Jordi Galindo

First partial face and upper dentition of the Middle Miocene hominoid Dryopithecus fontani from Abocador de Can Mata (Vallès‐Penedès Basin, Catalonia, NE Spain): Taxonomic and phylogenetic implications

A well-preserved 11.8-million-years-old lower face attributed to the seminal taxon Dryopithecus fontani (Primates, Hominidae) from the Catalan site ACM/C3-Ae of the Hostalets de Pierola area (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Catalonia, NE Spain) is described. The new data indicate that D. fontani is distinct at the genus level from Late Miocene European taxa previously attributed to Dryopithecus, which are here reassigned to Hispanopithecus. The new facial specimen also suggests that D. fontani and the Middle Miocene Pierolapithecus catalaunicus are not synonymous. Anatomical and morphometric analyses further indicate that the new specimen shows a combination of lower facial features-hitherto unknown in Miocene hominoids-that resembles the facial pattern of Gorilla, thus providing the first nondental evidence of gorilla-like lower facial morphology in the fossil record. Considering the current evidence, the gorilla-like facial pattern of D. fontani is inferred to be derived relative to previously known stem hominids, and might indicate that this taxon is either an early member of the Homininae or, alternatively, a stem hominid convergent with the lower facial pattern of Gorilla. The biogeographic implications of both alternatives are discussed. This new finding in the Hostalets de Pierola section reinforces the importance of this area for understanding the elusive question of the Middle Miocene origin and early radiation of great apes.

A unique Middle Miocene European hominoid and the origins of the great ape and human clade

The great ape and human clade (Primates: Hominidae) currently includes orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and humans. When, where, and from which taxon hominids evolved are among the most exciting questions yet to be resolved. Within the Afropithecidae, the Kenyapithecinae (Kenyapithecini + Equatorini) have been proposed as the sister taxon of hominids, but thus far the fragmentary and scarce Middle Miocene fossil record has hampered testing this hypothesis. Here we describe a male partial face with mandible of a previously undescribed fossil hominid, Anoiapithecus brevirostris gen. et sp. nov., from the Middle Miocene (11.9 Ma) of Spain, which enables testing this hypothesis. Morphological and geometric morphometrics analyses of this material show a unique facial pattern for hominoids. This taxon combines autapomorphic features—such as a strongly reduced facial prognathism—with kenyapithecine (more specifically, kenyapithecin) and hominid synapomorphies. This combination supports a sister-group relationship between kenyapithecins (Griphopithecus + Kenyapithecus) and hominids. The presence of both groups in Eurasia during the Middle Miocene and the retention in kenyapithecins of a primitive hominoid postcranial body plan support a Eurasian origin of the Hominidae. Alternatively, the two extant hominid clades (Homininae and Ponginae) might have independently evolved in Africa and Eurasia from an ancestral, Middle Miocene stock, so that the supposed crown-hominid synapomorphies might be homoplastic.

Biochronological, taphonomical, and paleoenvironmental background of the fossil great ape Pierolapithecus catalaunicus (Primates, Hominidae)

The Late Aragonian (late middle Miocene) stratigraphic sequence of Abocador de Can Mata (ACM) from Els Hostalets de Pierola (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Catalonia, Spain), rich in fossil vertebrate localities, provides a unique opportunity to study the evolution of western Eurasian hominoids. Among these sites, Barranc de Can Vila 1 (BCV1) recently delivered a well-preserved hominoid partial skeleton of a new genus and species, Pierolapithecus catalaunicus. On the basis of the small-mammal fauna recovered at BCV1, we infer an early MN 7+8 age, between 12.5 and 12Ma, for this site. The spatial distribution of macromammal fossils, the relative abundances of skeletal elements, and their state of preservation suggest that different agents were involved in the accumulation of the P. catalaunicus individual and the remaining taxa. Carnivore marks occur on some bones of the P. catalunicus skeleton, documenting the action of predators and/or scavengers in this case. In contrast, carnivore marks are extremely rare on other macromammal remains, which seem to be derived from adjacent alluvial-fan plain areas. The small-mammal fauna from BCV1 and the large-mammal fauna from the ACM series, indicate the presence of considerably humid and warm forest environments. The compositions of the small-mammal fauna from BCV1 and from other Late Aragonian sites from the Vallès-Penedès area are similar to those from France and central Europe. The former are clearly distinct from those of Iberian inner basins, where the environment appears to have been drier, thus precluding the dispersal of hominoids into that area.

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.

Brief communication: the oldest pliopithecid record in the Iberian Peninsula based on new material from the Vallès-Penedès Basin.

Here, we report on an isolated pliopithecid M3/ (IPS35028) from locality ACM/C3-B2 (12.0 Ma, MN7) of the late Middle Miocene stratigraphic series of Abocador de Can Mata (ACM, Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula). This tooth is about 0.2 million years older than the remains of Pliopithecus canmatensis (11.8-11.7 ma), recorded from several localities from the ACM series. The unusual occlusal features of IPS35028, together with the lack of homologous material for several pliopithecid species, preclude a precise taxonomic attribution of the C3-B2 specimen, which does not fit the morphology of any known pliopithecid M3/. In particular, although an attribution to P. canmatensis would seem reasonable on the basis of size, identical geographic provenance, and similar age, the morphology of IPS35028 appears too primitive compared to the M1/ and M2/ of the former taxon. Instead, the C3-B2 pliopithecid displays several primitive features shared with the dionysopithecine Dionysopithecus and the pliopithecine Pliopithecus piveteaui. It therefore seems more likely that IPS35028 represents a previously unknown pliopithecid taxon, although a formal taxonomic recognition of its probable distinct status is not advisable, given the scarcity of the currently available material. Alternatively, this taxon might be more closely related to small-bodied African catarrhines (such as dendropithecids). However, the morphology of the ACM specimen is not particularly similar to that of the M3/ of these African taxa. Hence, based on age and geographic provenance, an attribution of IPS35028 to the Pliopithecidae is favored here.

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.

First Evidence of Tethytragus Azanza and Morales, 1994 (Ruminantia, Bovidae), in the Miocene of the Vallès-Penedès Basin (Spain)

DANIEL DEMIGUEL,*,1 ISRAEL M. SÁNCHEZ,2 DAVID M. ALBA,1 JORDI GALINDO,1 JOSEP M. ROBLES,1,3 and SALVADOR MOYÀ-SOLÀ4; 1Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICP, Campus de la UAB s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain, daniel.demiguel@icp.cat; david.alba@icp.cat; jordi.galindo@icp.cat; 2Departamento de Paleobiologı́a, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales–CSIC, C/ José Gutiérrez Abascal 2 28006, Madrid, Spain, israelms@mncn.csic.es; 3FOSSILIA Serveis Paleontològics i Geològics, S.L. C/ Jaume I 87 08470, Sant Celoni, Barcelona, Spain, josep.robles@fossilia.com; 4ICREA at Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont and Unitat d’Antropologia Biològica (Dept. BABVE), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICP, Campus de la UAB s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain, salvador.moya@icp.cat