Research history of Pleistocene faunas in Gombasek quarry (Slovakia), with comments to the type specimen and the type locality of Ursus deningeri gombaszogensis Kretzoi, 1938

Several fossiliferous sites were studied and material of fossil mammals and molluscs was collected in the Gombasek quarry (Rožňava district, Slovakia) since the 1930’s. We have identifi ed 9 independent collections of Late Biharian (latest Early to early Middle Pleistocene) mammals and molluscs from this locality. Th e nominal taxon Ursus deningeri gombaszogensis was described by Kretzoi (1938) on the basis of material collected by Tasnádi-Kubacska in the 1930’s. Th e age of this material, based primarily on the similarity with Fejfar’s collection, is supposed to be Late Biharian. Kretzoi (1938) designated as holotype of this taxon an m2 dext. with an original inventory number Fa 21. We recommend identifying this specimen with the m2 dext. housed in the collection of Hungarian Natural History Museum (Budapest) with the inventory number V 59.930. With 2 fi gures and 1 table

Establishing a neotype for Crocidura obtusa Kretzoi, 1938 (Mammalia, Soricidae): an emended description of this Pleistocene white‑toothed shrew species

We establish a neotype in the collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest (Hungary) for Crocidura obtusa (Mammalia, Soricidae). The species was originally described by M. Kretzoi as a new species from the Early Pleistocene locality of Gombaszög (now Gombasek, Slovakia) in 1938, but the holotype was lost in 1956. The neotype is a complete left mandible from the Osztramos 8 site (Hungary, Early Pleistocene). Due to the incomplete original description given by Kretzoi, a new definition of this species also had to be composed. Kretzoi’s distinctive characteristics between C. obtusa and the recent Crocidura species are accepted here, but further differences were discovered in comparison with the contemporary C. kornfeldi. According to our taxonomic results, C. obtusa was present in Central Europe, mainly in the Carpathian Basin, from the Early Pleistocene (ca. 1.2 Ma) to the earliest Late Pleistocene (ca. 130–115 ka)

Rhinocerotidae from the Upper Miocene deposits of the Western Pannonian Basin (Hungary): implications for migration routes and biogeography

Abstract Although the rhinoceros remains have high biochronological significance, they are poorly known or scarcely documented in the uppermost Miocene deposits of Europe. Several specimens collected from the Upper Miocene (around 7.0 Ma, Turolian) deposits of Kávás (Pannonian Basin, Western Hungary), previously determined as Rhinoceros sp., are revised and described in this paper. The postcranial remains of these specimens belong to "Dihoplus" megarhinus (de Christol) on the basis of the morphological and morphometric characters of humerus, radii, metacarpal and metatarsal elements. An overview of rhinoceros remains from several uppermost Miocene localities and the revision of the rhinoceros material from the Pannonian Basin suggest that "D." megarhinus spread during the latest Miocene from the Pannonian Basin towards Italy. The occurrences of this species in Western Hungary and Italy during the latest Miocene further imply that Rhinocerotini species were biogeographically segregated between Western, Southern and Central Europe

Relative chronology of Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene mammoth-bearing localities in Hungary

Present study provides a comprehensive picture of the major Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene mammoth-bearing localities of Hungary and places them within the framework of the early evolution of Mammuthus lineage in Eurasia. The evolutionary scenery is discussed from the biozone MN16 with the earliest representatives of the lineage in Hungary (i.e. M. rumanus from Ócsa and “primitive” M. meridionalis from Aszód) to the M. meridionalis-M. trogontherii transition around the Early-Middle Pleistocene boundary (i.e. Üröm-hegy with a specimen, which shows mosaic tooth morphology). In addition, the relationship between the geological age and four standard morphometric characters measurable on the molars (i.e. plate number, hypsodonty index, lamellar frequency and enamel thickness) were analysed. Similarities of the local evolutionary changes with the European patterns were pointed out. Reliable age estimates can be made for mammoth-bearing localities on the basis of the morphometric data presented in the article

Tracing human mobility in central Europe during the Upper Paleolithic using sub-seasonally resolved Sr isotope records in ornaments

Mobility of people and goods during the Upper Paleolithic has proven difcult to reconstruct given the relative rareness of remains. Nevertheless, archaeological contexts like the Late Pleistocene horizon of Borsuka Cave (Southern Poland) represent a unique opportunity to explore patterns of objects’ transportation across Central Europe. We investigated the origin of four ornaments made of European elk (Alces alces L.) incisors recovered at Borsuka Cave – the oldest known burial site in Poland, possibly a child grave. Laser-ablation plasma source mass spectrometric analyses of trace elements and Sr isotopic compositions revealed that one elk was roaming within a geologically uniform area while the others changed their pastures during their lifetimes. The non-local origin of the elk teeth is inferred from their exotic Sr isotopic compositions and the lack of evidence for the presence of elk in this territory during the Pleistocene. Instead, the elks’ Sr isotopic composition show good agreement with sites near the Austria-Slovakia border region and northern Hungary, ~250km away from the study site. We argue that the artefacts were most likely brought to Borsuka Cave by humans or by a network of exchange, so far never reported in the time range 32.5–28.8 ka cal BP for Southern Poland