New carnivore material from the Middle Miocene of Turkey. Implications on biochronology and palaeoecology

WOS: 000350786400002New carnivore remains, as well as some old material from the middle Miocene of Turkey are studied and reviewed in the present article. The middle Miocene mammal faunas of Southeastern Europe and Western Asia are rare and every new finding contributes to their better knowledge. The studied material originates from the Candir, Pasalar and Inonu localities, which are well known, especially the two first ones because of the presence of hominoid fossil remains. The following species have been recognized in the studied material from each locality (those marked by an asterisk are found for the first time): Candir: Amphicyon major, "Thalassictis" cf. montadai*. Percrocuta tungurensis*, Percrocuta sp.; Pasalar: Amphicyonidae sp., Ischyrictis sp., Protictitherium intermedium, Protictitherium cingulatum*, Protictitherium cf. crassum*. Styriofelis Iorteti; Inonu: Sansanosmilus cf. palmidens*. The carnivoran faunas of the Candir and Pasalar localities are similar, with eight shared species. They differ in the presence of ailurids in candir and the higher abundance of mustelids in Pasalar. The age of the three localities is discussed; the similarity of the Candir and Pasalar faunas suggests that they have similar ages. The carnivore guild structure of candir and Pasalar and its comparison with modern assemblages from known environments suggest a mixed, open woodland-like environment. (C) 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.European CommissionEuropean Commission Joint Research Centre [EU-SYNTHESYS: AT-TAF-702, FR-TAF-3102, GB-TAF-1842]; Revealing Hominoids Origins Initiative; international bilateral research of TUBITAK-RFBRTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [111Y192]; Ege University Research ProjectsEge University [TTM/001/2010, TTM/002/2011]The authors thank very much the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration of Turkey (MTA) and the Natural History Museum of MTA for giving them permission to study the material at their disposal. G.D.K. thanks G. Rossner (BSPM), P. Tassy (MNHN), C. Sagne (MNHN), C. Argot (MNHN), A. Currant (NHML), and C. Soligo (NHML) for giving him access to the material at their disposal and for their help during his visit to their institutes. The visit to these museums was financially supported by the European Commission's Research Infrastructure Action (EU-SYNTHESYS: AT-TAF-702, FR-TAF-3102, GB-TAF-1842) and the Revealing Hominoids Origins Initiative (R.H.O.I.-N.S.F.). S.M. was supported by international bilateral research of TUBITAK-RFBR 111Y192 during his visits in Germany and Russia. T.K. thanks the Ege University Research Projects TTM/001/2010 and TTM/002/2011. We thank S. Karakutuk and K. Halaclar for field and laboratory assistance. G.D.K. also thanks I. Casanovas-Vilar and J.M. Robles for providing him photos of "Thalassictis" montadai from Hostalets de Pierola. G.D.K. thanks the staff of EUNHM for their help during his two visits there. The review comments of D. Geraads and J. Madurell-Malapeira, as well as the technical advices of the associate-editor G. Merceron and the editor G. Escarguel, greatly improved the manuscript