Petculescu, Alexandru

Ştiucă, Emanoil

RERO DOC Digital Library

ARTICLE IN PRESS1040-6182/$ - sedoi:10.1016/j.quCorrespondE-mail addrQuaternary International 179 (2008) 79–82Peculiarity of the mammal associations from the Upper Pleistocene(Dobrogea, Romania)Alexandru Petculescu, Emanoil S- tiuca˘Institute of Speleology, Bucharest, RomaniaAvailable online 4 September 2007AbstractPaleontological studies of the mammals from the Upper Pleistocene at Dobrogea are distinct in comparison with other mammalassociations from Romania. The paleoenvironment from the last glacial cycle (Wurm) is reconstructed on the basis of the mammal cavefossils discovered in caves at Dobrogea. Research in karst deposits from the last glacial cycle is based on systematic surveying of the mostimportant paleontological sites.r 2007 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.1. IntroductionLocated between the Danube River and the Black Sea,the territory of Dobrogea is distinguished by many climaticand faunal peculiarities compared with other regions ofsouthern Romania. Paleontological investigations, carriedout since 1956 in the karst deposits located in the Jurassiclimestones of central Dobrogea, revealed a rich mammalassociation.The paleontological studies of the mammals from theUpper Pleistocene of the Dobrogea region reveal distinctparticularity in comparison with other mammal associa-tions from Romania (Burghele et al., 1995). The research inkarst deposits from the last glacial cycle is based onsystematic surveying of the most important paleontologicalsites, including La Adam Cave, Cheia Cave, Casian Caveand Gaura Vulpii Fissure (Fig. 1).2. MammalsThe mammal remains, especially herbivores, wereaccumulated in caves by Upper and Middle Paleolithichunters. These communities within caves are representedon different levels by pebble tools and bones.e front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reaint.2007.08.030ing author.ess: romanianspeleology@k.ro (A. Petculescu).Caves, used as shelters, were used not only by primitivehumans but also by the large carnivores such as cave bear(Ursus spelaeus) and cave hyena (Crocuta spelaea). In theabsence of humans, the carnivores used these places forshelter, birth, and nurseries. Thus, La Adam cave, duringthe middle phases of the last glacial cycle, was used by thehyenas which brought numerous remains there (Samsonand Ra˘dulescu, 1959; Dumitrescu et al., 1963; Terzea,1972). Thanks to this ‘‘artiﬁcial selection’’, the number ofthe bones is not signiﬁcant, but the faunal association,generally speaking, is relatively well represented.The small mammal remains are due to the existence, nextto the entrance of the caves, of nests of carnivorous birds.The remains were accumulated in chronological positionsand represent a mirror of the mammalian associationsoutside, especially for the small mammals.3. Faunas from the last glacial cycle from DobrogeaDuring the Upper Pleistocene, Dobrogea was character-ized by a cold climate with a strong continental inﬂuenceand warm periods (interstadials). Northern species includingMamuthus primigenius, Coelodonta antiquitatis, Rangifertarandus, Alopex lagopus, Stenocranius gregalis andMicrotusoeconomus are present, with steppe elements includingbovids, Saiga tatarica, ecvids (Equus cf. transilvanicus, Equusspelaeus spp., Equus sp., Hydruntinus hydruntinus), Vulpescorsac, and small mammals (Allactaga, Lagurus andserved.ARTICLE IN PRESSFig. 1. Location map. (1) Bordeiul de Piatra˘ rockshelter, (2) Cheia Cave, (3) Casian Cave, (4) Gaura Vulpii Cave, (5) Gura Dobrogei Cave, (6) GuraDobrogei-4 rockshelter, (7) ‘‘La Adam’’ Cave.A. Petculescu, E. S- tiuca˘ / Quaternary International 179 (2008) 79–8280Eolagurus genus) (Table 1). The yellow lemming (Eolagurusluteus), now living in central Asia, is represented inDobrogea as the westernmost point of the range of a largegroup (Ra˘dulescu and Samson, 1995). Other Nordic species,such as Lemmus and Dicrostonyx, are conﬁned to northernRomania (Markova, 1982; S- tiuca˘ et al., 2002).The relative warming intervals in Dobrogea are repre-sented by species such asMagaloceros giganteus and Cervuselaphus. In the ﬁrst part of MIS 3 (local interstadials AdamI and Adam II), Bos primigenius was identiﬁed. In thesecond part of the same stage (Vistorna I) Martes sp. andPanthera pardus were found in La Adam Cave. MIS 2 ischaracterized by the existence of wild boar (Sus scrofa)associated with Megaloceros and Hydruntinus.4. Particularity of the small mammal associationsThe massive presence of the small mammal remains ondifferent levels indicates some morphological and dimen-sional characteristics. Different subspecies can be separatedstatistically, especially the steppe lemmings and S. gregalis,as characteristic of distinct periods.Lagurus lagurus dobrogicus and S. gregalis spp. fromMIS 4 and the ﬁrst part of MIS 3, are large. S. gregalis arevery similar to the Siberian form.Lagurus lagurus thracicus and Stenocranius gregalisanglicus from the last part of MIS 3 and MIS 2 are small.S. gregalis anglicus specimens are very close to the modernspecies from central Asia and the Ural Mountains. Somespecies are characteristic only for a clearly delimited periodof time (e.g. Allocricetulus eversmanni, Scirtopoda telum).5. Chronology of the fossil depositsThe position of the fossiliferous levels from the caves wascorrelated with the fossil soils from the entrance zone. Agood example is the karstic deposits from La Adam cave,which grade into loess deposits and fossil soil near theentrance of the cave. This allows correlation with the wellknown loess stratigraphy of Dobrogea (Samson andRa˘dulescu, 1959; Conea, 1970; Samson, 1971). Thethickness of the deposits from La Adam cave is around15m. This section begin with the last part of the Riss,followed by a strong erosional period with red soil remainscorrelated with the Riss-Wurm interglacial, and a succes-sion of layers with very rich small and large mammalremains, associated with Upper and Middle Paleolithichuman industry (Leroi-Gourhan, 1969).6. ConclusionsThe similarity between faunal associations from Crimeaand Dobrogea during the last glacial cycle occurred whenthe level of the Black Sea was 80–90m below the presentsea level, and Dobrogea was directly connected to theCrimea. These regions represent a bridge between theARTICLE IN PRESSTable 1Biochronology and chronostratigraphy of DobrogeaA. Petculescu, E. S- tiuca˘ / Quaternary International 179 (2008) 79–82 81faunal associations from Eastern Europe and the BalkanPeninsula.Evidence includes: dominance of U. spelaeus in the ﬁrst stage of the lastglacial cycle; presence of the steppe lemmings (Lagurus and Eola-gurus) in both regions; presence of Scirtopoda telum in both regions; association between S. tatarica and Hydruntinus, com-mon in Dobrogea and Crimea; presence of the carnivores V. corsac and A. lagopus inboth regions; presence of Ovis orientalis remains in caves fromDobrogea and Crimea; Dobrogea was a very distinct region in the middle of themigration route between eastern Europe and centralAsia and southeastern Europe in the last glacial cycle.ReferencesBurghele, A., Ra˘dulescu, C., Samson, P.-M., S- tiuca˘, E., 1995. La premie`refaune interglaciaire (Eemien ?) de micromammife`res d’Olte´nie.Travaux de l’Institut de Spe´ologie Emile Racovitza 33, 101–106.Conea, A., 1970. Quaternary formations from Dobrogea. EducationAcademy R. S. Romania, 234pp.ARTICLE IN PRESSA. Petculescu, E. S- tiuca˘ / Quaternary International 179 (2008) 79–8282Dumitrescu, M., Samson, P., Terzea, E., Ra˘dulescu, C., Ghica, M., 1963.La Adam cave, Pleistocene site. Lucrarile Institutului de Speologie‘‘Emil Racovit¸a˘ I–II, 229–284.Leroi-Gourhan, A., 1969. De´nomination des oscillations wurmiennes.Bulletin de l’AFEQ 4.Markova, A.K., 1982. Pleistocene Rodents of the Russian Plain (inRussian). Nauka, Moscow, 184pp.Ra˘dulescu, C., Samson, P.-M., 1995. On some middle late pleiasocene raresmall mammal elements from the Karst deposits of central Dobrogea(Romania). Theoretical and Applied Karstology 8, 163–173.Samson, P., 1971. La stratigraphie du Quaternaire supe´rieur enRoumanie. VIIIe Congre`s INQUA, Paris 1969. E´tudes sur leQuaternaire dans le Monde.Samson, P., Ra˘dulescu, C., 1959. Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Chronologiede ‘‘Jungeren Losses’’ in der Dobrudscha. Eiszeitalter u. Gegenwart10, 129–204.S- tiuca˘, E., Petculescu, A., Arghir, R., 2002. Nouvelles donnees sur lesfaunes de microvertebres du Pleistocene superieur de Dobrogea, avecregard special sur la zone Movile (dep. de Constanta, Roumanie).Travaux de l’Institut de Spe´ologie ‘‘Emile Racovitza’’, Bucuresti,41–42, pp. 111–121.Terzea, E., 1972. Remarques sur la morphologie dentaire et la re´partitionde Microtus nivalis Martins (Rodentia, Mammalia) dans le Ple´istoce`nede Roumanie. Travaux de l’Institut de Spe´ologie Emile Racovitza XI,271–298.

Peculiarity of the mammal associations from the Upper Pleistocene (Dobrogea, Romania)

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

RERO DOC Digital Library