126420)forfundingthisresearch.
References
Jehenne,Y.1987.Intrtbiostratigraphiquedes
ruminantsprimitifsduPalogneetduNogne
infrieurdEuropeoccidentale.Mnchner
GeowissenschaftlicheAbhandlungen,10:131140.
Oxygenandcarbonisotopecompositionsof
extinctbovidsandenvironmentsof
primatesintheLateMioceneofGreece
Merceron,G.1,Lcuyer,Ch.1,2,Kostopoulos,D.S.3,
Koufos,G.D.3
1
LaboratoiredeGologiedeLyon,CNRS,ENSandUniversit
Lyon1,France;gildas.merceron@univlyon1.fr;
christophe.lecuyer@univlyon1.fr.
2
InstitutUniversitairedeFrance
3
LaboratoryofGeologyandPalaeontology,Departmentof
Geology,AristotleUniversityofThessaloniki,Greece;
dkostop@geo.auth.gr;koufos@geo.auth.gr
This study explores the environmental changes that

potentially could explain the replacement of great
apes by monkeys during the late Miocene along the
Axios River, Greece (Koufos, 2006). Two fossilrich
sites encompass the considered time frame: the ape
bearing(Ouranopithecus)RavindelaPluie(RPl)and
the monkeybearing (Mesopithecus) Ravin des Zoua
ves5(RZO)localities.Combiningenamelcarbonwith
phosphate oxygen isotopic analyses of 32 bovid re
mains allows the identification of dietary habits (Cer
lingandHarris,1999)andthesourcesofabsorbedwa
ters(Bryantetal.,1996)fortheantelopesandthere
fore of environmental changes. 18Op ranges from

13.7to21.3forRPlbovidsandfrom14.3to21.4
(vs. VSMOW) for RZO ones. Although body mass is
known to control oxygen isotope fractionation be
tween body skeleton and water, additional factors
must explain such high withinsite differences (Lan
glois et al., 2003). Among them, the availability of
various water sources with different oxygen isotope
composition in combination with physiological and
ecological factors could have resulted in significant
isotopic variations amongst sympatric antelopes. The
13Ce values of extinct bovids are not different from
both C3 grazers and browsers, even though they are
lowerthanthosemeasuredforextantC4grazers.The
variations in 13C between the bovids from the two
sites could reflect more intakes on C3 xeric plants for
the RPl antelopes. Such outcomes are also supported
bydentalmicrowearanalyses(Merceronetal.,2010).
References
Bryant,J.,Froelich,P.,Showers,W.,Genna,B.1996.
Biologicandclimaticsignalsintheoxygenisotopic
compositionofEoceneOligoceneequidenamel
phosphate.Palaeogeography,Palaeoclimatology,
Palaeoecology,126:7589.
Cerling,T.,Harris,J.1999.Carbonisotope
fractionationbetweendietandbioapatiteinungulate
mammalsandimplicationsforecologicaland
paleoecologicalstudies.Oecologia,120:347363.
Greece:Faunas,chronologyandbiostratigraphy.
Langlois,C.,Simon,L.,Lcuyer,C.2003.Boxmodeling
ofboneandtoothphosphateoxygenisotope
compositionsasafunctionofenvironmentaland
physiologicalparameters.IsotopesinEnvironmental
andHealthStudies,39:259272.
Merceron,G.,Kaiser,T.,Kostopoulos,D.S.,Schulz,E.
2010.RuminantdietandtheMioceneextinctionof
Europeangreatapes.ProceedingsoftheRoyalSociety
B,277:31053112.
Ichnologicalevidenceoftaphonomic
feedbackinvertebrates.Examplesfromthe
LateJurassicandCretaceous
Meyer,Ch.A.1,Frey,E.2,Thring,B.1
1
2
NaturhistorischesMuseumBasel,Basel,Switzerland
StaatlichesMuseumfrNaturkunde,Karlsruhe,Germany
Unravellingtaphonomichistorieshaslongbeenoneof
theprimarystepsinpalaeoeocologicalstudies.More
over, in order to understand the origin of past verte
brateassemblagesthetaphonomicoverprinthastobe
recognized. We present here two examples that help
tounderstandandclarifiysomeaspectsofvertebrate
taphonomy and sedimentology that are usually not
evidentinthefossilrecord.
The first example comes from the Swiss Late Jurassic
Solothurn Turtle Limestone, a marginal marine la
goonalenvironmentthathaslongbeenknownforits
high diversity of marine cryptodiran and pleurodiran
turtles (e.g. Meyer, 1994). Out of a large collection,
only very few specimens of carapaces display areas
that are more or less densely covered by stellate v
shaped grooves. These are attributed to the ichno
taxon Gnathichnus pentax Bromley and are inter
preted as gnawing and rasping traces of the teeth of
hemicidaroid sea urchins. Furthermore, plastra and
distarticulated turtle remains serve as substrate for
thesettlementandgrowthofsmallepibenthicoysters.
From the grazing traces the presence of a post mor
tem algal cover can be inferred that would not leave
any trace in the fossil record. The size of the epiben
thicoystersontheturtleremainsrestrictthesediment
water interface resident time to probably less than
five years before final burial. The presence of trace
fossilsincombinationwithtaphonomicfeedbackhelps
to understand the formation of this lagerstatten and
elucidatestheamountoftimeaveraging.
The other example comes from the Campanian Cerro
del Pueblo Formation of southern Coahuila (Mexico)
that is widely known for its terrestrial vertebrate
community in deltaic coastal setting (Eberth, 2004).
During our ichnological field study in March 2006
(Meyeretal.,2008),wedidsomecampsitecollecting
intheeveningandfounddisarticulatedtitanosaurma
terial. Several titanosaur rib fragments showed un
usualborings.Theseclavateperforationsarefoundall
aroundthebonesandcontaininsomecasesthepro
ducer itself. The borings are attributed to the ichno
taxon Gastrochaenolites left by marine bivalves (e.g.
Tapanila et al., 2004). Moreover, the circumferential
perforationsshowdifferentsizeranges.Thiscannotbe
explained by a simple model where the ribs were
colonized during their resident time at the sediment
water interface and by subsequent turning over by
currents.Anotherscenariohastobeevoked:Thecar
casses of the titanosaurs were buried in their natural
deltaic habitat and partly excavated by a subsequent
marine transgression that made some of the bones
sticking out of the sediment. This allowed an all
around settlement of molluscan larvae followed by
boring into the hard substrate. This observation sup
ports the sedimentological evidence of a marine
transgression that is also corroborated by the pres
41
enceofammonitesandsharkremains.
We would like to thank Arturo GonzalezGonzalez
(MuseodelDesierto)forthepermissiontopublishthe
data and his support for our research in Mexico. The
financialsupportfromtheKuglerWerdenbergStiftung
(Basel) and the DFG (Germany) is kindly acknowl
edged.
References
Eberth,D.A.,DelgadodeJess,C.R.,Lerbekmo,J.F.,
Brinkman,D.B.,RodrguezdelaRosa,R.A.,Sampson,
S.D.2004.CerrodelPuebloFm(DifuntaGroup,Upper
Cretaceous),ParrasBasin,southernCoahuila,Mexico:
referencesections,age,andcorrelation.Revista
MexicanadeCienciasGeolgicas,21/3:335352.
Meyer,C.A.1994.Depositionalenvironmentand
paleoecologyoftheSolothurnTurtleLimestone.
Gobios,Mm.Spc.16(1991):227236.
Meyer,Ch.A.,Frey,E.,Thring,B.2008.Thepitfallsof
interpretingincompletedinosaurtrackwaysAn
exampleofadromaeosauridtrackwayfromtheLate
CretaceousoftheSierraMadreOriental(Cerrodel
PuebloFormation,LateCampanian;ParrasBasin
Coahuila,Mexico).Abstracts6thMeetingEuropean
MeetingofVertebratePaleontologistsNovaSpisska
Ves,p.69.
Tapanila,L.,Roberts,E.M.,Bouar,M.L.,Sissoko,F.,
OLeary,M.A.2004.Bivalveboringsinphosphatic
coprolitesandbone,CretaceousPaleogene,
NortheasternMali.Palaios,18:565573.
Firstrecordedpresenceofabirdofprey
fromtheLateMioceneofPikermi(Attica,
Greece);preliminaryobservations
Michailidis,D.1,Roussiakis,S.1
1
UniversityofAthens,DepartmentofHistoricalGeologyand
Palaeontology,Zografou,Greece;dmichailidis@geol.uoa.gr,
srousiak@geol.uoa.gr
LateMioceneavianremainsinGreeceareratherrare,
known only from five localities: Pikermi (Attica),
Chomateri (Attica), Samos, Kerassi4 (Euboea) and
Perivolaki(Thessaly).Amongthese,Pikermipreserves
arelativelyrichpalaeoavifauna,bothintermsoftaxo
nomicdiversityandnumberofspecimens.Bycommon
consent, the avian taxa recognized in Pikermi are:
Struthiokaratheodoris,Ciconiagaudryi,Gruspentelici
and Pavo archiaci. Moreover, Phoenicopterus sp. and
Pavo bravardi have also been added by Mlkovsk
(2002) and Boev and Koufos (2006), respectively. As
42
no information is provided for the skeletal elements

on whichthespecificdetermination of the latter two
taxaisbased,theirtaxonomicstatusshouldbetreated
withcaution.Inthepresentpresentationemphasisis
placed on a fragmentary distal ulna from Pikermi, al
readyallocatedtoGypssp.byMichailidisetal.(2010).
The morphology of this specimen demarcates it from
previouslydescribedPikermiaviantaxaandpointtoa
specieswithfalconiformaffinities.Itssizeismarginally
smaller than Haliaeetus albicilla and Aquila heliaca
specimensexamined.However,intermsofitsdetailed
anatomical features, it is most similar to the larger
sized Gyps fulvus. Extant vultures occur primarily in
relatively open environments that can sustain large
numbersofherbivoresandthereforealargesupplyof
exposedcarcasseswhichisvitalfortheirsurvival.The
PikermiGypssp.indicatesthatsimilarconditionsmust
havebeenmetintheLateMioceneofPikermi.
References
Boev,Z.,Koufos,G.,2006.ThelateMiocene
vertebratelocalityofPerivolaki,Thessaly,Greece.2.
Aves.Palaeontographica,276:1122.
Gaudry,A.,18621867.Animauxfossilesetgologiede
lAttique.F.Savy,Paris,475pp.
MichailidisD.,RoussiakisS.,Theodorou,G.,2010.
PalaeoavianremainsfromtheLateMiocenelocalities
ofPikermi,ChomateriandKerassi;palaeoecological
implications.GeologicaBalcanica,39(12),Abstracts
Volume:250251.
Mlkovsk,J.,2002.CenozoicBirdsoftheWorld.Part
1:Europe.NinoxPress,416pp.
EmergencyexcavationintheGrube
Unterfeld(Frauenweiler)claypit
(Oligocene,Rupelian;BadenWrttemberg,
S.Germany):Newrecordsand
palaeoenvironmentalinformation
Micklich,N.1
1
NaturalHistoryDepartment,HessischesLandesmuseum
Darmstadt,Darmstadt,Germany;micklich@hlmd.de
The Grube Unterfeld (Frauenweiler) clay pit has be

come famous for a wellpreserved and highly diverse
vertebrate and invertebrate fauna, which dates back
to the Rupelian stage of the Oligocene (32 MYA). It
was closed down for some years and became almost
completely backfilled in recent times. For an emer
gency excavation, which was granted by the National
Geographic Society, an area of almost 450 m2 has
been exposed from a threemetre overlay of building

rubble and ground excavation materials. A total of
1932fossilswerefound,ofwhich1865couldbeaccu
ratelycalibratedanddocumentedinthefieldbook.In
all, 67 specimens were recovered for the palaeon
tological collection of the Hessisches Landesmuseum
Darmstadt.Forthefirsttime,aprecisedocumentation
of the relative frequencies of different preservational
stages in welldefined stratigraphical layers was
achieved. The taxonomic spectrum is clearly domi
natedbysmallherrings(cf.SardinellaCuvieretValen
ciennes, 1847), followed by shrimpfish (Aeoliscus Jor
dan et Starks, 1902) and basking shark remains (Ce
torhinus parvus Leriche, 1910). The project further
more yielded a number of striking new fossils. There
wasacompletesirenian(cf.HalitheriumschinziiKaup,
1838), a todybird (Palaeotodus itardiensis Mourer
Chauvir,1985),andacheloniidturtle,whichmaybe
long to the genus Glarichelys Zangerl, 1958. Amongst
the fishes, the first articulated specimen of a basking
shark worldwide was found. The percoids (Percifor
mes) are probably represented by a completely new
taxon. In addition, there are new records of rare
trumpet fishes (Aulostomidae) and snake mackerels
(Gempylidae). The composition of the fish fauna
clearlydiffersfromtheonethatwasknownfromthe
results of earlier excavations. It indicates shallower
waterswithclearerreferencestowarmthlovingIndo
Pacific faunal elements. This corresponds rather well
with the occurrence of nanoplankton blooms. How
ever, there is some contradiction with mass occur
rences of certain foraminiferans, which suggest a
deeper,moreoffshoreenvironment.Upwellingevents
mayoccasionallyhavetransportedmassesofjuvenile
foraminiferans in shallower areas, rather than an op
positetransportoffragilefishskeletonsandcoccoliths
intoadeeperbasin.
AnewformofPseudoloris(Omomyidae,
Primates)fromtheMiddleEoceneofthe
AlmaznBasin(IberianPeninsula)
MinwerBarakat,R.1,Marig,J.1,MoySol,S.2
1
UniversitatAutnomadeBarcelona,Spain;
raef.minwer@icp.cat,judit.marigo@icp.cat
2
ICREA,InstitutCataldePaleontologiaMiquelCrusafont,
UniversitatAutnomadeBarcelona,Spain;
salvador.moya@icp.cat
The extinct family Omomyidae (Primates) has a great

scientific interest due to its still unresolved relation
ships with other members of the order, particularly
anthropoids. The subfamily Microchoerinae is known

exclusivelyfromtheEoceneofEurope,withsomeex
ceptions lasting into the Oligocene. Pseudoloris is a
very small microchoerine identified in some localities
of Spain, France and Germany. Its remains are rela
tively scarce; therefore the knowledge of its dental
morphology,evolutionandecologicalrequirementsis
farfrombeingcomplete.
Here we report the existence of a new form of Pseu
doloris from the middle Eocene(MP1516, Robiacian)
siteofMazatern(AlmaznBasin,Spain).Thematerial
consists of 22 isolated teeth, and is characterized by
its medium size, high and thick paracristid and ab
senceofadistinctparaconidinthelowermolars,large
hypoconulid in the m3, welldeveloped protocone in
the P3 and P4, reduced hypocone and presence of a
weak postprotocingulum in the M12, and especially
bythei1,withabuccolinguallyenlargedcrownanda
verywide,anteroposteriorlycompressedroot.Infact,
the most remarkable difference between this new
form and Pseudoloris parvulus and P. pyrenaicus (the
only two species of the genus whose anterior denti
tionhasbeendescribed)isthemuchlargerandrobust
lowerincisor.
This finding represents the first Microchoerinae from
the Western Iberian Bioprovince, and the western
most record of the genus known up to now. More
over,thisformisclearlydifferentfromthespeciesof
Pseudoloris found in the middle and upper Eocene in
thePyreneanbasins(P.isabenaefromCapella,P.par
vulus from Sosss and the recently described P.
pyrenaicusfromSantJaumedeFrontany).Thus,fur
ther investigations on the material from Mazatern,
most probably leading to the formal description of a
new species, could reinforce the endemic nature of
themammalfaunasfromthisbioprovince,alreadyob
served in other groups such as rodents and perisso
dactyls,andalsoevidencedinadapoidprimates,with
the recent description of the genus Mazateronodon
fromthesamelocality.
Theeffectoftectonicmovementsand
eustaticfluctuationsontheimmigrationof
PleistocenemammalsintheSouthAegean
Sea
1
Mitsopoulou,V. ,Iliopoulos,G.
43
UniversityofPatras,DepartmentofGeology,Patras,
TheinitiationoftheextensionintheAegeanSeawasa
consequence of the extrusion of Anatolia away from
EurasiaandAfrica.Duringthelast1211millionyears
theseaintrudedintotheregionofAegeisandcaused
itssubdivisionduetotherollbackoftheHellenicArc.
As a result, the combination of tectonic movements
andpressuresareevidentlyresponsiblefortheforma
tionoftheHellenicarc.Moreover,thesuccessiveGla
cial and Interglacial cycles during the last 800.000
years, regulated by Millankovitch cycles, caused
changes in the global sea levels and the allocation of
land and sea. Thus, tectonic movements and eustatic
fluctuations are responsible for the changes in the
SouthAegeanSeaduringthelast800.000years.These
sea level fluctuations influenced the distribution of
herbivore mammals that moved from continental ar
eas to islands. Animals that were competent swim
mers such as elephants, deer, and hippopotamuses
were able to cross sea channels that were located in
close vicinity due to accidental circumstances. The
elaboration of information about known faults in the
South Aegean with the program ArcGIS and their
comparisonwiththeisobathlinesof50,100and
150mgaveimportantinformationaboutthepossible
routes these mammals followed. They were able to
cross from the Greek mainland to islands such as the
Cyclades, Crete, and from Asia Minor to Dodecanese
and the islands of the East Aegean Sea. Competition,
limited space, and periods with lack of food pushed
thelargeformstodwarfism.Onthecontrary,smaller
forms became giants due to lack of competition and
fewer hunters. As a consequence, many Pleistocene
endemic species evolved in the South Aegean. Mam
muthus creticus, Elephas tiliensis, E. creutzburgi, Hip
popotamus creutzburgi, Candiacervus ropalophorus
aresomeexamplesofsuchspeciesfromCreteandTi
loswhoseancestorshadimmigratedinsearchoffood
andnewhabitats.
Backward,forwardorcompletelydifferent:
wingsweepinpterosaurs
Monninger,S.1,Frey,E.1
1
StateMuseumofNaturalHistoryKarlsruhe,Karlsruhe,
Germany
NationalandKapodistrianUniversityofAthens,Facultyof
GeologyandGeoenvrironment,DepartmentofHistorical
GeologyandPaleontology,Athens,Greece;
vamitsop@geol.uoa.gr
In the past the flight configuration of pterosaurs, es

pecially concerning the expansion of the flight mem
braneswasdiscussedcontroversially,butwiththelat
est soft tissue specimens it seems to be certain that
44
the trailing edge of the brachiopatagium extended

fromthetipofthewingfingertotheanklejoint.How
ever,thepositionofthebonywingsparsinflightposi
tion remains speculative until now, because most of
the complete specimens are preserved with a semi
folded wing and incomplete membranes. A hitherto
undescribed specimen of Rhamphorhynchus from
Solnhofenissocompletelypreservedthatitwaspos
sibletomeasuretheexactlengthofthetrailingedge
ofthebrachiopatagiumandthustoobtainameasure
forthedistancebetweenthetipofthewingfingerand
theankle.Untilnow,theassumedstandardflightcon
figurationwiththewingfingernearlyrectangularand
the lower leg parallel to the longitudinal axis of the
body is only possible if a minimum elasticity of 10%
alongthetrailingedgeispostulated.However,theta
phonomy ofpterosaurs suggests that it is more likely
thattheflightmembranehadnooronlyalittleelastic
ity.Inthiscasetheflightconfigurationshowsaback
ward swept wing with abducted hind legs (Fig. 1A).
This configuration strikingly resembles a flying wing,
thegliderHoII,whichwasbuiltandsuccessfullyflown
in 1935 (Fig. 1 B). With such a flight configuration in
Rhamphorhynchus the uropatagium could have acted
asanelevator,steeredwiththefifthtoe.
Fig.1A:Rhamphorhynchusinflightposition
Fig.1B:ThegliderHoII
Temporalevolutionandbiogeographyof
MiocenelargeCastoridae(Mammalia,
Rodentia)
Mrs,T.1
1
SwedishMuseumofNaturalHistory,Stockholm,Sweden;
thomas.moers@nrm.se
Miocene beavers were a diverse rodent group in the

Holarcticregion,manyofthembeingmoreterrestrial
andwithsmallerbodysizethanthesemiaquaticextant
Castor. The fossil record of large beavers is rather
scarce in the Miocene, but new findings have shed
lightontheseratherenigmaticrodents.Mostofthem
canbeattributedtotheEarlytoMiddleMiocenesub
familyAnchitheriomyinae.Withtheircomplex,Hystrix
like cheek tooth pattern and low condyle, their man
dibles appear similar to those of Old World porcu
pines, Hystricidae (Koenigswald and Mrs, 2001; Ste
fenandMrs,2008).ThelargestEarlyMiocenerepre
sentative is the European species Anchitheriomys
suevicus, known from Germany, France and Switzer
land. TheMiddle Miocene species Amblycastor flumi
nisiswidelydistributedinNorthAmericaandisknown
from Nebraska, Colorado, Nevada, Georgia and Flor
ida. Amblycastor is larger and more derived than An
chitheriomys(MrsandHulbert,2010).Thetaxonomic
status and biogeographic relation of the Asian an
chitheriomyinefromTunggurinMongoliaremainsun
clear, due to the scarce material. The origin of the
lineageisunclearaswell;smallerandmoreprimitive
anchitheriomyineshavebeendescribedfromtheLate
Oligocene and Early Miocene of Nebraska, and there
are contemporaneous beavers with complex tooth
morphologyknownfromCentralAsia,e.g.Kazakhstan.
The best material in terms of specimen numbers
and preservation of a primitive anchitheriomyine
beavercomesfromtheEarlyMioceneofcentralJapan
(Mrs and Tomida, in prep.). This new taxon is en
demic to Japan, but shows a biogeographic link to
NorthAmerica. The largestMiocene castorid is Youn
gofiber sinensis, a giant castoroidine beaver first de
scribedfromtheEarlyMioceneofSihongintheJangsu
Province,China.OutsideEastChina,thespeciesisonly
knownfromtheEarlyMioceneofcentralandwestern
Japan. Youngofiber sinensis seems to be an endemic
EastAsianspecies.
References
Koenigswald,W.von,Mrs,T.2001.Theenamel
microstructureofAnchitheriomys(Rodentia,
Mammalia)incomparisonwiththatofotherbeavers
andofporcupines.PalontologischeZeitschrift,74:
601612.
Mrs,T.,Hulbert,R.2010.AnchitheriomysRoger,1898
orAmblycastorMatthew,1918(Rodentia,
Castoridae)?Taxonomicimplicationsofamandible
fromtheMioceneofFlorida.JournalofVertebrate
Paleontology,30:18991902.
Mrs,T.,Tomida,Y.inprep.Anewlargebeaver
(Mammalia:Castoridae)fromtheEarlyMioceneof
Japananditspalaeobiogeographicalimplications.
Stefen,C.,Mrs,T.2008.ThebeaverAnchitheriomys
fromtheMioceneofCentralEurope.Journalof
Paleontology,82:10091020.
45
doesnotexhibitanintermediatemorphologybetween
boxturtlesandcannotbeseenasamissinglinkwith
theclosestsistergroupofAsianboxturtles.
Themorphologyandearlyevolutionofthe
aviansternum
OConnor,J.K.1,Zhou,ZH.1
1
Paleoanthropology,Beijing,China
AnewfossilofCuorafromtheMioceneof
Thailandshedsnewlightontheoriginof
Asianboxturtles
Naksri,W.1,2*,Tong,H.3,Thirakhupt,K.4,Lauprasert,
K.1,2**,Suteethorn,V.2,Claude,J.5
1
University,Kantarawichai,MahaSarakham,Thailand;
*nwilailuck@gmail.com,**lauprasert@gmail.com
2
MahasarakhamUniversity,Kantarawichai,MahaSarakham,
Thailand;suteethorn@hotmail.com
3
30rueCarnot,94270LeKremlinBictre,France;
htong09@yahoo.fr
4
DepartmentofBiology,FacultyofScience,Chulalongkorn
University,Bangkok,Thailand;kumthorn.t@chula.ac.th
5
InstitutdesSciencesdelvolutiondeMontpellier,UMR
5554CNRS,UniversitdeMontpellier2,Montpellier,
France;eobatagur@yahoo.fr
Boxturtlesareturtleswithahingedplastronallowing
themselvestotightlyclosetheirshelltoprotectthem
selvesfrompredators.InAsia,theyarerepresentedby
the genus Cuora that contains around ten living spe
cies. The systematics and evolution of this genus has
been clarified recently on the basis of DNA data. By
contrast, the fossil record of this genus is not well
documented:itisrestrictedtothelateNeogene,and
issofaronlyknownfromafewfossilsinChinaandJa
pan, while today the genus extends until peninsular
SoutheastAsiaandIndonesia.Herewereporttheold
estoccurrenceofthisgenusintheChiangMuanMine
in Phayao Province (Northern Thailand). This locality
has yielded a rich fossil vertebrate assemblage dated
to the MiddleMiocene.Onthe basis of the presence
of a distinct plastral hinge, hexagonal neural plates
with short posterolateral sides, and round posterior
plastrallobe,apartialshellcanclearlybeassignedto
the genus Cuora within the Geoemydidae. The pres
ence of Cuora indicates the earliest record of the ge
nusintheMiddleMioceneanddocumentstheevolu
tionaryhistoryofAsianboxturtles.However,thefossil
Thepresenceofanossifiedsternumishighlyvariable
amongbasalbirdsandcloselyrelatednonavianther
opod dinosaurs. A sternum is absent in every known
specimen of the most basal bird, Archaeopteryx, and
nonornithuromorph birds lack many features of this
element often associated with flight (i.e. large keel),
raising fundamental questions about the flight me
chanics in basal taxa. Across Mesozoic Aves, and
among their closely related nonavian dinosaurian
relatives,thewiderangeofknownmorphologieshints
attheevolutionaryhistoryofthedevelopmentofthe
modern sternum. We review the preserved sterna of
Mesozoic birds and their close dinosaurian relatives
anddiscussthelikelysequenceofsternalossification.
Fromtheinferredphylogeneticpositionsoftaxawith
known sternal morphologies, we can hypothesize the
sequence in which the presence of ossified sternal
AnlageevolvedwithinAves.Thefossilrecordofenan
tiornithinesiscompleteenoughforustohypothesize
a generalized ossification pattern that was likely
unique to this clade. Although many features of the
adult avian sternum are considered homologous be
tween clades, the Anlage from which some features
ossify in enantiornithines must have differed greatly
from that seen in living birds. Comparison to the
known development of the sternum in living birds
suggests that both ossification patterns and the di
versemorphologiesofthiselementseeninneornithi
nesevolvedwithinthecrowncladeofAves.Neverthe
less,thebasicshapeofthemodernaviansternumwas
presentbytheLateCretaceous,withEarlyCretaceous
ornithurinespossessingnearlymodernmorphologies.
46
Theevolutionofjawmechanismandoral
foodprocessinginheterodont
crocodyliforms
on some islands of the European archipelago) by

highlyspecializedcrocodyliforms.
si,A.1
1
HungarianAcademyofSciences,HungarianNaturalHistory
Museum,ResearchGroupforPalaeontology,Budapest,
Hungary;hungaros@freemail.hu
Recent discoveries of crocodyliforms especially in the

Cretaceous of South America and Africa revealed
complex, heterodont dentition sometimes including
multicusped teeth, and wellcontrolled dental occlu
sionalongwithacomplexjawmechanisminallmain
lineagesoftheCrocodyliformes(Protosuchia,Notosu
chia,Neosuchia).Besidescranialanddentalmorphol
ogy,thedetailsofthewearfacets,jawjointandsym
physisconstructionandreconstructionofthejawad
ductorsarekeycharacterstounderstandtheprocess
ofdentalocclusion,thephasesofjawmechanismand
oralfoodprocessing.
Studyofthesefeaturesintwentyextinctandoneex
tant species of heterodont crocodyliforms indicates
that at least four different types of jaw mechanism
appeared, some of them more than once independ
ently among the clades of the group. As in most
crocodyliforms, heterodont protosuchians and more
developed globidont forms are characterized by a
simple, orthal jaw closure without any significant an
teroposterior or lateromedial mandibular move
ment. In these forms, quadrate condyles precisely fit
in the usually highly positioned jaw joint, and ptery
goid muscles are particularly developed. Dental wear
analysis revealed that anteroposterior (propalinal)
mandibular movement described in various notosu
chians actually covers two completely different man
dibular movements. In forms with proal movement
dental wear occurs on the carinae and apically, and
advanced pterygoid muscles were developed to mo
torisetheforwardshiftingofthemandiblesduringjaw
closure.Inpalinalmovement,dentalwearofthelower
teeth are mainly labial, pterygoid muscles are re
duced, external adductors are extremly developed to
produceretractivepowerstoke,insomecaseswithal
ternate dental occlusion. In the fourth type orthal
movement is combined with significant lateromedial
movement revealed in the hylaeochampsid Iharkuto
suchus.
The evolution and diversity of complex jaw mecha
nisms and effective oral food processing in crocodyli
formsstronglyresemblesthoseofthemasticatorysys
tem of mammals and suggest that the diverse niches
filled in dominantly by mammalian groups in North
America and Asia were occupied in other Mesozoic
ecosystems(e.g.innumerousGondwananhabitatsor
Faunaldynamicsduringthelast5Ma:acase
studyoflargemammalsfromtheWestern
Mediterraneanregion
Palombo,M.R.1
1
DipartimentodiScienzedellaTerra,SapienzaUniversit
diRomaandCNR,IstitutodiGeologiaambientalee
Geoingegneria,Roma,Italy;
mariarita.palombo@uniroma1.it
The multifaceted evolutionary history of mammals,

which led to the presentday biodiversity and bio
geographicalsettings,undoubtedlymingleswiththose
of palaeogeographical, climatic and environmental
changesexperiencedbyourplanet.Thelast5Ma,par
ticularlytheQuaternaryperiod,seemtobeespecially
appropriatetoinvestigateastotheactualimpactthat
long term and rhythmic/periodic cycles as well as
the increased potential for isolation of populations
due to environmental fragmentation and multiple re
arrangement of climatic zones had on evolution,
dispersal and extinction of taxa and on dynamics of
mammalianfaunas.ThroughoutthePliocene Pleisto
cene, large mammals, particularly from middle lati
tudes, are known to have frequently reacted to cli
mateshiftsbyvaryingtheirrange.Thisinkeepingwith
thevegetationalcover,latitudinaldisplacementofbi
omes, and changes in palaeogeographical setting re
late to both tectonics and climate forcing. The Medi
terranean basin, with its exceptionally rich Plio
Quaternary fossil record, its complex physiography,
climatic heterogeneity, presence of important geo
graphicalandecologicalbarriersseemstobeparticu
larly appropriate for analyzing and comparing faunal
dynamics as changes in taxonomical composition and
diversity at local and regional scales. The Mediterra
neanregionexperiencedalongandcomplexhistoryof
speciesturnover,invasions,andcompetitiveexclusion,
aswellastheoriginationofendemicspeciesandpro
longed survivals of some taxa in refugial areas. Turn
over pulses and first/last appearances discrete bio
events (local evolution, dispersal, extinction) which
was regionally sometimes synchronous but often dia
chronous led to a progressive reconstruction of
mammalian faunal complexes that came to an end
withthesocalledmegafaunalextinctions.
ThemicromammalsfromMinoanCrete:
humaninterventionintheecosystemofthe
island
Papayiannis,K.1
1
DepartmentofHistoryandArchaeology,Universityof
AthensandWienerLaboratory,AmericanSchoolofClassical
StudiesatAthens,Athens,Greece;katerina272@yahoo.gr
Thepresentpaperwillpresentdataonthecommensal
MusmusculusdomesticusfromBronzeAgeCreteand
will try to investigate the ways the marine states of
theMinoanperiodhelpedinthespreadofthehouse
mouse on the Aegean islands. Additionally, possible
origins of the Bronze Age house mice will be tracked
throughtheresultsofgeometricmorphometricanaly
sis on lower first molars. Finally, the role played by
man in the change of the microenvironment within
and around settlements by the introduction of com
mensals will be discussed through comparisons be
tween the endemic or local species and the house
mouse, due to the arrival of which the former were
eliminatedorvanished.
PardoPrez,J. ,Frey,E. ,Stinnesbeck,W. ,Rivas,L. ,

Salazar,Ch.1,Leppe,M.4
1
InstitutfrGeowissenschaften,UniversittHeidelberg,
Heidelberg,Germany;judith.pardo@geow.uniheidelberg.de
2
StaatlichesMuseumfrNaturkundeKarlsruhe(SMNK),
Karlsruhe,Germany
3
UniversidaddeConcepcin,Concepcin,Chile
4
InstitutoAntrticoChileno,PuntaArenas,Chile
The Tyndall Glacier in the Torres del Paine National

Park is an extremely fossiliferous area of the Chilean
Patagonia.Inthisareanumerousarticulatedandafew
complete ichthyosaurs were found. Most individuals
areadultsandjuveniles.However,afewneonatesand
females with embryos also occur. The ichthyosaur
skeletons are associated with abundant belemnites,
ammonites and inoceramid bivalves. Ganoid and
teleostfishesarefrequentlyfound.Therecordoftree
trunksandremainsoflandplantssuggestanenviron
mentinclosevicinitytotheshore.
The meltdown of Tyndall Glacier has exposed sedi
mentary rocks in an area of about 10 km2, which are
part of the Zapata Formation (?145 99 Ma). During
the field campaign of 2009 to Torres del Paine Na

tional Park, a complete, isolated forefin of a platyp
terygian ichthyosaur was discovered. The specimen
represents one of the bestpreserved Platypterygius
forefins from the Early Cretaceous and shows some
featuresthatarenotpreservedinotherPlatypterygius
species. Nevertheless, some factors such as the small
number of Platypterygius specimens that has been
found (McGowan, 1972; Fernndez and Aguirre
Urreta, 2007; Arkhangelsky et al., 2008), their incom
pletenessand,inconsequence,thedifficultytojudge
the factor of morphological variability make an accu
rateandcorrecttaxonomicidentificationdifficult.
Thehighamountofspecimensandthegoodpreserva
tionoftheTyndallichthyosaursisthuscrucialforthe
understandingofthediversityofpaleocommunitiesof
ichthyosaursduringtheEarlyCretaceousandmayrep
resentoneofthemostinformativeareasforEarlyCre
taceousichthyosaursintheworld.
References
Arkhangelsky,M.S.,Averianov,A.,Pervushov,E.,
Ratnikov,V.,Zozyrev,N.2008.Onichthyosaurremains
fromtheCretaceousofVoronezhRegion.
PaleontologicalJournal,42(3):287291.
Fernndez,M.,AguirreUrreta,B.2007.Revisionof
PlatypterygiushauthalivonHuene,1927
(Ichthyosauria:Ophthalmosauridae)fromtheEarly
CretaceousofPatagonia,Argentina.Journalof
VertebratePaleontology,25(3):583587.
AnewspeciesofPlatypterygiusora
morphologicalvariation?Thedifficultyto
designateanewspecies,whentherecord
fossilisscarce
1,2
47
McGowan,C.1972.Thesystematicsofcretaceous
ichthyosaurswithparticularreferencetothematerial
fromNorthAmerica.ContributionstoGeology,11(1):
929.
LifehistoryofRhamphorhynchusinferred
frombonehistology
Prondvai,E.1,Stein,K2,Sander,M.2,si,A.3
1
EtvsLorndUniversity,DepartmentofPaleontology,
Budapest,Hungary;prondvaie@gmail.com
2
SteinmannInstitutfrGeologie,Mineralogieund
Palontologie,Bonn,Germany;
koen.stein@unibonn.de,martin.sander@unibonn.de
3
HungarianAcademyofSciences,HungarianNaturalHistory
Museum,ResearchGroupforPaleontology,Budapest,
Hungary;hungaros@freemail.hu
Growth strategy of Rhamphorhynchus has been as

sessed based on macromorphological characters, and
only one study concentrated on the microstructural
features of the bones to reveal life history of the ge
48
nus. However, due to the apparently conflicting hy

potheses suggested so far, aspects of their growth
strategyandotherlifehistoryparametersstillabound
inuncertaintiesandneedfurthertesting.Wepresent
thefirsthistologicalsurveyofanontogeneticseriesof
Rhamphorhynchus.OurresultsshowedthatBennetts
(1996)secondsizecategoryalsocontainsadults,thus
it does not reflect real ontogenetic stage. Significant
body size differences of histologically as well as mac
romorphologically adult specimens suggest develop
mentalplasticity.Wovenboneimpliesthathatchlings
sustained a high initial growth rate, however only up
totheattainmentof3050%ofadultwingspanor7
20%ofasymptoticbodymass.Thisisincontrastwith
the superprecocial flier hypothesis. The early fast
growthphasewasfollowedbyaprolonged,reptilian
like slowgrowth phase indicated by parallelfibred
bone deposition in the cortex. The onset of powered
flight and not of reproduction is considered here as
the cause of this transition, which has also been re
vealed in Pterodaustro. Rapidly growing young juve
niles were either attended by their parents or they
were immediately independent, precocialbut not vo
lant,hidingcreaturesuntilattainingacertainsomatic
maturitytogetairborne.AnEFSisabsentinallinves
tigated specimens, but due to the restricted sample
size, neither determinate nor indeterminate growth
couldbeconfirmedinRhamphorhynchus.
References
Bennett,S.C.1996.Yearclassesofpterosaursfrom
theSolnhofenLimestoneofGermany:taxonomicand
systematicimplications.JournalofVertebrate
Paleontology,16(3):432444.
Anexceptionallycompletespecimenofthe
colossalCretaceousseaturtleArchelon
ischyros
Rabi,M.1,Ghlich,U.B.2,Kear,B.P.3
1
2
NaturalHistoryMuseumofVienna,Geological
PaleontologicalDepartment,Vienna,Austria;
ursula.goehlich@nhmwien.ac.at
3
UppsalaUniversity,PalaeobiologyProgramme,Department
ofEarthSciences,Uppsala,Sweden;
benjamin.kear@geo.uu.se
Remains of Cretaceous sea turtles (Chelonioidea) are

widespread with exemplars known from North and
SouthAmerica,Europe,NorthAfrica,easternAsia,and
the Australasian region. Although members of the
modern cheloniid and dermochelyid lineages were

presentbyatleasttheConiacian(LateCretaceous),by
farthemostdiversegroupweretheprotostegids a
basal radiation that first appeared during the Aptian
Albian but went extinct by the early middle Maas
trichtian. Probably the most iconic protostegid is Ar
chelon ischyros from the Campanian Pierre Shale of
western North America (Western Interior Seaway),
which is famous for its colossal body length of over
four metres and which has been popularised as the
largestturtleofalltime.
Surprisingly,littleresearchhasbeendevotedtoArche
lonsincethetaxonwasfirstdescribedinthelate19th
century. Several variably complete skeletons have
beencollected,themostspectacularofwhichwasun
earthed in South Dakota during the mid 1970s and
eventuallypurchasedandpreparedbytheNaturalHis
toryMuseumofVienna(Austria).Painstakingprepara
tionoverafiveyearperiodrevealedexceptionalpres
ervationandthespecimennowformsthecenterpiece
of a permanent exhibition of Mesozoic fossils. How
ever, despite being on public display for over thirty
years the fossil has never been studied in detail. A
comprehensive assessment undertaken in 2011 ob
tained novel data on the osteology, diet, and evolu
tionary implications of Archelon. The results suggest
some remarkable parallels with modern sea turtles,
including durophagous habits and possibly advanced
thermalphysiologyasindicatedbyflippermorphology
and the highly vascularised limb bones. Contrary to
some recent phylogenies, our cladistic analyses also
clearlyadvocatechelonioidmonophylyandimplythat
thedeclineofprotostegidsmighthavebeenlinkedto
faunal turnover amongst benthic invertebrate prey
speciesandextremespecialisationtowardsregionally
endemichabitats.
EvolutionofdortokidturtlesintheLate
CretaceousPaleogeneofEurope
Rabi,M.1,Vremir,M.2
1
2
DepartmentofNaturalSciences,TransylvanianMuseum
Society,ClujNapoca,Romania;vremirmatyi@yahoo.co.uk
Dortokid turtles were Early Cretaceous Paleogene,

smallsized freshwater panpleurodires, endemic to
Europe.TheywereimportantelementsofLateCreta
ceous (Cenomanian Maastrichtian) continental fau
nas throughout Central Eastern and Western Europe,
andinRomaniatheysurvivedintothePaleocene(see
Rabi et al., in press and references therein) or based
onournewdata,evenintotheEocene.Newmaterial
fromtheSantonianofHungaryandtheMaastrichtian
of Romania and the revision of material from the
Campanian of Austria indicate the presence of an
easternlineagethatisphylogeneticallyandbiogeo
graphically separated from the Late Cretaceous Dor
toka lineage of Western Europe. The most complete
specimen of the eastern lineage comes from the
HaegBasin of Romania (Sinpetru Formation) and
consists of an almost complete shell including articu
latedgirdles,thusrepresentingoneofthebestmate
rials in the family. This shell together with several
other isolated plates and other skeletal elements will
belaterdescribedasanewtaxon(thenameMuehlba
chia nopcsai formerly given by Vremir and Codrea
(2009) is considered invalid here as that publication
didnotsatisfythecriteriaoftheICZNrules).Withthe
present contribution we attempt to clarify the phy
logeneticrelationshipsoftheLateCretaceousWestern
EuropeanandEastCentralEuropeantaxawiththePa
leoceneform,Ronellabotanica.Wealsocriticallytest
thepositionofthedortokidsasstempleurodires.As
pects of character evolution, survival of K/Pg extinc
tion,biogeographyandecologyarediscussedaswell.
49
tivetiming(sequenceheterochrony)intheclosureof
52externallyvisiblesuturesaswellasdifferencesbe
tween overall closure among and within the major
clades. The observed patterns are compared to the
ones in fossil xenarthrans and in other mammalian
groups. The mean number of closed sites per speci
menisconsiderablyhigherinslothsthaninanteaters
andarmadillos.Theamountofclosedsuturesdoesnot
correlatewithanyoftheskullmeasurementsusedas
proxy for size in any of the three groups. The mean
number of closed sutures in relation to those meas
urements is highly variable, in sloths even more so
thanintheothertwogroups.Suchhighvariabilityhas
not been reported for any other mammalian group.
Xenarthrans also diverge in some aspects of the oth
erwiseuniversalpatternoftimingoffusionofskullre
gions:forexample,thevaultisnotthefirstregionto
fuse.Aneventpairinganalysisofthetimingdataiden
tifiedmuchhomoplasyandsomediagnosticshiftsfor
certain clades, such as the basioccipitobasisphenoid
suture closing after the closure of the mandibular
symphysisonlyinFolivoraandthenasofrontalsuture
closingbefore the frontolacrimal suture only in Myr
mecophagidae.
References
Vremir,M.,Codrea,V.2009.LateCretaceousturtle
diversityinTransylvanianandHaegbasins(Romania).
The7thInternationalSymposiumofPaleontology,Cluj
Napoca,Romania,AbstractVolume,122124.
Rabi,M.Vremir,M.,Tong,H.inpress.Preliminary
overviewofLateCretaceousturtlediversityinEastern
CentralEurope(Austria,Hungary,andRomania).In:
Brinkman,D.B.,Holroyd,P.A.,Gardner,J.D.(eds),
MorphologyandEvolutionofTurtles:Pleurodires.
Springer,Dordrecht.
Heterochronyincranialsutureclosureof
recentandfossilXenarthra
Rager,L.1,SnchezVillagra,M.R.1
1
Zrich,Zrich,Switzerland;
lisa.rager@uzh.ch,m.sanchez@pim.uzh.ch
The Xenarthra consist of several fossil and recent

groups with various lifestyles and a wide sizerange:
an excellent group to examine morphological evolu
tionandgrowthpatterns.Thetimingofcranialsuture
closure provides a marker of growth, phylogeny and
cranialfunctionwhichcanalsobestudiedinfossils.A
total of about 250 recent skulls from the five living
families was examined to study the changes in rela
GraspingcapabilitiesofPlateosaurus
engelhardti
Reiss,S.1,Mallison,H.2
1
SteinmannInstituteforGeology,Mineralogyand
Palaeontology,RheinischeFriedrichWilhelmsUniversity
Bonn,Bonn,Germany;stefanreiss1@gmx.de
2
MuseumfrNaturkundeLeibnizInstituteforResearchon
EvolutionandBiodiversityattheHumboldtUniversityBerlin,
Berlin,Germany;heinrich.mallison@gmail.com
The locomotion capabilities of the prosauropod dino

saur Plateosaurus engelhardti Meyer, 1837 from the
lateTriassicofCentralEuropehaveseenampledebate
in the literature. Because of the large forces locomo
tionplacesonthelimbs,amanusadaptedtolocomo
tionshowsstrongadaptationsoftherangeofmotion
and stability of the digits. An analysis of the grasping
and hyperextending capabilities can therefore deter
mine if the hand was involved in locomotion, or
adaptedtootherfunctions.
Weusedhighresolution3DmodelsbasedonCTscans
of a wellpreserved individual of P.engelhardti from
theTrossingen(Germany)quarrytoassessthemotion
range of the digits in a Computer Aided Engineering
program. Both maximum flexion and hyperextension
weresimulated,andtheabilitytocontainandcontrol
objectsofdifferentsizeswastested.
50
Although hyperextension is well developed, the total

extentandthevariationofextentbetweendigitsindi
catethatthemanuswasunsuitedforlocomotion.In
stead,itwasadaptedtopowerfullygraspingofobjects
ofasizerangeroughlybetweenasmallpineconeand
a soda bottle. Larger objects required twohanded
grasping,orclampingagainstthelowerarm.Thesup
posedpartialopposabilityofthefirstdigitreportedin
the literature was found not to exist. However, digits
IV andV are angled throughout flexion toallow their
useasacounterfortforimprovedcontrolofsmallob
jects.
interpret.Ananalysisofthefunctionalandmechanical
implications of the dentition, the skull and the lower
jaw, along with a reconstruction of the jaw muscula
turebycomparisonwithextantdurophagousandher
bivorous diapsids and anapsids, suggests that Lango
bardisauruswasableofcomplexfoodprocessingand
may have been an omnivore feeding on hard and/or
thoughfood,possiblycomprisingplants.
Skullmorphologymodificationanddietary
differencesintheTriassicsmallprotorosaurs
MacrocnemusandLangobardisaurus
RoyoTorres,R.1,Alcal,L.1,Cobos,A.1,Esplez,E.1,
Gasc,F.1,Gonzlez,A.1,Mampel,L.1,Pesquero,M.D.1
Renesto,S.1
1
DepartmentofStructuralandFunctionalBiology,
UniversitdegliStudidellInsubria,Varese,Italy;
silvio.renesto@uninsubria.it
The Protorosauria Huxley, 1881 (Prolacertiformes

Camp,1945)constituteacladeofmainlyTriassicrep
tiles among which the genera Macrocnemus,
TanystropheusandLangobardisaurusfromtheMiddle
andLateTriassicofNorthernItaly,Switzerlandandre
centlyalsoChina,arebestknown.Allgenerasharethe
same skeletal architecture, characterised by a long
neckformedthroughelongationoftheindividualver
tebrae rather than an increase in their number (with
anextremeinTanystropheus),andagreatdisparityin
length between fore and hindlimbs. Tanystropheus
wasaquaticorsemiaquaticwiththedifferentspecies
showing great size variability from the mediumsized
T. meridensis (approximately 1.5 m long) to the very
large T. longobardicus, (up to 5 m long), while both
Macrocnemus and Langobardisaurus were smaller,
swift terrestrial reptiles, able of bipedal gait during
fastrun.
One of the major differences among the similarsized
terrestrial taxa (Macrocnemus and Langobardisaurus)
can be found in the dentition and skull architecture:
Macrocnemus had simple homodont dentition with
small,sharpteethandalightlybuiltskullwithslender
jaws,apatternthatfitseasilywiththemodelofacar
nivore feeding on invertebrates or small vertebrates
whichwereswallowedwholeorafterverylittleproc
essing. Langobardisaurus instead had a robust, short
and high skull with a deep lower jaw, peglike front
teeth (absent in the lower jaw) followed by a few
bulkythreecuspedteethandalarge,flattenedmolari
formlasttooth.Itsfeedinghabitsaremoredifficultto
AdinosaurnurseryinaLowerCretaceous
clayquarry(GalveMaestrazgoGeopark,
Teruel,Spain)?
Teruel,Spain;royo@dinopolis.com,alcala@dinopolis.com,
cobos@dinopolis.com,espilez@fundaciondinopolis.org,
gasco@fundaciondinopolis.org,
gonzalez@fundaciondinopolis.org,
mampel@fundaciondinopolis.org,
pesquero@fundaciondinopolis.org
In the province of Teruel (Spain) four new dinosaur

genera and two clades (all sauropod) have been for
mally defined. Two genera come from the Villar del
Arzobispo Formation (TithonianBerriasian) in Galve
area, where also two new species of ornithopods of
the Camarillas Formation have been proposed in an
unpublished doctoral thesis. The diversity of new
Mesozoic species described in Galve includes a dino
saurootaxonandseventypesofMesozoicmammals,
alizardandatypeoffish.
InGalveMaestrazgoEuropeanandGlobalGeopark
member there is a clay quarry. Palaeontologists
fromDinpoliskeepcontrolofthequarrysince2008.
As a result of the weekly preventive palaeontological
monitoring,andtheconsequentexcavations,wehave
foundasitewithanunusualgroupofarticulatedand
associatedjuveniledinosaurswhicharerelatedtothe
smallsized ornithopod genus Hypsilophodon, in a
LowerBarremian layer of the Camarillas Formation.
After a preliminary analysis, the morphologies of the
deltopectoral crest of the humerus, the fourth tro
chanter of the femur and of the prepubis separate it
from the species Hysilophodon foxiis. Hypsilophodon
tid fossilshavealreadybeencitedinGalve:cf.Hypsi
lophodon sp., Hypsilophodontidae indet., H. foxii and
a new unnamed genus of Galve hypsilophodontid.
The material recovereduntil now includesmore than
500skeletal(cranialaswellaspostcranial)remainsof
severalindividuals,whichcouldhavebeengroupedby
a fluvial current or, as it happened with other small
sizedornithopods,theycouldrepresentthefossilised
remainsofabreedingplace.
Acknowledgements: Dep. Educacin (projects 003/
2011,001/02.024)andDep.Ciencia(GobiernodeAra
gn),MinisterioCienciaeInnovacinandFEDERfunds
(Project DINOSARAGN CGL200907792), Ministerio
Educacin (AP200800846), Grupo Investigacin Con
solidado FOCONTUR (E62), IAF and WBB, the mining
CooperatinginGalve.
Functionalmorphologyandpalaeohabitat
predictions:acasestudyofPlioPleistocene
endemicbovidsfromSardinia
Rozzi,R.1,Palombo,M.R.1
51
References
DeGusta,D.,Vrba,E.2005.Methodsforinferring
paleohabitatsfromthefunctionalmorphologyof
bovidpostcranialskeleton.JournalofArchaeological
Science,32:11151123.
Kappelmann,J.1988.Morphologyandlocomotor
adaptationsofthebovidfemurinrelationtohabitat.
JournalofMorphology,198:119130.
Klein,R.G.,Franciscus,R.G.,Steele,T.E.2010.
Morphometricidentificationofbovidmetapodialsto
genusandimplicationsfortaxonfreehabitat
reconstruction.JournalofArchaeologicalScience,37:
389401.
Palombo,M.R.2009.Biochronology,
paleobiogeographyandfaunalturnoverinwestern
MediterraneanCenozoicmammals.Integrative
Zoology,4:367386.
DipartimentodiScienzedellaTerra,UniversitdegliStudi
diRomaLaSapienza,P.leAldoMoro5,00185Roma,Italy;
roberto.rozzi84@gmail.com,
mariarita.palombo@uniroma1.it
Avarietyofmethodshavebeendevelopedtousebo
vidpostcranialelementsinthefunctionalmorphology
approachtopalaeohabitatprediction(e.g.Kappelman,
1988;DegustaandVrba,2005;Kleinetal.,2010).This
studyrepresentsafirstattemptattestingsuchmeth
odsoninsularfossilbovids,focusingontheEarlyPleis
tocene Sardinian specimens assigned to the socalled
Nesogoral group, which includes at least three dif
ferent morphotypes (Palombo, 2009). The peculiarity
ofthesetaxa,similarinbodysizeandshowingacom
bination of Caprini and nonCaprini features,
makes the attempt to clarify their taxonomic identity
and phylogenetic relationships undoubtedly challeng
ing.MeasurementsofSardinianpostcranialspecimens
(femur,astragalus,proximal,intermediate,andtermi
nal phalanges) were processed in comparison with
thoseofthemainextantgroupsofBovidae(including
theenlargedtribeCaprini)topredicthabitatprefer
ence category (Forest, Heavy Cover, Light Cover,
Open),bodyweightandtaxonomicaffiliations.Aprin
cipal component analysis (PCA) has been carried out
tofurtherinvestigatethestructureofthedata.Results
obtained, on the one hand,stress the difficulty of in
ferring palaeohabitats of fossil bovids from the func
tional morphology of their bones (also in extant bo
vids,theassignmentofataxontoaparticularcategory
isatmostabestfitdesignationbecauseanumberof
bovid taxa range over several habitat types), and on
theotherhandsuggestthatthemajorityofSardinian
bovidswereForesttoLightCoverdwellers,albeitthey
developed peculiar features compared to the living
taxa.
OligocenetoEarlyMioceneevolutionof
largeterrestrialhoofedmammalsin
WesternEurope
Scherler,L.1,2,Mennecart,B.1,Becker,D.2,
Berger,J.P.1
1
DepartmentofGeosciences,InstituteofGeology,
UniversityofFribourg,Fribourg,Switzerland;
laureline.scherler@unifr.ch
2
OCCSAP,PALA16,HteldesHalles,Porrentruy,
Switzerland
Western Europe was affected by important climatic

andenvironmentalchangesbetweentheLateEocene
andMiddleMiocene(3415Ma).Thebestknownfau
nalinterchangesare:1)theGrandeCoupureatthe
Eocene Oligocene boundary, and 2) the Proboscid
ean DatumEvent in theMiddle Miocene. The Oligo
ceneisconsideredbymanyasaquietperiod,without
major faunal turnovers. However, the study of Euro
pean large terrestrial mammals (such as Rhinocero
toidea, Tapiridae, Anthracotheriidae, Suoidea, or Ru
minantia)highlightedmanyevents,atleastwithinthe
herbivores.ThemidRupelianFaunalTurnover(RFT,
Scherler in progress) occurred in MP23 (Early Oligo
cene).Itischaracterizedmainlyby1)speciations,e.g.
theappearanceofElomeryxborbonicus,Ronzotherium
romani, and 2) extinctions, e.g. Elomeryx crispus cris
pus, Anthracotherium monsvialense. This event coin
cided with the Oi2 glaciation of Antarctica (30.3 Ma;
Pekar et al., 2006). During the Chattian, a succession
of specific extinctions (e.g. Anthracotherium hip
poideum, Eggysodon gaudryi), speciations (e.g. An
thracotherium magnum, Protapirus bavaricus), and
52
emergences(e.g.Doliochoerusquercyi,Microbunodon
minimum) occurred: six events could be recognized
fromMP26toMP30/MN1(EuropeanTerminalOligo
cene Faunal Events, ETOFE 1 to 6; Scherler in pro
gress). These turnovers began along with the Late
Oligocene Warming (MP2628; 27.624.0 Ma;
VianeyLiaud, 1991) and coincided mostly with major
glaciationsofAntarctica.
References
Pekar,S.F.,DeConto,R.M.,Hardwood,D.M.2006.
ResolvingalateOligoceneconundrum:deepsea
warmingandAntarcticglaciation.Palaeogeography,
Palaeoclimatology,Palaeoecology,231:2940.
Scherler,L.inprogress.Terrestrialpaleoecosystemsof
largemammals(Tapiridae,Anthracotheriidae,
Suoidea)fromtheEarlyOligocenetotheEarly
MioceneintheSwissMolasseBasin:biostratigraphy,
biogeochemistry,paleogeographyandpaleoecology.
PhDThesis,UniversityofFribourg(Switzerland),
c.221pp.
VianeyLiaud,M.1991.LesrongeursdelEocne
terminaletdelOligocnedEuropecomme
indicateursdeleurenvironnement.Palaeogeography,
Palaeoclimatology,Palaeoecology,84:1528.
pothesisisinconsistentwiththelateontogeneticstate
ofsomeofthesmallbonesassuggestedbytheirmor
phology(Brinkman,1988).
Histologic analysis of newly excavated material from
the Briar Creek Bone Bed (Nocona Formation, Artin
skian), procured over two field seasons, has resolved
someofthesediscretions.D.nataliscorticalbonecon
sistsofprominentlamellarzonalbone,themedullary
regionisinfilledwithcancellousbone.Analysisofthe
juvenile femora revealed no visible growth cycles in
the cortex, bones of intermediate size contain two
growth marks, and the largest specimens show up to
four growth cycles, ending in a welldeveloped exter
nalfundamentalsystem.Radialcanalsandosteocytes
are denser in the juvenile specimens, suggesting a
highergrowthrate.Largeerosionalcavitiesinthepe
riosteumandsecondarycancellousboneareabundant
intheintermediatehumeri.Thelongbonehistologyof
D.natalisthussuggeststhatitisnotthejuvenileofa
larger species, and most likely a valid taxon. The his
tologicdataiscomplementedbyaregressionanalysis
of the minimal circumference of the diaphysis of
femoraandhumeriasafunctionoftheirlength.Vali
dation of the other Dimetrodon species is underway
butstillunresolvedatthistime.
References
Utilizingmorphometricsandhistologyof
appendicularskeletalelementsto
determinewhatDimetrodonspeciesare
presentintheBriarCreekBoneBed(Lower
Permian,ArcherCounty,Texas)
Shelton,C.1,Stein,K.1,Sander,M.1
1
UniversityofBonn,SteinmannInstitut,Bonn,Germany;
cshelton@unibonn.de,koen.stein@unibonn.de,
martin.sander@unibonn.de
The Lower Permian of western Archer County(Texas,

USA) is one of the richest sources of Dimetrodon
bones.Basedonsize,asmall(D.natalis),aninterme
diate(D.booneorum),andalargespecies(D.limbatus)
havebeendescribedfromanumberoflocalitiesofthe
sameage(RomerandPrice,1940).Alternatively,ithas
beenproposedthatthesetraditionallyrecognizedtaxa
perhaps represent an ontogenetic series of a single
species(Bakker,1982).Thishypothesiswasbasedona
regression analysis of the distal epiphysis width as a
function of humerus length. The ontogenetic series
hypothesis, coupled with environmental interpreta
tionsofthesites,ledtothesuggestion(Bakker,1982)
thatadultsandjuvenilesofDimetrodonpreferreddif
ferent habitats. However, the ontogenetic series hy
Romer,A.S.,Price,L.W.1940.Reviewofthe
Pelycosaurs.GeologicalSocietyofAmericaSpecial
Papers,28:1538.
Bakker,R.T.1982.Juvenileadulthabitatshiftin
Permianfossilreptilesandamphibians.Science,217:
5355.
Brinkman,D.1988.Sizeindependentcriteriafor
estimatingrelativeageinOphiacodonandDimetrodon
(Reptilia,Pelycosauria)fromtheAdmiralandLower
BellePlainsformationsofWestcentralTexas.Journal
ofVertebratePaleontology,8(2):172180.
Bonemicrostructuralrequirementsatlarge
sizeandfibrolamellarboneconvergence
Stein,K.1
1
SteinmannInstitutfrGeologie,Mineralogieund
Palontologie,Bonn,Germany;koen.stein@unibonn.de
Evolutionofvascularorganisationofsauropodomorph
bone histology is correlated with body size increase.
SmallbasalsauropodomorphslikeSaturnaliaandThe
codontosaurus retain mostly longitudinal vascular ca
nals. Larger sauropodomorphs like Plateosaurus and
Massospondylushavemorecircumferentiallyoriented
vascular canals, whereas sauropods have completely

circumferentiallyorientedbloodvesselsinanarchitec
ture called laminar bone. The becoming of the blood
vessel architecture as more laminar with increasing
body size is most likely explained by a tradeoff be
tween growth rate and biomechanical requirements.
DeMargerieetal.(2004)suggestedthatlaminarbone
deposition is more energy demanding than longitudi
nal or radial bone, but much more stable because of
stress and strain dissipation along the circumferen
tially oriented bone laminae. They studied the bone
histology of the king penguin, and found more pa
thologies in radial bone, which isdeposited more en
ergy efficient. A similar trend of increasing laminarity
withbodysizeisobservedinmammals.Mammalsand
dinosaurs have identical cortical bone tissues, called
fibrolamellar bone, a composite tissue of woven and
lamellar bone, suggestive of rapid growth. However,
parsimony suggests these tissues evolved conver
gently in both lineages. Osteocyte lacunae density of
several dinosaur and mammal taxa confirms this.
Moreover, high lacunae densities in saurischian dino
saurs compared with low lacunae densities in ecto
thermicpoikilothermssuggestsaurischianshadasus
tainedhighmetabolicactivity.
References
Margerie,E.de,Robin,J.P.,Verrier,D.,Cubo,J.,
Groscolas,R.,Castanet,J.2004.Assessinga
relationshipbetweenbonemicrostructureandgrowth
rate:afluorescentlabellingstudyinthekingpenguin
chick(Aptenodytespatagonicus).Journalof
ExperimentalBiology,207:869879.
53
posedblockincludingtheskullandanteriorpartofthe
body,belongstoCyclurussp.Itsproximitytoclurus
orientalis(ChangMeeman,WangNing,WuFeiXiang,
2010) from the EarlyMiddle Eocene of China seems
plausible.ItisthefirstamiidfindfromthePaleogene
of Primorye. During the Eocene the genus Cyclurus
was widely distributed around the Holarctic. In par
ticular,itsAsiaticrecordincludesnumerousfindsfrom
Eastern Kazakhstan, Southern and Inner Mongolia,
supplemented more recently by the material from
SouthernChina.
The teleost fossils from the Bikin locality include a
numberofcomplete(ornearlyso)skeletonsbelonging
to a new cyprinid genus. In all, the above reported
data extend previous knowledge of the Paleogene
freshwaterichthyofaunaofPrimorye.Sofar,thelatter
was known to embrace the catostomids (Eocene
Oligocene),salmonidsandcyprinids(bothfromOligo
cene).
ThefirstdiscoglossidfrogfromtheLate
Cretaceous(Santonian)ofHungary(Iharkt,
BakonyMountains)
Szentesi,Z.1,Venczel,M.2
1
DepartmentofPaleontology,EtvsUniversity,Budapest,
Hungary;crocutaster@gmail.com
2
riiCriurilorMuseum,Oradea,Romania;
mvenczel@gmail.com
In the western part of the Nizhnebikinskaya Depres

sion (Northern Primorye), the skeletal remains of
freshwater fishes have been discovered in the silty
sandbasallayeroftheEoceneEarlyOligocenesedi
ments. The fossilbearing unit crops out on the left
bank of the Bikin River. Close to fish locality, some
plant remains, presumably of Early Eocene age, have
beencollected.Thefishassemblageincludesanamiid
andacyprinid.
The Late Cretaceous (Santonian) assemblage of

Iharkt (Hungary) originates from fluvial and flood
plainterrestrialdepositswhichyieldedalargeamount
ofvertebratefossilsincludingrelativelywellpreserved
bones of amphibians. For the extraction of microver
tebrate remains the socalled paraffine wax method
was improved. The first discovered frog from this lo
cality was Hungarobatrachus szukacsi Szentesi et
Venczel, probably a member of the primarily Gond
wanan distributed Neobatrachia. The new records
putatively belong to the family Discoglossidae, based
onthedistinctiveilium,andarememberofLaurasian
distributed Discoglossinae representing Archeo
batrachia.Thereferredmaterialincludesamaxilla,an
angulosplenial and a scapula, reminiscent of dis
coglossine frogs. The Iharkutian discoglossid differs
from other discoglossine frogs by its distinctive ilium
provided with a thickened and dorsolaterally de
pressed protuberance of the ilium, in combination
with a relatively high iliac crest and a ventrally less
widenedilioischiadicjunction.
The amiid specimen, which displays a ventrally ex
ThepalaeogeographiccircumstancesoftheIharktre
Thenewlocalityoffreshwaterfishesfrom
theEoceneofNorthernPrimorye(Russian
FarEast)
Sytchevskaya,E.1
1
PaleontologicalInstitute,RussianAcademyofSciences,
Moscow;eks@paleo.ru
54
gion,aspartoftheAdriaticmicroplate,showthatthe
autochthonus lissamphibian fauna, primarily consist
ing of albanerpetontids and discoglossids, was en
richedduringtheSantonianbynewGondwanancom
ponents representing Neobatrachia. The majority of
vertebrate taxa known from the locality are of Eu
roamericanaffinities.However,someotherunearthed
remains may belong to Gondwanarelated taxa (e.g.
bothremydid turtles, sebesuchian crocodilians, abeli
saurids), whereas others may represent endemic
forms.
Ontheneedofsystematicprotection,study,
conservationandmanagement,oftheGreek
palaeontologicaltreasures:Proposalforthe
establishmentoftheNationalNatural
HistoryMuseumatPikermi,Attica
Theodorou,G.E.1
1
UniversityofAthens,DepartmentofGeology,Zografou,
Greece;gtheodor@geol.uoa.gr
Greecehostshundredsoffossilrichlocalities.Manyof
themwillwaitforseveralyearsforapalaeontological
excavation,iftheymanagetobesalvaged.Forthelast
two decades there has been a slow but steady pro
gress on the conservation and management of some
of them via the design and operation of several local
museums. The first related Greek Law was voted in
1932withrespecttotheprotectionofthefossilverte
brates.Fiftyyearswentbyforthefirstactualgovern
ment actions (by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs
YPPO), dating 1984, that regarded the protection of
thewiderexcavationareaofPikermiandayearlater
for the protection of the fossilized forest of Lesvos.
Fromavailablerecordstheoldestrelevanttexttosup
port the protection of a palaeontological location
datesbackto1901forPikermi,butitseemsthat110
years were not adequate for the implementation of
crucial development steps. The existing small, local
museums that were created with tremendous efforts
face the daily danger of closure since the current
Greek legislation Kallikratis is not very suitable
evenprohibitingforanypositivemeasures.
What should be done then? We must progress sys
tematicallybeyondthenecessaryscientificsteps
towardsthewiderknowledgedispersiontotheminis
triesandlocalauthorities.Itisnotenoughtolimitour
actions in publications in international scientific jour
nalsnotaccessibletothe99.999%ofthepublic
andcounttheamountofcitationsofourworkinthe
US, China or the Netherlands. This is certainly neces
saryforthescientificcommunity,butitisnotenough.
Our questioning should be how many Europeans had
thechancetoseeanexhibitionofuniquefindings.The
state should create and operate a significant amount
of palaeontological sites or museums, spread all over
Greeceandanadequatenumberofworkingpositions.
Palaeontology teaching candidates in universities
should have to prove that they have worked for this,
as well. This could have as a result the creation of a
criticalmassofvertebratepalaeontologists,capableof
workingonthisnaturaltreasure,beforeitistoolate.
Thesensitizationofthepublicwillhavetostartatthe
primaryandsecondaryeducationalstepsandbecom
pletedwiththefoundingandoperationofseverallo
cal museums or exhibitions as appendices of a Na
tional Natural History Museum, located at Pikermi,
nexttotheworldknownexcavationsitesimplement
ingoutdoorcovertsfortheprotectionoffossilsinsitu.
It is actually sad that the kids in our schools do not
learnanythingaboutpalaeontologynorvisitpalaeon
tologicalsitesorexhibitionsofnaturalheritage.Many
ofushavemadesignificantstepswithseveralongoing
projectssupportedbyNKUASARG:TilosIsland,Achil
lio (Magnesia), Kerassia (Euboea), Poros, Rethymnon
(Crete),Pikermi(Attica),LesbosIsland,Cyprusetc.,but
unfortunatelythisisnotenough.Theseprojectscreate
several research options and training possibilities for
graduate and postgraduate students of geology, biol
ogy, museology and environmental archaeology and
ontheotherhandaimatthesensitizationofthegen
eralpublic,butdefinitelycannotbeconsideredafinal
solution. Areas such as Megalopolis, the wider Re
thymno region, Halmyropotamos and Kymi are in
cludedamongourfuturegoals.
Lets have a look at Polledrara di Cecanibbio, the
coalmines of Sztolnia Krolowa Luiza in Poland, the
coalminesofCarboniainSardinia,theMammothSite
inSouthDakotaandcomparethemtoequivalentgeo
logicalGreeksites.Thiswillallowustoseethatinan
era of financial crisis, in a country with more than
15,000,000 visitors per year, we have a precious hid
den unexplored treasure, which scientific and eco
nomic value could have a crucial role in the develop
ment of our country. Shouldnt we then just simply
movealltogetherandaimatproperknowledgedistri
bution towards the general public and the officers at
thedecisioncenters?
Newdiscoveriesofvertebratesfromthe
UpperCampanianlocalityofJasNeufSud
(Var,SoutheasternFrance)
Tortosa,T.1,2,Dutour,Y.1,Buffetaut,E.2,Cojan,I.3,
Cheylan,G.1
1
MuseumdHistoireNaturelledAixenProvence,Htel
BoyerdEguilles,AixenProvence,France;
thierry.tortosa@wanadoo.fr,geologie_aix@yahoo.fr,
g.a.cheylan@wanadoo.fr
2
UMR8538LaboratoiredeGologiedelEcoleNormale
Suprieure,Paris,France;
thierry.tortosa@wanadoo.fr,eric.buffetaut@sfr.fr
3
MinesParisTechCentredeGosciences,Fontainebleau,
France;isabelle.cojan@minesparistech.fr
ThelocalityofJasNeufSud(Var,VarandBouchesdu
Rhne, Southeastern France) is one of the most re
markablefossillocalitiesintheProvenceforitsdiver
sity of preserved taxa (dinosaurs, pterosaurs, croco
dilians, chelonians, fishes), the quantity of fossils
(more than 450 specimens were collected) and the
qualityofthepreservation.Thesitewasdiscoveredin
2006 during the course of works undertaken to open
newlanesalongtheA8highwayeastofthecityofAix
enProvence. Excavations in this site were conducted
bytheMuseumofNaturalHistoryofAixenProvence,
funded by highway company ESCOTA in 2006 and
2007andhavebeenresumedsinceSeptember2010.
The new campaign has provided a large amount of
newdataonpoorlyknownlocaltaxa,especiallydino
saurs,crocodiliansandchelonians.Themostinterest
ingdinosaurremainsincludeaseriesoftitanosaurver
tebraeinanatomicalconnection(fromthelastcervical
vertebrae to the middle dorsals) and several teeth of
titanosaurs and abelisaurs. The site is also known for
itsrichnessincrocodilianremains(attributedtoIschy
rochampsa and Musturzabalsuchus). The discovery of
several partial and complete dentaries indicates the
presenceofathirdandnewtaxon.Finally,thelocality
provides new information on a probable solemydid
turtle after the discovery of an ornamented partial
carapace found associated with a humerus. Another
interesting feature of this locality is the sedimen
tological context. The vertebratebearing sandstone
beds are the result of crisscrossed meandering chan
nel deposits. A study of the content of each unit de
posit (channel) allows a better understanding of the
evolution of vertebrate populations over relatively
shortgeologicaltimespans,whichhasneverbeenob
servedelsewhereintheProvence.
55
TheMiddlePleistocenedeeroftheKatharo
basin(Crete,Greece)anditsimportancefor
abetterunderstandingoftheevolutionary
historyoftheinsularfaunaofCrete
VanderGeer,A.A.E.1,Iliopoulos,G.2,3,Lyras,G.A.1
DeVos,J.1
1
Netherlands;geeraae@geol.uoa.gr
2
DepartmentofGeology,UniversityofPatras,Greece;
3
Within the Pleistocene sediments of Katharo basin

sites with fossil hippos have been discovered (Fig. 1).
Absolutedates(AARandESR)forhippopotamusmolar
fragments from Katharo range between 850,000 and
375,000 years ago (Reese et al., 1996), which means
thatthedepositisofMiddlePleistoceneage.Although
the majority of the fossils from Katharo belong to
dwarfhippopotamuses(Hippopotamuscreutzburgi),a
few fossils of a dwarf elephant (Elephas antiquus
creutzburgi) and of an unnamed dwarf Megaloceros
havebeenreportedaswell(Dermitzakisetal.,2007).
The presence of three large herbivores on the island
might explain why the Cretan hippopotamus did not
becomeassmallastheCypriothippo(Phanouriosmi
nor)did.Partoftheecologicalnichesthatcouldbepo
tentially taken by hippopotamuses were occupied by
deerandelephants.Sincetheecologicalreleasefrom
competitorswassmalleronCretethanonCyprusthe
Cretan hippopotamus did not become as small as on
Cyprus.
Figure1.FossilsiteswithPleistocenemammals
onKatharobasin
References
Dermitzakis,M.,Iliopoulos,G.,VanderGeer,A.,Lyras,
G.2007.TheRiseandFalloftheCretandeer.XVII
INQUACongress,July28August32007,Cairns,
Australia.QuaternaryInternational,Abstracts:672.
56
Reese,D.S.,Belluomini,G.,Ikeya,M.,1996.Absolute
datesforthePleistocenefaunaofCrete.In:Reese,
D.S.(ed.),PleistoceneandHolocenefaunaofCreteand
itsfirstsettlers.MonographsinWorldArchaeology,
28:4751.
MicromammalianinhabitantsoftheLesvos
PetrifiedForest(Greece)
NewdataonthelateMioceneearly
Pliocenemicromammalianlocalityof
Kessani(Thrace,Greece)
TheLesvosPetrifiedForest(Lesvos,Greece)isaworld
famousnaturalmonument,comprisingofhundredsof
treetrunks,fossilisedinsituaftertheircoveringbypy
roclastic material and mudflows, following volcanic
eruptions. Fossilised trunks, roots, branches and
cones, as well as leaf prints, are found across the
westernpartoftheislandandontheseabottom,rep
resenting large subtropical forests that covered the
Aegeislandmass2117millionyearsago.Eventhough
thepalaeofloraoftheareahasbeenknownandstud
ied for centuries, the animals inhabiting the forest
have only recently started appearing. In 1999, the
lower cheek teeth of the proboscidean Prodeinothe
rium bavaricum were found in lake sediments within
thePetrifiedForest(Koufosetal.,2003),representing
oneofthefirstproboscideansinEurope.
Vasileiadou,K.1,Konidaris,G.2,Koufos,G.D.2
1
NaturalHistoryMuseumoftheLesvosPetrifiedForest,
Mytilene,Lesvos,Greece;k.vasileiadou@geo.aegean.gr
2
AristotleUniversityofThessaloniki,GeologyDept.,
LaboratoryofGeologyandPalaeontology,Thessaloniki,
Greece;georgeko@geo.auth.gr,koufos@geo.auth.gr
A micromammalian fauna recovered about fifteen

yearsagofromanargillaceousbedonthesouthwest
ern coast of Lake Vistonis (Xanthi Komotini Basin,
Thrace,NEGreece)andpartiallydeterminedinSyrides
et al. (1997) has been thoroughly reexamined. The
small but rather diverse (in terms of rodents) collec
tion of isolated teeth (NISP = 111) has revealed the
presence of Asoriculus gibberodon, Deinsdorfia kerk
hoffi, Soricidae indet., Prolagus michauxi, Leporidae
indet., Pliopetaurista dehneli, Myomimus maritsensis,
cf. Arvicanthis sp., Occitanomys adroveri, Apodemus
gorafensis, Apodemus dominans, Rhagapodemus pri
maevus, Micromys steffensi, Mesocricetus primitivus,
Pliospalax sp. and Pseudomeriones cf. rhodius. The
compositionofthefaunaanditscomparisonswiththe
Turolian and Ruscinian micromammalian faunas from
Greece suggest a late Turolian early Ruscinian
(MN13 MN14)age.
Thetaxafavourableofdryconditionsrepresent51.2%
in the total MNI (21 of 41 individuals), those favour
able of wet conditions only 24.4% (10 of 41 individu
als). In addition, the presence of Arvicanthis, a rat of
African origin, indicates a rather arid palaeoenviron
ment. In this dry land, the presence of a small water
spot is indicated by the presence of three (maybe
four)soricidspeciesandMicromys,whereasthepres
enceofPliopetauristadehneliverifiesthepresenceof
trees.
References
Syrides,G.,Koliadimou,K.,Koufos,G.1997.New
Neogenemolluscanandmammaliansitesfrom
Thrace,Greece.ComptesRendusdelAcadmiedes
SciencesParis,324(2):427433.
Vasileiadou,K.1,Zouros,N.1
1
Mytilene,Lesvos,Greece;
k.vasileiadou@geo.aegean.gr,nzour@aegean.gr
Since 2007, efforts have been made to find Neogene

lake sediments that can beprocessed formicromam
mals.Despitethestrongsilicificationofthesediments
inthearea,alayeroforganicrichclayswaslocatedin
the Gavathas Lapsarna basin, which revealed fossil
lakegastropods,isolatedfreshwaterfishotolithsand
pharyngealteeth,smallreptileteeth,smalllizardden
taries, and micromammalian teeth and bones. A spe
cies of Eumyarion, a species of Democricetodon and
thegliridGlirulusdiremptushavebeenuntilnowiden
tified. All three have been found in Greece in the lo
calities Aliveri and Karydia, both correlated with the
EuropeanmammalzoneMN4(Koufos,2006).Thenew
locality in Lesvos is also correlated with MN4 and its
furtherstudywillgiveinformationonthegeographical
distribution and migrations of Asian micromammals
intoEurope,aswellasonanaccuratereconstruction
ofthesubtropicalforestsofthearea.
References
Greece:Faunas,chronologyandbiostratigraphy.
Koufos,G.D.,Zouros,N.,Mourouzidou,O.2003.
Prodeinotheriumbavaricum(Proboscidea,Mammalia)
fromLesvosisland,Greece:theappearanceof
deinotheresintheeasternMediterranean.Geobios,
36:305315.
VertebratefossilsinGeoparks:atoolforthe
promotionofresponsibletourismandthe
economicdevelopmentofruralareas
Vasileiadou,K.1,Zouros,N.1,2,Fassoulas,C.3,4,
Iliopoulos,G.4,5
1
LesvosPetrifiedForestGeopark,Mytilene,Lesvos,Greece;
k.vasileiadou@geo.aegean.gr
2
UniversityoftheAegean,GeographyDepartment,
Mytilene,Lesvos,Greece;nzour@aegean.gr
3
PsiloritisGeopark,NaturalHistoryMuseumofCrete,
UniversityofCrete,Heraklion,Crete,Greece;
fassoulas@nhmc.uoc.gr
4
5
UniversityofPatras,GeologyDepartment,Patras,Greece;
Palaeontologyisapopularscienceandtheremainsof
extinctorganisms,mainlyofvertebrates,impresspeo
pleandespeciallychildren.Eveninancienttimes,the
remains of unknown creatures attracted much atten
tionandattemptsbyancientpeopletoexplaintheoc
currenceoforganicremainsinrocksandsuchstories
canbefoundinthemythologicalstoriesoftheancient
Greeksandothercivilizations.
But how can researchers explain the importance of
vertebrateremains,includingthoseofextinctanimals,
tothepublic?Howcanthescientificcommunityinter
pret the occurrence of fossils and communicate their
use in reconstructing the history of our planet? And
how can scientific knowledge that has been accumu
lated for centuries be used in favour of our modern
society?Suchissuesareexaminedandresolvedines
tablishedGeoparks,ruralareasofgreatscientific,en
vironmental,educationalimportance,engagedmainly
in the interpretation of scientific knowledge to locals
and visitors, through the use of various educational
tools.
Established in 2000, the European Geoparks Network
(EGN) aims to protect geodiversity, to promote geo
logical heritage to the general public, and to support
sustainableeconomicdevelopmentofgeoparkterrito
ries, mainly through the development of geological
tourism. Thenetwork consists of 43 territories (Octo
ber2010),avastmajorityofwhichincludevertebrate
fossil sites in their inventories. The Lesvos Petrified
ForestandPsiloritisGeoparksinGreece,theMaestraz
go Geopark in Spain, the BergstraeOdenwald and
TerraVita Geoparks in Germany, the Rserve Golo
gique de Haute Provence and Luberon Geoparks in
France, the Haeg Country Dinosaurs Geopark in Ro
mania are only some examples of vertebrate fossil
promotionanduseforthesustainabledevelopmentof
theregionsfromwhichtheyoriginate.
57
Communicatingpastmammalian
biodiversity:Fromthedeinothereofthe
LesvosPetrifiedForesttotheManofthe
PetralonaCave,atemporaryexhibitionin
theNaturalHistoryMuseumoftheLesvos
PetrifiedForest
Vasileiadou,K.1,Zouros,N.1,2,Tsoukala,E.3,
Kostopoulos,D.S.3,Iliopoulos,G.4
1
Mytilene,Lesvos,Greece;k.vasileiadou@geo.aegean.gr
2
UniversityoftheAegean,GeographyDepartment,
Mytilene,Lesvos,Greece;nzour@aegean.gr
3
AristotleUniversityofThessaloniki,GeologyDepartment,
LaboratoryofGeologyandPalaeontology,Thessaloniki,
Greece;lilits@geo.auth.gr,dkostop@geo.auth.gr
4
UniversityofPatras,GeologyDepartment,Patras,Greece;
Aiming to demonstrate past biodiversity in the Ae

gean, in the frames of the celebration of 2010 In
ternational Year of Biodiversity, the Natural History
Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest designed the
temporary exhibition Fossils of the Aegean Mam
mal Biodiversity: from the Deinothere of the Lesvos
Petrified Forest to the Man of the Petralona Cave,
complemented by educational programs for children
of all ages. Fossils of forty mammals that lived in the
Aegeanareaduringthepast23millionyearsarepre
sented,belongingtotheMuseumofGeologyandPa
laeontology (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), the
NaturalHistoryMuseumofCrete,theNaturalHistory
MuseumofMilia(NWGreece),theRethymnoMunici
pality(Crete)and theNatural History Museum of the
LesvosPetrifiedForest.
Ecosystemsthatcoveredsuccessivelytheareaprovid
ingnichetotheanimalsondisplayarereconstructed.
Posters interpret information about each fossil, illus
tratetheanimalanddescribeitshabits.Diversetooth
and bone morphologies of the four main mammalian
orders (carnivores, perissodactyls, artiodactyls, pro
boscideans) are interpreted, explaining links between
animals anatomy and lifestyle, as well as adaptation
mechanismstoaconstantlychangingenvironment.
Feedback suggests that the design of the exhibition
and the educational programs is engaging and effec
tive.Thissuccessistranslatedinlargenumbersofvisi
tors since its opening on the 17th July 2010: 17,000
people and 500 pupils and teachers from twelve
schools have visited the exhibition. Even though the
exhibitionwasoriginallyduetolastforeightmonths,
tillMarch2011,itssuccesshasledtoitsextensionfor
sixmoremonths,tillSeptember2011.
58
Lifestyleandlifehistoryofrecentandfossil
EurasianCenozoicgiantsalamanders
(Cryptobranchidae;Amphibia)
Ontheevolutionandsystematicsofthe
tribeMegacerini(Artiodactyla,Cervidae)
Vasilyan,D.1,2,Bhme,M.1
SenckenbergCenterforHumanEvolutionand
Palaeoecology(HEP),InstituteforGeosciences,University
Tuebingen,Tuebingen,Germany;davit.vasilyan@ifg.uni
tuebingen.de,madelaine.boehme@ifg.unituebingen.de
2
InstituteofZoology,NationalAcademyofSciencesof
RepublicofArmenia,Yerevan,Armenia
Cryptobranchidsrepresentacladeofthelargestliving,
crowngroup salamanders that can reach up to two
metres in total length. The three recent giant sala
mander species are distributed in North America
(Cryptobranchus) and in East Asia (Andrias). In the
EurasianfossilrecordtheyareknownsincethePaleo
gene with several genera (Aviturus, Zaissanurus, An
drias,andanewgenusfromtheMioceneofUkraine).
Therecentcryptobranchidshaveastrictlyaquaticlife
styleandareconfinedtoclear,welloxygenated,cold
mountainstreamsandrivers.Allthreerecentspecies
have incomplete metamorphosis and paedomorphic
characteristics.C.alleganiensisisthemostneotenic
amonglivingspecieswiththepresenceofinternalgill
andgillslits,whereastheseareabsentinAndrias.
In our analysis, we studied all fossil Cenozoic crypto
branchids from Eurasia. Their mode of lifestyle, life
history, as well as the environmentof larval develop
ment and feeding types was inferred based on oste
ological characters (e.g. pattern and position of vo
merinedentition).OurresultssuggestthatAviturusis
a metamorphic, terrestrial/semiaquatic? salamander
withlarvaldevelopmentinpondsandhasaterrestrial
feedingtype(protraction).ZaissanurusandAndriason
the other hand are nonmetamorphic, aquatic sala
manders with larval development in streams/rivers
and feed by suction and prehension (aquatic feeding
type).TheterrestriallifestyleofAviturusisfurthercor
roboratedbystronglyossifiedandcompactskullbone
tissue, relatively long extremities (hind limbs) and a
welldevelopedolfactoryregionofthebraincase.The
absence of ossified ceratohyals in hyobranchial skele
tonofAndriasscheuchzeriindicatesthelackofgillslits
andinternalgills,similartorecentAndriasspeciesand
contrarytorecentCryptobranchus.
Vislobokova,I.1
PaleontologicalInstitute,RussianAcademyofSciences,
Moscow,Russia;ivisl@paleo.ru
Megacerine deer (tribe Megacerini, subfamily Cervi

nae) existed in Eurasia from the Late Miocene up to
the Holocene. The origin and relationships of the
group are widely debated particularly because of the
contradictive results of molecular biology. The sys
tematics and phylogeny of megacerines were based
mainly on the antler structure. According to various
authors, the group comprised from one to twelve
generaandwasdividedatleastintotwomainPleisto
cenelineages(MegalocerosgiganteusandPraemega
cerosverticornis).
The revision of the systematics and phylogeny based
on the study of the skull, dentition and limbbones
confirms the high diversity of the group. Ten genera
(Megaloceros,Megaceroides,Praemegaceros,Praeda
ma, Sinomegaceros, Arvernoceros, Neomegaloceros,
Candiacervus, Orchonoceros, and Praesinomegaceros)
are included in its composition, and three main line
ages (Praesinomegaceros Sinomegaceros, Orchono
ceros Praemegaceros, andArvernoceros Megaloce
ros)aretraced.
ThedataonmegacerinesfromCentralEurasiaandthe
finding of the most ancient representative of Praesi
nomegaceros in the Late Miocene of Eastern Siberia
(TaralykCher locality in Tuva) gave valuable informa
tion for the reconstruction of megacerine evolution.
The group branched off the Cervidae tree not later
than 7 Ma. The tribe Megacerini originated from the
pliocervine deer Cervavitus and evolved in parallel
with the tribe Cervini (Cervus, Dama, Eucladoceros,
etc.).Theevolutionofthegroupfollowedthestream
ofenvironmentaltransformationsofNorthernEurasia.
Themostessentialbioanddispersaleventscoincided
approximately with the major global climatic and re
gionallandscapeclimaticchanges.
The research was supported by the programs of the
PresidiumoftheRussianAcademyofSciencesBiodi
versity and Origin of Biosphere and Evolution of
Geobiological Systems and by the Russian Founda
tionforBasicResearch(project110400933a).
Newfindsofgianttortoisesfrom
Thessalonikiarea:themostcomplete
CheirogasterBergounioux,1935skeleton
inGreece
Vlachos,E.1,Tsoukala,E.2
1
Geology,Greece;evlacho@geo.auth.gr,lilits@geo.auth.gr
Giant tortoises from the area of Thessaloniki are

known since the beginning of the last century, when
Arambourg and Piveteau (1929) presented material
fromvarioussites(AxiosvalleyandMegaloEmvolon).
Amongthefossilswereapartialskullandvariouslimb
bonesofagianttortoise,attributedlatertocf.Cheiro
gaster sp. (Lapparent de Broin, 2002). More material
from Megalo Emvolon has been described by Bach
mayeretal.(1979).
Allthesespecimensneedtoberevisedunderthelight
ofthediscoveryofnewmaterialinthecoastalareaof
WesternChalkidiki(Macedonia,Greece).Thenewma
terialcomesmainlyfromtwoindividualsfromEpano
mi, the female EPN I and the male EPN II. Especially
EPNI,whichwasdiscoveredin1998,isthemostcom
plete specimen of a giant tortoise found in Greece,
preserving the complete plastron, skull, the largest
part of the postcranial skeleton, carpals, tarsals and
osteoderms. The new material, which preserves the
characters of the genus Cheirogaster Bergounioux,
1935,iscurrentlyunderstudy,butthepreliminaryde
scription (Vlachos, 2011) reveals that it is different
fromalreadystudiedmaterialfromGreece,providing
evidencethatitbelongstoanewspeciesofaPliocene
continentalgianttortoise,measuringupto120cmin
length.
Additionalstudyofthenewspecimensandrevisionof
alreadypublishedmaterialcanprovideawealthofin
formationaboutthesystematicpositionofthegenus
Cheirogaster, the morphology of giant tortoises, sex
ualdimorphismandtheircontributiontotheinterpre
tationofthepalaeoenvironment.
References
Arambourg,C.,Piveteau,J.1929.LesVertbrsdu
PontiendeSalonique.AnnalesdePaleontologie,18:
57139.
Bachmayer,F.,Mlynarski,M.,Symeonidis,N.1979.
FossileSchildkrtenausdemPlioznvonMegalo
Emvolo(Karaburun)beiSaloniki(Griechenland).
AnnalesGologiquesdesPaysHellniques,29:
267276.
LapparentdeBroin,F.de2002.Agianttortoisefrom
theLatePlioceneofLesvosIsland(Greece)andits
59
possiblerelationships.AnnalesGologiquesdesPays
Hellniques,34:99130.
Vlachos,E.2011.Contributiontothestudyofgigantic
tortoisesinstratigraphyandpalaeogeographyofthe
NeogeneofMacedonia,Greece.UnpublishedMaster
thesis,AristotleUniversityofThessaloniki,Schoolof
Geology(inGreekwithEnglishsummary).
DevelopinggeotouristicroutesinNorthern
Greece:acasestudyontheevolutionof
proboscideansbasedonthefossilrecord
Vlachos,E.1,Tsoukala,E.1,Mol,D.2
1
Geology,Greece;evlacho@geo.auth.gr,lilits@geo.auth.gr
2
NaturalHistoryMuseumRotterdam,theNetherlands,and
MuseCrozatier,LePuyenVelay,France;
dickmol@telfort.nl
Geological tourism, or geotourism, mainly focuses

ongeologicalformationsthatinvolvebothformand
process.Palaeontologyoffersgreatopportunitiesfor
high quality geotouristic routes. Up to now, very few
examples of geotourism based on palaeontology are
knowninGreece,oneofthembeingtheLesvosPetri
fiedForestGeopark.
This case study from Northern Greece aims to show
how via guided tours the evolution of proboscideans
canattractthepublicinterestaswellaspromotepa
laeontology and raise awareness on environmental
processes.Proboscideansareanexcellentexamplefor
understanding evolutionary processes based on the
fossilrecord,sincetheirlargefossilsareusuallyeager
to become fossilized and discovered, therefore they
arequitecommoninfossilcollections.Moreovertheir
evolutionismoreorlesswellknownespeciallyunder
thescopeofenvironmentalchanges.Thegeotouristic
route follows a museum network in Macedonia and
couldstartfromtheMuseumoftheGeologySchoolof
theAristotleUniversityofThessaloniki,wherethevisi
tor can be informed about the fossilization processes
and learn about the Pleistocene proboscideans from
Macedonia and the Miocene proboscideans from Ax
iosandSamos.Next,thenewlydevelopedSiatistaPa
laeontological Exhibition (W. Macedonia) offers a de
tailed preview of the evolution of proboscideans via
several scientific reconstructions, focusing on the in
teractionbetweenartistsandscientists.Therecovered
remains of the Kaloneri and Ambelia (W. Macedonia)
straighttusked elephants contribute to the recon
struction of this animal. Pliocene proboscideans are
interpreted in the Milia Palaeontological Exhibition,
60
with the worldfamous fossil record of the mastodon

Mammutborsoni.Returningtothestartingpoint,vis
its to the Ptolemaida Museum and the Perdikkas ele
phantexcavationsitewillofferagreatopportunityto
discover the Pleistocene elephants and to point out
their morphological differences with mastodons. Fi
nally the visitor will learn about elephants of the last
Ice Age, the woolly mammoth and the importanceof
climaticchangesintheMammothMuseum,Oreokas
tro,Thessaloniki.
This geotouristic route enhances touristic develop
mentinruralareas,motivateslocalpeopletocontrib
ute to the scientific research and provides highlevel
interactive education to young people and students.
Finally,thiscasestudyongeotourismcaninspiresimi
lareffortsintheareaofNorthernGreece,sincethere
are many sites of special interest with high potential
for geotoutistic activities (unique landforms and geo
logical formations, hiking trails, karst features, gorges
etc).
Fromsmallpiecestobigdisplays:the
reconstructionofgiantextinctspecies
Walen,A.1
1
Creatures&Features,Rijndijk17a,NL6686MN
Doornenburg,theNetherlands;cxfaartwalen@gmail.com
Although most fossil species remain dry scientific de

scriptionsinpapersonlyknowntoasmallelitegroup
of experts, certain species such as the large verte
brates attract more attention and therefore skeletal
mounts (Fig. 1) and life reconstructions are made
(Lyras,2009).Buildinglifesizereplicasofextinctgiant
animals is both scientifically and technically challeng
ing. In this contribution I explain these challenges by
presentingthebuildingprocessoffourexcitingverte
brates:amammoth(nowonexhibitattheExpoCen
tre Bicentanario Leon, Guadelajara, Mexico), a deino
there (on exhibit at the Natural History Museum of
Crete,Greece)andtwosauropoddinosaurs(onexhibit
atNaturalis,Leiden,theNetherlands,andGunma,Pre
fectoralMuseum,Japan).
Takingscientificstudiestothepublic:
theDinoExposkeletons
Walen,A.1
1
Doornenburg,theNetherlands;cxfaartwalen@gmail.com
TheDinoExpois,asitsnameimplies,anexhibitionon
dinosaurs.ItwasoriginallyinstalledfromMarch2010
till September 2010 at Castelo Branco (Portugal) and
currently is housed at the Leeuwarden Natuur Mu
seum(theNetherlands).Mainpiecesoftheexhibition
are skeletons, eggs and footprints of Mesozoic rep
tiles. The specimens are coming from the United
States,Mongolia,Brazil,Argentina,China,Russia,Ger
manyandPortugal.Themainthemeoftheexhibition
is dinosaurs, but skeletons and life reconstructions of
flyingreptilesandbirdsarepresentedaswell.
Theexhibition,whichisaddressedtothegeneralpub
lic,hasatwofoldaim:(1)topresenttheMesozoicdi
versityand(2)toexplainsomeofthescientificmeth
odsinvolvedintheirdiscoveryandstudy.Thecentral
piece of the Dino Expo is the story of a 17meter
longDiplodocus.Arealexcavationhasbeenrecreated
includingtheoriginalbones,thetoolsthatwereused,
aneducationalvideoandfinallytheskeletonofDiplo
docus itself. The exhibition also includes a dig site,
where children can excavate a lifesize Tarbosaurus
bataarfromtheGobiDesert.
Fig.1.AddingthetailtoaCarnotaurussastrecast.
References
Lyras,G.A.2009.Alookintothefossilworld.In:
Papagrigorakis,M.I,Dermitzaki,K.Doxanaki,T.
Staboliadi,D.(eds),GeologicalandPalaeontological
Heritage:Retrieval,Conservation,Managementand
Display:5559.SummerSchoolProfessional
DevelopmentProgram,PostgraduateCourseof
MuseumStudies.
AnancientsettlementatKaoEgo,
PhetchaburiProvince,Thailand
Wattanapituksakul,A.1,2,Asselin,G.3,Lauprasert,K.1,2,
Srisuk,P.1
1
MahasarakhamUniversity,MahaSarakham,Thailand.
2
University,MahaSarakham,Thailand.
3
PolearchologiquedeMetzMtropole,HarmonyPark,
Metz,France
A recent finding at Kao Ego in Phetchaburi Province,

Central Thailand, has served as a hypothesis for the
migration of prehistoric humans and their settlement
along the Malay Peninsula in the uppermost part of
theHoloceneperiod.Severalcavedepositsadjacentto
the site such as Tham Lek, Tham Men, Tham Nok
Pirab, Tham Rak Sai, and Tham Thamamongkol have
yielded archaeological evidences as well as faunal re
mains suggesting human occupation. In addition, a
number of artifacts were recovered such as flake
tools, pottery sherds, and bone beads. The tools,
based on the flakes from Tham Rak Sai, can be com
paredtothetypeCmethodwhichiscommonfrom
the Pleistocene to the midHolocene in Southeastern
Asia sites. Moreover, the sites also yielded a diverse
fauna with Heosemys grandis and Indotestudo elon
gata, Tupaidae, Soricidae, Insectivora, Chiroptera,
Bandicota sp., Rhizomys sp., Hystricidae, Macaca sp.,
Colobinae, Cervus sp., Bubalus sp., Naemohedus
goral ?, and Naemohedus sp. etc. Based on the pre
liminarytaphonomicanalysis,cutmarksandcarnivore
tooth marks have been observed on several bones,
whichareinformativeforthepredator preyinterac
tion and subsistence behaviour. In sum, these evi
dencesallowustoobservetheprehistoricsettlement
along the Malay Peninsula in the uppermost part of
the Holocene and also to understand the mode of
economic and resource exploitation of these Prehis
toricpeople.
DiversityofRuminantsintheQuaternary
sitesofThailand
Wattanapituksakul,A.1,2,Lauprasert,K.1,2
1
MahasarakhamUniversity,MahaSarakham,Thailand.
2
University,MahaSarakham,Thailand.
Ruminants, as the first consumers of the food chain,

represent an important group within terrestrial eco
61
systems.TherecordofQuaternaryruminantsinThai
landhasyieldedseveralfossilsandsubfossilsinpalae
ontological and archaeological sites respectively. The
aim of our study of this group is to contribute to the
knowledge of their diversity during the Quaternary.
ThisisinterestingastheQuaternarywasaperiodthat
was characterized by fluctuating climatic / environ
mentalconditionsrelatedtotherecentepoch.More
over, they help to understand human cultural devel
opment as they are important food and economic
goods. In this study, we compiled and analyzed data
obtainedfrommuseumspecimensfrombothpalaeon
tologicalandarchaeologicalsitesfromfourlocalitiesin
threeprovincesofThailand:KokSoung,NakonRatcha
simaProvince(MiddlePleistocene),theThamlodrock
shelter, Mae Hong Son Province (Late Pleistocene to
Recent),andThamRakSaiandThamThamamongkol,
Phetchaburi province (Early to Middle Holocene).
These localities have yielded several ruminant taxa
such as Cervus unicolor (sambar deer), Cervus spp.
(deer), Bubalus bubalis (water buffalo), Bos spp. (cat
tle),Muntiacusspp.(muntjac),andNaemorhedus / Ca
prinae spp. (gorals or serows). The age of foremen
tioned localities ranges from the Middle Pleistocene
till present. Only Axis axis (spotted deer) from Kok
SoungisrestrictedtotheMiddlePleistocene,andbe
came extinct from Thailand in the Late Pleistocene.
BasedondatafromthefourlocalitiesinThailand,ru
minants showed high diversity which is probably evi
denceoftheirpalaeogeographicdistributionandcom
munitychangeduringtheQuaternary.
Testingadevelopmentalmodelinthefossil
record:molarproportionsinSouth
Americanungulatesandinothermammals
Wilson,L.A.B.1,Madden,R.H.2,SnchezVillagra,M.R.3
1
PalontologischesInstitutundMuseum,Zrich,
Switzerland
2
DukeUniversity,Dept.EvolutionaryAnthropology,Durham
NC,U.S.A.
It is rare if not impossible to conduct developmental

studiesoffossiltaxa,buttheextinctphenotypespro
vide an indirect but rich source of data for analyses.
Thisisthecaseofmolarteethofadultmammals.An
inhibitorycascadedevelopmentalmodel,basedupon
murine rodents, has recently been proposed by
Kavanaghetal.(2007)toexplainlowermolarpropor
tions. We produce a cladewide macroevolutionary
testofthemodelusingthedentalevolutionarytrends
in a unique radiation of extinct mammalsendemic to
South America. The studied Meridiungulata cannot
62
be characterized by a model whereby m3 size is pre

dictedbym1size,aswouldbepredicted.Instead,the
m2actsasintermediarybetweenm1andm3.Mostof
thecladesexaminedfollowthephenotypeofm1<m2
=m3.Theexceptionaretwogroupsthatdiffersignifi
cantly from the model: Interatheriidae are character
ized by m1 > m2 < m3, whilst Astrapotheria are best
represented by m1 < m2 < m3. Body mass estimates
were found to be significantly correlated with both
m3/m1andm2/m1ratios.Largerbodysizeiscoupled
with a weaker inhibition between the lower molars.
This is one of many examples of the great potential
that the examination of extinct phenotypes can pro
videinadevelopmentalcontext,asshownbyareview
of recent published works such as those concerning
vertebral numbers in amniotes and squamation in
fishes.
References
Kavanagh,K.D.,Evans,A.R.,Jernvall,J.2007.
Predictingevolutionarypatternsofmammalianteeth
fromdevelopment.Nature,449(27):427433.
ThePalaeoenvironmentofthespinosaurid
bearingstrataintheKhokKruatFormation
fromNortheasternThailand
Wongko,K.1,2,3,Lauprasert,K.2,3,Buffetaut,E.4,
Suteethorn,S.2,3,Suteethorn,V.1,3
1
DepartmentofMineralResource,Bangkok,Thailand;
uree40@yahoo.com
2
University,Mahasarakham,Thailand
3
MahasarakhamUniversity,Mahasarakham,Thailand
4
CNRS,LaboratoiredeGologiedelEcoleNormale
Suprieure,Paris,France
The discovery of spinosaurid dinosaurs from north

eastern Thailand began in the Sao Khua Formation
(EarlyCretaceous)atPhuPratuTeema(PhuWiangNa
tionalPark),wherepeculiarisolatedteethwerefound.
They were referred to a new unusual theropod, Sia
mosaurus suteethorni Buffetaut et Ingavat, 1986,
showingsimilaritieswithspinosaurids.Inaddition,the
KhokKruatFormationyieldedisolatedteethwhichre
semblethoseofSiamosaurus,althoughdifferencesin
sizeandmorphologystronglysuggestthatseveraltaxa
are present. A recently discovered partial skeleton
fromtheKhokKruatFormationconsistsofseveralcer
vical and dorsal vertebrae, including a tall neural
spine,andpelvicandlimbelements,whicharesimilar
tothoseofthespinosauridBaryonyxwalkerifromthe
Early Cretaceous of England, but also show some
characters reminiscent of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus
from the Cenomanian of Egypt. In Thailand, spinos
daurids are represented in the Sao Khua and Khok
KruatFormations,byseveraltaxa.Siamosaurussutee
thorniisanenigmaticdinosaurknownonlybypeculiar
isolatedteethwhichhavetallandslightlycompressed
crowns with ribbed enamel and very faint or non
existent serrations (Buffetaut and Ingavat, 1986).
Basedontheisolatedteeth,thisdinosaurwasreferred
totheSpinosauridae,butmorematerialisneededto
confirmpossibleaffinitieswithinthisgroup(Buffetaut
et al., 2005). Spinosaurid remains in the Khok Kruat
Formationhavereceivedlittleattention,althoughiso
lated teeth are relatively common at many localities.
AtKhokPaSuam,UbonRatchathaniProvince,forex
ample,anumberofSiamosaurusliketeethhavebeen
found. A partial skeleton of a large theropod has re
cently been discovered at an outcrop of the Khok
KruatFormationnearthecityofKhonKaen.Thisma
terialsimplyconfirmstheoccurrenceofaspinosaurid
in the Khok Kruat Formation. The authors have syn
thesized the lithostratigraphic sections of localities
whichhaveyieldedremainsofspinosaursinThailand.
Fossil localities will be compared with other Khok
Kruat Formation outcrops in the Khok Pa Suam and
LamPaoDamlocalitiesinordertoreconstructthepa
laeoenvironmentofspinosauridsintheAptian Albian
KhokKruatFormationofNortheasternThailand.
References
Buffetaut,E.,Ingavat,R.1986. Unusual theropod
dinosaur teeth from the upper Jurassic of Phu Wiang,
Northeastern Thailand. Revue de Palobiologie,5:
217220.
Buffetaut,E.,Suteethorn,V.,LeLoeuff,J.,Khansubha,
S.Tong,H.,Wongko,K.2005.Thedinosaurfaunafrom
theKhokKruatFormation(EarlyCretaceous)of
Thailand.InternationalConferenceonGeology,
GeotechnologyandMineralResourcesofIndochina
(GEOINDO2005),KhonKaen,Thailand:577581.
63
ListofParticipants
AlcalLuis
FundacinConjuntoPaleontolgicodeTeruel
Dinpolis,Avda.Saguntos/n,E44002Teruel,
Spain
[alcala@dinopolis.com]
AlexeevaNadezhda
GeologicalInstitute,SiberianBranch,Russian
AcademyofSciences(RAS),6a,SahianovaStreet,
UlanUde,670047,RussianFederation
[ochotona@mail.ru]
ArgyriouThodoris
DepartmentofGeologyandGeoenvironment,
NationalandKapodistrianUniversityofAthens,
[priv.]42Socratousstr.,15562,Holargos,Attiki,
Greece
[argthod@gmail.com]
AthanassiouAthanassios
MinistryofCulture,
EphorateofPalaeoanthropology Speleology,
Ardittou34B,GR11636Athens,Greece
[aathanas@geol.uoa.gr]
BaykinaEugeniaMichailovna
MoscowStateUniversitybyM.V.Lomonosov,
PalaeontologicalInstitute,RussianAcademyof
Sciences,ProfsoyuznayaStreet,123,Moscow,
117997,RussianFederation
[baikina.eug@mail.ru]
BellAlyssa
LosAngelesCountyNaturalHistoryMuseum,Los
Angeles,900ExpositionBlvd.,LosAngeles,CA,
USA90007
[abell@nhm.org]
BelvedereMatteo
DipartimentodiGeoscienze,UniversitdiPadova,
ViaG.Gradenigo6,35131Padova,Italy
[matteo.belvedere@unipd.it]
BenelhadjKarima
UniversityPaulValryMontpellierIII,
39RueDeLaRepublique,13002Marseille,France
[karima.benelhadj@live.fr]
BuckleyMike
UniversityofManchester,131PrincessStreet,
ManchesterInterdisciplinaryBiocentre,Facultyof
LifeSciences,UniversityofManchester,
Manchester,M17DN,U.K.
[m.buckley@manchester.ac.uk]
BuffetautEric
CentreNationaldelaRechercheScientifique
(CNRS),30RueCarnot,94270LeKremlinBicetre,
France
[eric.buffetaut@sfr.fr]
CavinLionel
NaturalHistoryMuseumofGeneva,CP6434,1211
Geneva6,Switzerland
[lionel.cavin@villege.ch]
CodreaVlad
BabesBolyaiUniversityClujNapoca,1
KogalniceanuStr.,CatedradeGeologie,400084
ClujNapoca,Romania
[codrea_vlad@yahoo.gr]
ColeTinyaseEmmanuel
MilliInstitute,66CelliersStreet,0002,Sunnyside,
Pretoria,SouthAfrica
[temmanuelcole@yahoo.com]
CompanyJulio
DepartmentIngenieriadelTerreno.Universidad
PolitecnicadeValencia,
CaminodeVeraS/N,ValenciaE46022,Spain
[company@uv.es]
DeEstebanTrivignoSoledad
InstitutCataladePaleontologia,EdificioICP,
CampusdelaUAB,08193,CerdanyoladelValls,
Barcelona,Spain
[Soledad.Esteban@uv.es]
64
DeVosJohn
NetherlandsCentreforBiodiversityNaturalis,
Postbus9517,2300RALeiden,theNetherlands
[John.deVos@ncbnaturalis.nl]
DeesriUthumporn
DepartmentofBiology,FacultyofScience,
MahasarakhamUniversity,KantarawichaiDistrict,
Mahasarakham44150,Thailand
[uthumporn_deesri@yahoo.com]
DeMiguelDaniel
UniversitatAutnomadeBarcelona,08193
CerdanyoladelValls,Barcelona,Spain
[daniel.demiguel@icp.cat]
DenOudenNatasja
NetherlandsCentreforBiodiversityNaturalis,P.O.
Box9517,2300RALeiden,theNetherlands
[natasja.denouden@ncbnaturalis.nl]
DermitzakisMichael
Panepistimiopolis,Zografou15784,Athens,Greece
[mdermi@geol.uoa.gr]
ErbajevaMargarita
GeologicalInstitute,SiberianBranch,Russian
AcademyofSciences(RAS),6a,SahianovaStreet,
UlanUde,670047,Russia
[erbajeva@gin.bscnet.ru]
FarcasCristina
BabesBolyaiUniversityClujNapoca,1
KogalniceanuStr.,CatedradeGeologie,400084
ClujNapoca,Romania
[farcas2002@yahoo.com]
FassoulasCharalampos
NaturalHistoryMuseumofCrete,Universityof
Crete,P.O.Box2208,71409,Heraklion,Greece
[fassoulas@nhmc.uoc.gr]
FreyEberhardDino
StaatlichesMuseumfrNaturkundeKarlsruhe,
Erbprinzenstrasse13,76133Karlsruhe,Germany
[Dinofrey@aol.com]
GarciaGraldine
IPHEPUMR6046UniversitdePoitiers,42,
AvenueduRecteurPineau,86022PoitiersCedex,
France [geraldine.garcia@univpoitiers.fr]
GeigerMadeleine
PalaeontologicalInstituteandMuseum,University
ofZurich,KarlSchmidStr.4,CH8006,Zurich,
Switzerland [madeleine_geiger@access.uzh.ch]
GeraadsDenis
CentreNationaldelaRechercheScientifique
(CNRS),44ruedel'AmiralMouchez,75014Paris,
France
[denis.geraads@evolhum.cnrs.fr]
GrigorescuDan
FacultyofGeology,LaboratoryofPaleontology,
UniversityofBucharest,1,Blvd.N.Balcescu,
010041Bucharest,Romania
[dangrig@geo.edu.ro]
HerridgeVictoria
NaturalHistoryMuseumofLondon,Cromwell
Road,London,SW75BD,U.K.
[v.herridge@nhm.ac.uk]
HiardFlorent
DepartmentofGeosciences,Universityof
Fribourg,CheminduMuse6,1700Fribourg,
Switzerland
[florent.hiard@unifr.ch]
IliopoulosGeorge
DepartmentofGeology,UniversityofPatras,
26500,RioPatras,Greece
[iliopoulosg@upatras.gr]
JungnickelSandraNicole
Erbprinzenstrae13,76133Karlsruhe,Germany
[sandrajn@web.de]
KeklikoglouKleoniki
DepartmentofBiology,AristotleUniversityof
Thessaloniki,Vas.Olgas45,Thessaloniki,Greece
[kkekliko@bio.auth.gr]
KolbChristian
PalontologischesInstitutundMuseum,
UniversittZrich,KarlSchmidStr.4,CH8006,
65
Zurich,Switzerland
[christian.kolb@pim.uzh.ch]
KonidarisGeorge
Thessaloniki,Distomou29,54453,Thessaloniki,
Greece
[georgeko@geo.auth.gr]
KostopoulosDimitris
Thessaloniki,Distomou29,54453,Thessaloniki,
Greece [dkostop@geo.auth.gr]
KuhnCarolin
Erbprinzenstrasse13,76133Karlsruhe,Germany
[carolin_burkhardt@gmx.net]
KmmellSusanna
InstitutfrEvolutionsbiologie,Universitt
Witten/Herdecke,StockumerStrae12,58453
Witten,Germany
[susanna.kuemmell@uniwh.de]
LaaMichael
RuprechtKarlsUniversittHeidelberg,Krllwitzer
Str.42,06120Halle,Germany
[michael.laass@gmx.de]
LaojumponChalida
[ch.laojumpon@gmail.com]
LauprasertKomsorn
MahasarakhamUniversity,Khamrieng,
Kantharawichai,MahaSarakham44150,Thailand
[lauprasert@gmail.com]
LeLoeuffJean
MusedesDinosaures,11260Esperaza,France
[jeanleloeuff@yahoo.fr]
ListonJeff
UniversityofGlasgow,UniversityofGlasgow,
Room207,FirstFloor,13,Thursostr.,Glasgow,
G116PE,Scotland,U.K.
[Jeff.Liston@glasgow.ac.uk]
LyrasGeorge
[glyras@geol.uoa.gr]
MallisonHeinrich
MuseumfrNaturkundeLeibnizInstitutefor
ResearchonEvolutionandBiodiversity,Humboldt
UniversityBerlin,Invalidenstr.43,10115Berlin,
Germany
[heinrich.mallison@gmail.com]
MallouchouMyrto
Greece
[priv.]Tyrolois9,NeaSmirni,17124Athens,
Greece
[myrto7clouds@yahoo.gr]
ManiakasIoannis
SolonosSt,54644Thessaloniki,Greece
[imaniaka@hotmail.com]
MarjanoviDavid
HugoMeislWeg15,A1100Wien,Austria
[david.marjanovic@gmx.at]
MennecartBastien
UniversityofFribourg,Chemindumuse6,
InstitutdeGologie,CH1700,Fribourg,
Switzerland
[bastien.mennecart@unifr.ch]
MerceronGildas
LaboratoiredeGologiedeLyon:Terre,Plantes,
Environnements,CNRS,ENS,UniversityLyon1,2,
rueR.Dubois69622VilleurbanneCedex,France
[gildas.merceron@univlyon1.fr]
MeyerChristian
NaturalHistoryMuseumBasel,Augustinergasse2,
Basel,Switzerland
[christian.meyer@bs.ch]
MichailidisDimitris
[dmichailidis@geol.uoa.gr]
66
MicklichNorbert
HessischesLandesmuseumDarmstadt,
Friedenplatz1,D64283,Darmstadt,Germany
[micklich@hlmd.de]
MinwerBarakatRaef
UniversitatAutnomadeBarcelona,08193
CerdanyoladelValls,Barcelona,Spain
[raef.minwer@icp.cat]
MitsopoulouVasiliki
[vamitsop@geol.uoa.gr]
MonningerStefanie
Erbprinzenstrae13,76133Karlsruhe,Germany
[Stefanie.Monninger@smnk.de]
MrsThomas
DepartmentofPalaeozoology,SwedishMuseumof
NaturalHistory,P.O.Box50007,SE10405
Stockholm,Sweden
[thomas.moers@nrm.se]
NaksriWilailuck
[nwilailuck@gmail.com]
OConnorJingmai
Paleoanthropology,ChineseAcademyofSciences,
142XizhimenwaiDajie,Beijing,100044China
[jingmai.oconnor@gmail.com]
siAttila
ResearchGroupforPaleontology,Hungarian
AcademyofSciences,HungarianNaturalHistory
Museum,1088,Budapest,Barossu13,Hungary
[hungaros@freemail.hu]
PalomboMariaRita
DipartimentodiScienzedellaTerra,Universitdi
RomaLaSapienzaandCNR,IstitutodiGeologia
AmbientaleeGeoingegneria,P.leAldoMoro,5
00185Roma,Italy
[mariarita.palombo@uniroma1.it]
PapayiannisKaterina
DepartmentofArchaeology,Nationaland
KapodistrianUniversityofAthens,Greece
[priv.]31IvisStr.,GR18539,Piraeus,Greece
[katerinapapayiannis@gmail.com]
PardoPrezJudith
InstitutfrGeowissenschaften,Universitt
Heidelberg,ImNeuenheimerFeld234236,69221
Heidelberg,Germany
[paleonatura@gmail.com]
ProndvaiEdina
DepartmentofPaleontology,EtvsLornd
University,PzmnyP.stny1/C,1117Budapest,
Hungary [prondvaie@gmail.com]
QuesiehHungweh
SummersetAcademy,57Sonneskyn,457Jorissen
str.,Pretoria,SouthAfrica
[hungwehqwesieh@yahoo.com]
RabiMrton
DepartmentofPaleontology,EtvsLornd
University,PzmnyP.stny1/C,1117Budapest,
Hungary [iszkenderun@gmail.com]
RagerLisa
UniversittZrich,KarlSchmidStr.4,CH8006,
Zurich,Switzerland [lisa.rager@uzh.ch]
ReissStefan
MineralogieundPalontologie,
SteinmannInstitutfrGeologie,Bonn,Kslinerstr.
18,50737Kln,Germany [stefanreiss1@gmx.de]
RenestoSilvio
DipartimentodiBiologiaStrutturaleeFunzionale,
UniversitdegliStudidellInsubria,ViaDunant3,
I21100,Varese,Italy
[silvio.renesto@uninsubria.it]
RoussiakisSocrates
[srousiak@geol.uoa.gr]
67
RoyoTorresRafael
FundacinConjuntoPaleontolgicodeTeruel
Dinpolis,Avda.Saguntos/n,E44002Teruel,
Spain [royo@dinopolis.com]
RozziRoberto
UniversitLaSapienza,RomaDipartimentodi
ScienzedellaTerra,PiazzaleAldoMoro,5
00185Roma,Italy
[roberto.rozzi84@gmail.com]
SnchezVillagraMarcelo
UniversittZrich,KarlSchmidStrasse4,
CH8006Zrich,Switzerland
[m.sanchez@pim.uzh.ch]
ScherlerLaureline
DepartmentofGeosciences,InstituteofGeology,
UniversityofFribourg,ch.duMuse6,CH1700
Fribourg,Switzerland
[laureline.scherler@unifr.ch]
SteinKoen
MineralogieundPalontologie,SteinmannInstitut
frGeologie,Nussallee8,53115Bonn,Germany
[koen_stein@yahoo.co.uk]
SuteethornVaravudh
PalaeontologicalResearchandEducationCenter,
MahasarakhamUniversity,Kamriang.
Kantaravichai,MahasarakhamProvince,
44150,Thailand
[suteethorn@hotmail.com]
SytchevskayaEugeniaK.
PaleontologicalInstitute,RussianAcademyof
Sciences,Profsoyusnaya123Moscow,
117997Russia
[eks@paleo.ru]
SzentesiZoltn
DepartmentofPaleontology,EtvsUniversity,
Budapest,P.O.Box120,H1518Budapest,Hungary
[crocutaster@gmail.com]
TheodorouGeorge
[gtheodor@geol.uoa.gr]
TortosaThierry
Museumd'HistoireNaturelled'AixenProvence,
HtelBoyerd'Eguilles,6rueEspariat,
13100AixenProvence,France
[thierry.tortosa@wanadoo.fr]
TsakiriSotiria
RhodeIslandAllee47,76149Karlsruhe,Germany
[sotiria.tsakiri@gmail.com]
TsoukalaEvangelia
Thessaloniki,UniversityCampus,Departmentof
Geology,54124,Thessaloniki,Greece
[lilits@geo.auth.gr]
TzortzakakiOlga
SectionofAnimalBiology,DepartmentofBiology,
UniversityofPatras,26500,RioPatras,Greece
[olgatzortz@gmail.com]
VanderGeerAlexandra
[geeraae@geol.uoa.gr]
VasileiadouKaterina
NaturalHistoryMuseumoftheLesvosPetrified
Forest,Greece
[priv.]2Vosporoustr.,54454KatoToumba,
Thessaloniki,Greece
[k.vasileiadou@geo.aegean.gr]
VasilyanDavit
InstituteforGeosciences,UniversityofTbingen,
Sigwartstr10,72076Tuebingen,Germany
[davit.vasilyan@ifg.unituebingen.de]
VislobokovaInessa
PaleontologicalInstitute,RussianAcademyof
Sciences,Profsoyuznaya123,
117997Moscow,Russia
[ivisl@paleo.ru]
VlachosEvangelos
Thessaloniki,Greece
[priv.]Mavromichali22,54248,Thessaloniki,
Greece
[evlacho@geo.auth.gr]
68
WalenAart
Doornenburg,theNetherlands
[cxfaartwalen@gmail.com]
WattanapituksakulAthiwat
[essathiwat@gmail.com]
WeberSinje
SenckenbergResearchInstituteandNatural
HistoryMuseum,Senckenberganlage25,60325,
FrankfurtamMain,Germany
[Sinje.Weber@senckenberg.de]
WongkoKamonlak
[uree40@yahoo.com]
ZidianakisGiannis
DepartmentofGeology,UniversityofPatrasand
NaturalHistoryMuseumofCrete,Greece
[priv.]Raftopoulou81,71305,Mastabas,Heraklion
Crete,Greece
[giannizidi@yahoo.gr]
9th Annual Meeting
14-19 June, 2011

2011 Eavp Abstracts

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2011 Eavp Abstracts

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Program and Abstracts

Program and Abstracts

Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Program and Abstracts

The presence of fossil fish in the Pliocene (van Hins

The extant raccoondog, Nyctereutes procyonoides, is

each population was evolutionary adapted to slightly

Two collections of clupeid fishes of the genus Sardi

of Denmark to the LateMiddle Eocene Messel

During the last decade, several research groups have

Recent advances in mass spectrometry techniques

We analyzed mandible shape in extant squirrels (Sci

During the late Early Cretaceous and the early Late

Until now, the single location with continental Maas

Armadillos are the most widespread and speciesrich

The Early to Middle Miocene is one of the most re

Lepidotes buddhabutrensis is a semionotiform fish

Psephophorus polygonus Meyer, 1847 (Testudines,

In the 1960s a large area of land was created just

Because the area is classified as work terrain, it is

The Geological and Palaeontological museum of the

port, and different teaching aid instruments (Fermeli

Small mammals (insectivores, lagomorphs and ro

Acknowledgements: Dep. Educacin and Dep. Ciencia

dus, of the primate Mesopithecus, of several rhinos

In spite of, mostly objective, constrains, palaeoeco

These sites are representative for different sedimen

introduce our current project to establish a robust

The Cape Melekas fossil fauna has become the focus

In February 2011, the Museum of Natural History of

lected. The discovery of a mammalbearing bed in a

Cyprus is a large Mediterranean oceanic Island that

to the Chatzi Formation. Two ichnotaxa are repre

bouncing forces. The strong front limbs play a major

Among Mustelinae, Mustela putorius has a very long

The Late Pleistocene deer Candiacervus Kuss, 1975

In humeri, femora, and fused metatarsals III+IV of ju

netic changes are traceable throughout stylo and

Although the emergence of horns in bovids is corre

appears to have been weakly related to the environ

Greek anthracotheriids are barely known by some

The pinnipeds seals (phocids), sea lions (otariids)

Despite thirty years of fossil vertebrate excavation in

points of the quarry (reworked in recent alluvia or in

The recent identification of pachycormiform material

sessment of the significance of this group. Although

Some Carnivora lineages evolved large size and par

Molossids are a family of highly specialized bats that

The origin of the modern amphibians (Salientia, Cau

The reassessment of Gelocus quercyi Jehenne, 1987,

This study explores the environmental changes that

fore of environmental changes. 18Op ranges from

no information is provided for the skeletal elements

The Grube Unterfeld (Frauenweiler) clay pit has be

been exposed from a threemetre overlay of building

The extinct family Omomyidae (Primates) has a great

anthropoids. The subfamily Microchoerinae is known

In the past the flight configuration of pterosaurs, es

the trailing edge of the brachiopatagium extended

Miocene beavers were a diverse rodent group in the

on some islands of the European archipelago) by

Recent discoveries of crocodyliforms especially in the

The multifaceted evolutionary history of mammals,

PardoPrez,J. ,Frey,E. ,Stinnesbeck,W. ,Rivas,L. ,