Hipparion macedonicum revisited: New data on evolution of hipparionine horses from the Late Miocene of Greece

The new expeditions to the Axios Valley (Macedonia, Greece) provided a new set of fossils from the various localities. Among the material collected from the Late Miocene hominoid bearing mammal locality Ravin de la Pluie (RPl) were some remains of Hipparion macedonicum, which was originally described from this locality. The most important is the skull and associated mandible, the first from the type locality. The new material is compared with the previously collected material of the taxon from the Vallesian and Turolian levels of Greece, as well as with corresponding material from Eurasia. The RPl skull is compared with the type skull of H. matthwei, a taxon, which several times has been referred as synonym to H. macedonicum. The comparison indicated several differences which distinguish the two species. Hipparion macedonicum has a continuous stratigraphic range from the Vallesian to middle Turolian and it is possibly present in the late Turolian. The comparison of the chronologically different samples of H. macedonicum indicates that the Vallesian form of H. macedonicum has larger size, shorter narial opening, longer tooth rows, rich enamel plication, more elongated and narrow plis, more robust metapodials and less running legs than the Turolian form. Some of the morphological changes are related to the habitat, which was more closed, warmer and wetter in the Vallesian than Turolian

Lizards and snakes from the late Miocene hominoid locality of Ravin de la Pluie (Axios Valley, Greece)

We here describe lizards and snakes from the late Miocene (MN 10) of Ravin de la Pluie, near Thessaloniki, Greece, a locality widely known for its hominoid primate Ouranopithecus macedoniensis. The new finds comprise two large-sized lizards (a probable anguine and a varanid) and two snakes (an elapid and a small-sized “colubrine”). Even if the material is represented by few specimens, this is the first record of squamates from the late Miocene MN 10 biozone of southeastern Europe and the third only for the whole continent. The importance of the varanid vertebrae for systematic attributions is discussed. The new varanid limb elements described herein rank among the few such specimens in the fossil record of monitor lizards. Judging from the new and previously published varanid appendicular material, we suggest that Neogene monitor lizards from Europe possessed comparatively short and robustly built limbs. Distinctive scars on one of the limb elements are interpreted as bite marks of a predator or scavenger, offering insights on the palaeoecology of the herpetofauna of the locality

Correction: Konidaris et al. Dating of the Lower Pleistocene Vertebrate Site of Tsiotra Vryssi (Mygdonia Basin, Greece): Biochronology, Magnetostratigraphy, and Cosmogenic Radionuclides. Quaternary 2021, 4, 1

Background and scope: The late Villafranchian large mammal age (~2.0–1.2 Ma) of the Early Pleistocene is a crucial interval of time for mammal/hominin migrations and faunal turnovers in western Eurasia. However, an accurate chronological framework for the Balkans and adjacent territories is still missing, preventing pan-European biogeographic correlations and schemes. In this article, we report the first detailed chronological scheme for the late Villafranchian of southeastern Europe through a comprehensive and multidisciplinary dating approach (biochronology, magnetostratigraphy, and cosmogenic radionuclides) of the recently discovered Lower Pleistocene vertebrate site Tsiotra Vryssi (TSR) in the Mygdonia Basin, Greece. Results: The minimum burial ages (1.88 ± 0.16 Ma, 2.10 ± 0.18 Ma, and 1.98 ± 0.18 Ma) provided by the method of cosmogenic radionuclides indicate that the normal magnetic polarity identified below the fossiliferous layer correlates to the Olduvai subchron (1.95–1.78 Ma; C2n). Therefore, an age younger than 1.78 Ma is indicated for the fossiliferous layer, which was deposited during reverse polarity chron C1r. These results are in agreement with the biochronological data, which further point to an upper age limit at ~1.5 Ma. Overall, an age between 1.78 and ~1.5 Ma (i.e., within the first part of the late Villafranchian) is proposed for the TSR fauna. Conclusions: Our results not only provide age constraints for the local mammal faunal succession, thus allowing for a better understanding of faunal changes within the same sedimentary basin, but also contribute to improving correlations on a broader scale, leading to more accurate biogeographic, palaeoecological, and taphonomic interpretations

Revision of Varanus marathonensis (Squamata, Varanidae) based on historical and new material: morphology, systematics, and paleobiogeography of the European monitor lizards

Monitor lizards (genus Varanus) inhabited Europe at least from the early Miocene to the Pleistocene. Their fossil record is limited to about 40 localities that have provided mostly isolated vertebrae. Due to the poor diagnostic value of these fossils, it was recently claimed that all the European species described prior to the 21st century are not taxonomically valid and a new species, Varanus amnhophilis, was erected on the basis of fragmentary material including cranial elements, from the late Miocene of Samos (Greece). We re-examined the type material of Varanus marathonensis Weithofer, 1888, based on material from the late Miocene of Pikermi (Greece), and concluded that it is a valid, diagnosable species. Previously unpublished Iberian material from the Aragonian (middle Miocene) of Abocador de Can Mata (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Barcelona) and the Vallesian (late Miocene) of Batallones (Madrid Basin) is clearly referable to the same species on a morphological basis, further enabling to provide an emended diagnosis for this species. Varanus amnhophilis appears to be a junior subjective synonym of V. marathonensis. On the basis of the most complete fossil Varanus skeleton ever described, it has been possible to further resolve the internal phylogeny of this genus by cladistically analyzing 80 taxa coded for 495 morphological and 5729 molecular characters. Varanus marathonensis was a large-sized species distributed at relatively low latitudes in both southwestern and southeastern Europe from at least MN7+8 to MN12. Our cladistic analysis nests V. marathonensis into an eastern clade of Varanus instead of the African clade comprising Varanus griseus, to which it had been related in the past. At least two different Varanus lineages were present in Europe during the Neogene, represented by Varanus mokrensis (early Miocene) and V. marathonensis (middle to late Miocene), respectively

Discretization Provides a Conceptually Simple Tool to Build Expression Networks

Biomarker identification, using network methods, depends on finding regular co-expression patterns; the overall connectivity is of greater importance than any single relationship. A second requirement is a simple algorithm for ranking patients on how relevant a gene-set is. For both of these requirements discretized data helps to first identify gene cliques, and then to stratify patients

Hipparion macedonicum revisited: new data on evolution of hipparionine horses from the Late Miocene of Greece

The new expeditions to the Axios Valley (Macedonia, Greece) provided a new set of fossils from the various localities. Among the material collected from the Late Miocene hominoid bearing mammal locality Ravin de la Pluie (RPl) were some remains of Hipparion macedonicum, which was originally described from this locality. The most important is the skull and associated mandible, the first from the type locality. The new material is compared with the previously collected material of the taxon from the Vallesian and Turolian levels of Greece, as well as with corresponding material from Eurasia. The RPl skull is compared with the type skull of H. matthwei, a taxon, which several times has been referred as synonym to H. macedonicum. The comparison indicated several differences which distinguish the two species. Hipparion macedonicum has a continuous stratigraphic range from the Vallesian to middle Turolian and it is possibly present in the late Turolian. The comparison of the chronologically different samples of H. macedonicum indicates that the Vallesian form of H. macedonicum has larger size, shorter narial opening, longer tooth rows, rich enamel plication, more elongated and narrow plis, more robust metapodials and less running legs than the Turolian form. Some of the morphological changes are related to the habitat, which was more closed, warmer and wetter in the Vallesian than Turolian

Paradolichopithecus arvernensis

Paradolichopithecus arvernensis (Depéret, 1929) LOCALITY. — Vatera (VTR), Lesvos Island, Greece. AGE. — Middle Villafranchian s.l., MN 17 (late Pliocene). DIAGNOSIS. — Large-sized; clear sexual dimorphism in the canine’s complex; large anterior lower teeth; lingual surface of the lower incisors without enamel; p4 with larger labial than lingual cuspid; m3 with elongated trigonid, low relief and a large sixth cuspid; eruption pattern of lower dentition typically papionin.Published as part of Koufos, George D., 2009, The Neogene cercopithecids (Mammalia, Primates) of Greece, pp. 817-850 in Geodiversitas 31 (4) on page 840, DOI: 10.5252/g2009n4a817, http://zenodo.org/record/538150

Mesopithecus pentelicus Wagner 1839

Mesopithecus pentelicus Wagner, 1839 HOLOTYPE. — Maxillary fragment with M1-M3 described by Wagner (1839) and figured by Wagner (1840). The specimen is housed in BSPM numbered as BSPM ASII. 11. LOCALITIES. — Classical Pikermi ravine (PIK), Attica, Greece (near Athens); Chomateres or Kisdari (CHO), Attica, Greece (near Athens). AGE. — Middle Turolian, MN 12 (late Miocene); more precisely it is referred to the uppermost MN 12 with an age of ~7.0 Ma. Th e fauna of Chomateres is considered slightly older than the Pikermi one. DIAGNOSIS. — Medium-sized colobine monkey; short, upright face; sexual dimorphism in the skull, canines and postcranials; absent or very small sagittal crest in the males; enlarged mandibular angle; shallow mandibular corpus with constant height between p4 and m3; convex anterior symphysis without symphyseal constriction; small and deeply inclined planum alveolare; absent or weak fossa genioglossa; small lingual cusp in the P3, 4; small honing facet in the p3; small hypoconulid in the m3.Published as part of Koufos, George D., 2009, The Neogene cercopithecids (Mammalia, Primates) of Greece, pp. 817-850 in Geodiversitas 31 (4) on page 839, DOI: 10.5252/g2009n4a817, http://zenodo.org/record/538150

Mesopithecus delsoni Bonis, Bouvrain, Geraads & Koufos 1990

<i>Mesopithecus delsoni</i> Bonis, Bouvrain, Geraads & Koufos, 1990 <p>HOLOTYPE. — Mandible of male adult individual with both tooth rows, RZO-159. It is housed in the Laboratory of Geology and Palaeontology, University of Thessaloniki.</p> <p>LOCALITY. — Ravin des Zouaves-5 (RZO), Axios Valley, Macedonia, Greece.</p> <p>AGE. — Early Turolian, MN 11 (late Miocene); estimated magnetostratigraphic age ~8.2 Ma.</p> <p>DIAGNOSIS. — Large size; deep mandibular corpus; flattened anterior symphysis; strong symphyseal constriction; slightly inclined alveolar plane; large fossa genioglossa; thick inferior transverse torus; large honing facet in the p3; well-developed and bicuspid talonid in the m3.</p>Published as part of <i>Koufos, George D., 2009, The Neogene cercopithecids (Mammalia, Primates) of Greece, pp. 817-850 in Geodiversitas 31 (4)</i> on page 839, DOI: 10.5252/g2009n4a817, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/5381502">http://zenodo.org/record/5381502</a&gt