Cheyenn Rotgers

A new species of Pliopithecus Gervais, 1849 (Primates: Pliopithecidae) from the Middle Miocene (MN8) of Abocador de Can Mata (els Hostalets de Pierola, Catalonia, Spain)

Pliopithecus (Pliopithecus) canmatensis sp. nov. is described from several Late Aragonian localities from Abocador de Can Mata (ACM) in els Hostalets de Pierola (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Catalonia, Spain), spanning from approximately 11.7 to 11.6 Ma (C5r.3r subchron), and being correlated to the MN8 (reference locality La Grive L3). The ACM remains display a pliopithecine dental morphology with well-developed pliopithecine triangles on M/2 and M/3. This, together with other occlusal details, negates an attribution to the subgenus Epipliopithecus. Although slightly smaller, the ACM remains are most similar in size to comparable elements of P. piveteaui and P. antiquus. Several occlusal details (such as the greater development of the buccal cingulid in lower molars) and dental proportions (M/3 much longer than M/2), however, indicate greater similarities with P. antiquus from Sansan and La Grive. The ACM remains, however, differ from P. antiquus in dental proportions as well as occlusal morphology of the lower molars (including the less peripheral position of the protoconid and more medial position of the hypoconulid, the more mesial position of the buccal cuspids as compared to the lingual ones, the narrower but distinct mesial fovea, the higher trigonid, and the more extensive buccal cingulid, among others). These differences justify a taxonomic distinction at the species level of the ACM pliopithecid remains with respect to P. antiquus. Previous pliopithecid findings from the Vallès-Penedès Basin, previously attributed to P. antiquus, are neither attributable to the latter species nor to the newly erected one.

Kretzoiarctos gen. nov., the Oldest Member of the Giant Panda Clade

The phylogenetic position of the giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca (Carnivora: Ursidae: Ailuropodinae), has been one of the most hotly debated topics by mammalian biologists and paleontologists during the last century. Based on molecular data, it is currently recognized as a true ursid, sister-taxon of the remaining extant bears, from which it would have diverged by the Early Miocene. However, from a paleobiogeographic and chronological perspective, the origin of the giant panda lineage has remained elusive due to the scarcity of the available Miocene fossil record. Until recently, the genus Ailurarctos from the Late Miocene of China (ca. 8–7 mya) was recognized as the oldest undoubted member of the Ailuropodinae, suggesting that the panda lineage might have originated from an Ursavus ancestor. The role of the purported ailuropodine Agriarctos, from the Miocene of Europe, in the origins of this clade has been generally dismissed due to the paucity of the available material. Here, we describe a new ailuropodine genus, Kretzoiarctos gen. nov., based on remains from two Middle Miocene (ca. 12–11 Ma) Spanish localities. A cladistic analysis of fossil and extant members of the Ursoidea confirms the inclusion of the new genus into the Ailuropodinae. Moreover, Kretzoiarctos precedes in time the previously-known, Late Miocene members of the giant panda clade from Eurasia (Agriarctos and Ailurarctos). The former can be therefore considered the oldest recorded member of the giant panda lineage, which has significant implications for understanding the origins of this clade from a paleobiogeographic viewpoint.

New craniodental remains of the barbourofelid Albanosmilus jourdani (Filhol, 1883) from the Miocene of the Vallès-Penedès Basin (NE Iberian Peninsula) and the phylogeny of the Barbourofelini

Available remains of the barbourofelin Albanosmilus jourdani from the Middle to Late Miocene of the Vallès-Penedès Basin (NE Iberian Peninsula) are described. In addition to the dentognathic remains described by previous authors, the new material includes a complete cranium, a calvarium and several mandibles from Abocador de Can Mata, Creu Conill 20 and Hostalets Superior. It is concluded that Albanosmilus, previously considered a subjective junior synonym of Sansanosmilus, must be resurrected as a polytypic genus including A. jourdani (= A. vallesiensis). The most plesiomorphic North American barbourofelin, previously included in Barbourofelis, is also transferred into Albanosmilus as A. whitfordi. An emended diagnosis of Albanosmilus is provided. The results of a cladistic analysis support the monophyly of the family Barbourofelidae and the tribe Barbourofelini, further indicating that amongst the latter, Sansanosmilus occupies the basalmost position. The two Albanosmilus species are more derived, although the analysis fails to resolve conclusively whether A. whitfordi is more closely related to A. jourdani or Barbourofelis s.s. From a palaeobiogeographical viewpoint, our results suggest that: (1) barbourofelins originated in Eurasia during the early Middle Miocene; (2) Barbourofelis originated in North America during the late Middle Miocene, following the dispersal of Eurasian Albanosmilus into that continent; and (3) the presence of Barbourofelis in Turkey during the Late Miocene may represent a later independent dispersal event from North America back into Eurasia.

New Craniodental Remains of Trocharion albanense Major, 1903 (Carnivora, Mustelidae), from the Vallès-Penedès Basin (Middle to Late Miocene, Barcelona, Spain)

ABSTRACT Cranial and dentognathic remains of Trocharion albanense (Carnivora, Mustelidae, Leptarctinae) from the Vallès-Penedès Basin (Barcelona, Spain), ranging from the middle to the late Miocene, are described. Most of the newly described material comes from several sites of the Abocador de Can Mata (ACM) section (in the municipal term of els Hostalets de Pierola), but remains from other Catalan localities (Sant Quirze, Castell de Barberà, and Can Llobateres) are also described. The material from ACM includes two partial crania and several mandibles. This enables description of several aspects of craniodental morphology previously unknown for this taxon, such as the presence of first upper premolars, as well as the presence of a conspicuous and rhomboid double temporal crest. Accordingly, an emended diagnosis of the genus Trocharion is provided, together with a differential diagnosis with respect to other leptarctine genera. A cladistic analysis based on craniodental features is consistent with Trocharion being the basalmost member of the Leptarctinae, and suggests that the carnassial notch (still present in this taxon) was independently lost in leptarctines and in other mustelids.