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December 2015
Vol.39-2
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Print ISSN: 0031-0247
Online ISSN: 2274-0333
Frequency: biannual

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Palaeovertebrata Vol.39-2:December 2015

Table of contents


Articles


The new Algerian locality of Bir el Ater 3: validity of Libycosaurus algeriensis (Mammalia, Hippopotamoidea) and the age of the Nementcha Formation
Fabrice Lihoreau, Lionel Hautier and Mahammed Mahboubi
Keywords: Dispersal event; Miocene; North Africa; Tetralophodon

doi: 10.18563/pv.39.2.e1
 
  Abstract

    The description of original material of anthracothere and proboscidean in the new locality of Bir el Ater 3 from East Algeria, and a thorough review of early Libycosaurus remains of Bir el Ater 2 allows us validating L. algeriensis as the smallest and earliest species of Libycosaurus and probably the earliest migrant of the genus from Asia. The presence of a Tetralophodon in the Neogene Nementcha formation might represent the earliest occurrence of the genus in Africa. These original fossil remains allow us to discuss the age of the Neogene part of the Nementcha formation close to the Serravalian/Tortonian boundary. 


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Batoids (Rajiformes, Torpediniformes, Myliobatiformes) from the Sülstorf Beds (Chattian, Late Oligocene) of Mecklenburg, northeastern Germany: a revision and description of three new species
Thomas Reinecke
Keywords: Batoids; Chattian; Elasmobranchii; North Sea Basin; Oligocene

doi: 10.18563/pv.39.2.e2
 
  Abstract

    Bulk-sampling of fossil-rich tempestites from the Chattian Sülstorf Beds of
    Mecklenburg, north-eastern Germany, yielded a rich selachian fauna in which batoids
    predominate by the abundance of teeth but are subordinate by the number of taxa. Thirteen
    taxa are identified, among which rajiform batoids are the most diverse (six species). One
    genus and three species are newly described: Raja thiedei sp. nov., Oligoraja pristina gen. et
    sp. nov., and Torpedo chattica sp. nov. Two species are reallocated: Atlantoraja cecilae
    (Steurbaut & Herman, 1978) new comb., and Dipturus casieri (Steurbaut & Herman, 1978)
    new comb. Ontogenetic heterodonty is documented for the first time in the dental pattern of
    Myliobatis sp. Stratigraphical ranges of batoid taxa in the period from Rupelian to Langhian
    are presented and partly discussed in context with the palaeoclimatic evolution and
    palaeogeographic situation of the North Sea Basin. 


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Articles


New remains of the giant bird Gargantuavis philoinos from the Late Cretaceous of Provence (south-eastern France)
Eric Buffetaut, Delphine Angst, Patrick Mechin and Annie Mechin-Salessy
Keywords: Aves; Gargantuavis; Late Cretaceous; Pelvis; South-eastern France

doi: 10.18563/pv.39.2.e3
 
  Abstract


    Two incomplete pelves of the giant bird Gargantuavis philoinos are described from Late Cretaceous deposits at Fox-Amphoux (Var, south-eastern France). They consist of synsacra with attached parts of the ilia. One of them has undergone considerable dorsoventral compression, which makes it very similar in appearance to the holotype pelvis of Gargantuavis philoinos from Campagne-sur-Aude (Aude, southern France). The second specimen has suffered some lateral distortion but is uncrushed dorsoventrally. Because of this, its avians characters (including an arched synsacrum and widespread pneumatisation) are especially clear. These new specimens confirm the avian nature of Gargantuavis and reveal new details about its pelvic anatomy, but provide little new evidence about its systematic position within Aves. The geographical distribution and general rarity of Gargantuavis are discussed.
      


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First early Eocene tapiroid from India and its implication for the paleobiogeographic origin of perissodactyls
Thierry Smith, Floréal Solé, Pieter Missiaen, Rajendra Rana, Kishor Kumar, Ashok Sahni and Kenneth D. Rose
Keywords: Ceratomorpha; Helaletidae; Paleogene; Tapiromorpha; Vastan

doi: 10.18563/pv.39.2.e5
 
  Abstract

    The presence of cambaytheres, the sister group of perissodactyls, in western India near or before the time of collision with Asia suggests that Perissodactyla may have originated on the Indian Plate during its final drift towards Asia. Herein we reinforce this hypothesis by reporting two teeth of the first early Eocene tapiromorph Perissodactyla from the Cambay Shale Formation of Vastan Lignite Mine (c. 54.5 Ma), Gujarat, western India, which we allocate to a new genus and species, Vastanolophus holbrooki. It presents plesiomorphic characters typical of the paraphyletic “Isectolophidae,” such as small size and weak lophodonty. However, the weaker hypoconulid and low paralophid, higher cusps, lower cristid obliqua, and the lingual opening of the talonid are found in Helaletidae, the most primitive tapiroid family. V. holbrooki, gen. et sp. nov., may be the oldest and the most primitive tapiroid, suggesting that at least tapiroid perissodactyls originated on India. 


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A pangolin (Manidae, Pholidota, Mammalia) from the French Quercy phosphorites (Pech du Fraysse, Saint-Projet, Tarn-et-Garonne, late Oligocene, MP 28)
Jean-Yves Crochet, Lionel Hautier and Thomas Lehmann
Keywords: Oligocene; Pangolin; Pech du Fraysse; Quercy phosphorites

doi: 10.18563/pv.39.2.e4
 
  Abstract

    Pangolins have never shown a high taxic diversity and their fossil record is scarce. We report here the first discovery of a partial humerus from late Oligocene deposits in Pech du Fraysse (MP28, France). The new specimen from Pech du Fraysse is described and compared to various extant and extinct species of pangolins. It shows a suite of morphological features very similar to the humeri discovered in Saint-André (MP 26), Solnhofen (Burdigalien), and Saulcet (Aquitanian), attributed here to Necromanis franconica. The description of the specimen from Pech du Fraysse allowed us to discuss the systematics of Paleogene and Neogene pholidotans. The differences between PFY 4051 and N. franconica on the one side, and N. quercyi on the other side, might be sufficiently important to justify a generic distinction. A comparison with extant species showed that N. franconica was likely terrestrial and fossorial based on its humeral morphology. 



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