Late Miocene bovids from Serefkoy-2 (SW Turkey) and their position within the sub-Paratethyan biogeographic province

WOS: 000351081500005We describe new fossil bovid craniodental remains from the Upper Miocene fossil site of Serefkoy-2, Yatagan Basin, SW Turkey. The new material belongs to six species: Gazella cf. G. capricornis, Palaeoryx pallasi, Sporadotragus parvidens, Skoufotragus cf. Sk. schlosseri, Urmiatherium rugosifrons, and ?Sinotragus sp., which together indicate a latest middle-early Late Turolian (Late Miocene) age. Medium-to-large bovid taxa prevail over small ones, and protoryxoid bovids clearly dominate the assemblage. An analysis of the taxonomic structure, size and diet spectra of several Turolian bovid assemblages from Greece and Turkey reveals Serefkoy-2 to be a member of a mammalian palaeocommunity particular to southwestern Anatolia, which in turn forms part of the sub-Paratethyan biogeographic province.Wenner-Gren International Collaborative Research Grant; Ege UniversityEge University [TTM/001/2008, TTM/001/2010]; Scientific and Technological Research Council of TurkeyTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [108Y047]We thank Tanju Kaya and Serdar Mayda (both Ege University, Izmir, Turkey), Robert Scott (Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA), and Gildas Merceron (Poitiers University, France) for their help and support in the field and lab, and Mehmet Cihat Alcicek (Pamukkale University, Denizli, Turkey) for helpful discussions on SW Anatolia geodynamics. Thanks are also due to Kaye Reed (Arizona State University, Tempe, USA), Denis Geraads (CNRS MNHN, Paris, France) and Felix G. Marx (University of Otago, New Zealand) for their fruitful comments and suggestions, as well as to Katerina Vasileiadou (Natural History Museum of the Petrified Forest of Lesvos, Greece) for linguistic improvements. This work was supported by a "Wenner-Gren International Collaborative Research Grant" ("Environmental Dynamics of Western Eurasian Hominids during the Late Miocene"; PI: Robert Scott), as well as grants from Ege University (TTM/001/2008 and TTM/001/2010) and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (108Y047)