Wilma Wessels

Late Miocene Sciuridae (Mammalia, Rodentia) from Anatolia, Turkey

ABSTRACT Isolated cheek teeth of Sciuridae (Rodentia, Mammalia) from nine late Miocene localities in central Anatolia (Turkey) are described. The teeth represent at least 12 different species, five of which belong to the ground squirrel genus Tamias, two to the ground squirrel genus Spermophilinus, one to the flying squirrel genus Hylopetes, and two to the flying squirrel genus Pliopetaurista. One species, Tamias anatoliensis (type locality Altintaş 1), is new. An unknown genus and species of giant tree or ground squirrel is represented by one tooth. Two teeth probably form the oldest record in western Eurasia of the tree squirrel genus Sciurus. Seven of the localities that yielded Sciuridae are lacustrine deposits, two are karst fissure fills. Their estimated ages range from MN 9 to MN 13. The majority of late Miocene Sciuridae from Anatolia show affinities with European sciurids of the same period.

Rodent faunas from the Paleogene of south-east Serbia

Seven new rodent faunas are described from the Pčinja and Babušnica-Koritnica basins of south-east Serbia. The geology of the Tertiary deposits in the Pčinja and Koritnica-Babušnica basins of south-east Serbia is briefly reviewed. The fossil content of the new vertebrate localities is listed, and an inventory of the rodent associations is presented. The rodent associations are late Eocene-early Oligocene in age, interpreted on biostratigraphical grounds. These are the first rodent faunas of that age from the Balkan area, an important palaeogeographic location between Europe and Asia. The Muridae, with the subfamilies Pseudocricetodontinae, Paracricetodontinae, Pappocricetodontinae, Melissiodontinae and ?Spalacinae, are dominant with eight genera, four of which are new. The diversity of the Melissiodontinae and Paracricetodontinae in the faunas suggests that these subfamilies originated in this region. The bi-lophodont cheek teeth occurring in the Oligocene assemblages are identified as the first record of the Diatomyidae outside of Asia. In light of the large amount of new data, the palaeogeographic setting and faunal turnover of the Eocene-Oligocene is discussed.

Are the Rhizomyinae and the Spalacinae closely related? Contradistinctive conclusions between genetics and palaeontology

The reconstruction of the evolutionary history of the Rhizomyinae and the Spalacinae based on the fossil record strongly suggests that these do not share the same murid ancestor and developed separately since the early Oligocene. This conclusion is supported by the difference in evolutionary dynamics between these groups during the Miocene and Pliocene. Molecular genetic studies of extant representatives of the Rhizomyinae, Spalacinae and Myospalacinae, however, suggest that these subfamilies share similarities that distinguish them from all other Muridae. As a result, geneticists unite these subfamilies into the family Spalacidae and consider the Spalacidae and the Muridae to be sister lineages. Until the conflict between the two disciplines is resolved we prefer to maintain the Rhizomyinae and the Spalacinae as two subfamilies within the family Muridae (superfamily Muroidea).

The westernmost tarsier: a new genus and species from the Miocene of Pakistan.

As the closest living sister group of anthropoids, tarsiers (Family Tarsiidae) are an important group in primate evolution. However, their fossil record is poor: only four species have been described, two from the Eocene of China and two from the Miocene of Thailand. All are from outside the range of the living species, which occur only on islands off Southeast Asia. Here, we describe a new fossil tarsier from Pakistan, a significant range extension. This record consists of two lower molars, an upper molar, and a lower premolar found in the Miocene Manchar Formation (~18-16 Ma [millions of years ago]) of Sindh Province, southern Pakistan. The Pakistani tarsier is morphologically distinct from all living and fossil tarsiers, but most similar to the middle Miocene Thai species Tarsius thailandicus. Though living tarsiers have traditionally been classified in a single genus, a recent revision proposed a division into three genera, which is strongly supported by molecular data. The Pakistani species is not referable to any of these genera, and we create for it and T. thailandicus a new tarsiid genus. This discovery broadens our understanding of the geographic range and morphological diversity of Miocene tarsiers and helps to put the living tarsiers into their evolutionary context.

New Melissiodontinae (Mammalia, Rodentia) from the Paleogene of south-east Serbia

Isolated teeth of Melissiodontinae from two Eocene and four Oligocene localities in southeastern Serbia are described. One new genus and two new species are named. The study of the derived morphology of the cheek teeth and of the contrastingly primordial microstructure of the tooth enamel of this diverse material provides a glimpse into the early history of the subfamily. The supposedly Asian murid ancestor of the Melissiodontinae seems to have reached the Serbian-Macedonian land area during the early or middle Eocene, which is shortly after the split up of the Muridae and Dipodidae and before the ‘Grande Coupure’ of central and Western Europe. We interpret the rapid consequent specialisation of the morphology of the chewing apparatus of the Melissiodontinae as an adaptation to feeding on small invertebrates on the floor of the Eocene forest.

Paracricetodontinae (Mammalia, Rodentia) from the late Eocene and early Oligocene of south-east Serbia

Three Paracricetodon species from the late Eocene locality Buštranje and the Early Oligocene localities Valniš, Strelac-1, -2, -3 and Raljin (south-east Serbia) are described; Paracricetodon dehmi Hrubesch, 1957 and two new species: Paracricetodon stojanovici and P. gracilis. A review of Paracricetodon species suggests that the species P. spectabilis, P. cadurcensis, P. dehmi, P. walgeri and P. wentgesi are primarily distinct in size. Paracricetodon kavakderensis and P. kodjayarmensis from Turkish Trace are considered junior synonyms of P. dehmi. The diversity and abundance of the Paracricetodontinae in the rodent assemblages from Serbia is not known from elsewhere and suggest that they underwent a radiation on the Serbian-Macedonian land area.

Insectivores and marsupials from the upper Oligocene of Banovići (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

ABSTRACT The insectivore and marsupial assemblage from the Banovići Basin (MP30/MN1, Bosnia and Herzegovina) provides, in addition to the Rodentia, a better understanding of the faunal exchange between Europe and Anatolia and the biostratigraphic, paleoecological, and paleobiogeographic interpretations of the area. The small and rather poorly preserved collection of fossil remains of insectivores and marsupials from Banovići includes three genera of Talpidae, three genera of Soricidae, one genus of Erinaceidae, one genus of Heterosoricidae, and one marsupial. At the genus level, this assemblage is a mix of genera known from the late Oligocene—early Miocene of Europe (MP29–MN3) and Anatolia (∼MP30–MN3). The presence of the talpids Suleimania aff. ruemkae and Desmanodon aff. ziegleri indicates an age within the Oligocene/Miocene boundary interval (MP30/MN1), which is consonant with the age estimate based on the rodents and magnetostratigraphy. The diversity of Soricidae and the presence of Geotrypus indicate that the Banovići biotope was rather warm and humid during the late Oligocene.

The oldest beaver from the Netherlands

A lower molar of Castor fiber from the sandpit of Langenboom (the Netherlands) represents, so far, the oldest occurrence of a beaver in the North Sea Basin. Its presence in the marine sand deposit of the Langenboom Formation indicates that Castor fiber inhabited areas in or near the river systems of Rhine and Meuse in the Early Pliocene.

Pappocricetodontinae (Rodentia, Muridae) from the Paleogene of south-east Serbia

Two species of Witenia and a new pappocricetodontine genus and species from the late Eocene and early Oligocene of south-east Serbia are described. The Pappocricetodontinae a subfamily originally based on the small Pappocricetodon rencunensis from China has become a polyphyletic entity due to inclusion of the genus Witenia. The dental morphology of the late Eocene Witenia europea nov. sp. is very similar to that of the middle Eocene Pappocricetodon antiquus, but its molar enamel is more primitive. The small Bustrania dissimile nov. gen. nov. sp., the dominant species in the late Eocene locality of Buštranje, is defined and allocated to the Pappocricetodontinae.

Introduction to the special issue “Old worlds, new ideas. A tribute to Albert van der Meulen”

Science advances knowledge. There are multiple ways to achieve this. In a science like palaeontology, every new locality, and sometimes even just a single fossil, brings new information which allows us to confirm our ideas, or sometimes necessitates their revision. Much of the advancement stems from research using familiar methods to gather new data. Alternatively, we can look at data in a new way, which often leads to leaps in our knowledge. Albert Jan van der Meulen has always been a master in finding such original solutions, being one of the rare scientists who kept reinventing himself throughout his career. Therefore, this special issue in his honour on the occasion of his 75th birthday is aptly called BOld worlds, new ideas^. For his PhD, Albert studied the Pleistocene fauna from Monte Peglia (Italy), and was faced with the confusing arvicolid taxonomy of the 1970s. In order to solve these problems, he developed a measuring scheme to morphometrically capture the shape of the anterior lobe of the arvicolid m1. This brought him to Hungary, and the classical fissure fillings in which many species were defined by Kretzoi (Fig. 1). Albert’s measurements of the occlusal surface are still standard in vole taxonomy and the accompanying ratios are these days easily calculated on the computer. However, PCs were not available at that time, and the first application of the ‘Van der Meulen method’ involved a grocery calculator and many hours of tedious work in a Budapest hotel room, with the assistance of his wife, Joke, his trusted companion in this and many other scientific ventures. After his PhD, Albert became a lecturer at Utrecht University, a position he held throughout his career. Although he published a number of papers on Pleistocene faunas and supervised two PhDs pertaining to the Quaternary, his attention shifted to older worlds and different areas (Fig. 2). The work with his Utrecht colleagues brought him to the eastern Mediterranean, but also included an epic road trip (!) to Pakistan. Greece has a special meaning to Albert. A very talented accordion player, his favourite music has its roots in the Balkan area, including ‘rebetiko’, the ‘Greek ‘blues’. Thus, his travels to the southern Balkans, often in the company of his family (Fig. 3), were a homecoming. This is perhaps best illustrated by a night in Macedonia, when Albert brought tears to the eyes of the locals by playing Anatolian songs. Much of the population of northern Greece has their roots in Asia Minor, and now this Dutch scientist and his accordion were bringing the songs of the old days back to them. The most influential paper from that period was probably that on the glirids from Aliveri. Together with his colleague Hans de Bruijn, Albert distinguished ecomorphotypes, thus opening the way for the use of dormice in palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. This paper was also a harbinger of his later work, which more and more focussed on environmental changes. At the end of the 1980s, Remmert Daams invited Albert to join him in his studies in Spain, and particularly in the area of Daroca-Calatayud, where the type section of the Aragonian lies. It was the beginning of a life-long friendship and a fruitful cooperation, both inside and outside Spain (Fig. 4). In 1992, a This article is a contribution to the special issue BOld worlds, new ideas. A tribute to Albert van der Meulen.^