Miocene Monkey from Melchingen - Pickford - 2016

Reports of Vallesian cercopithecid primates in Europe are scarce and poorly supported, but Turolian and subsequent records are common and well established. In contrast, hominoid primates are relatively common in Vallesian deposits, but are rare in Turolian and later deposits. This observation has given rise to several hypotheses concerning competitive exclusion, adaptations and palaeoclimatic changes. During a revision of European Miocene suids carried out since 2010, the author has found several mis-identified hominoids in various collections. Recently, a cercopithecid fossil (Mesopithecus sp. cf. pentelicus) was recognised in the historical collections from Melchingen, Swabian Alb, Germany, a site well known for the hominoids that it yielded. The Melchingen fauna, previously correlated to MN 9, is in fact comprised of a mixture of Vallesian and Turolian elements which are preserved differently (brown teeth for Vallesian specimens, pale cream to white teeth for Turolian ones). The Melchingen monkey tooth has pale cream-coloured enamel, from which we infer a Turolian age for it, although there must remain some doubt about its age. At 48°21’ latitude north, this is one of the most northerly known late Miocene cercopithecids. The aim of this paper is to describe and interpret this fossil and to discuss its importance for understanding the evolution of European Late Miocene primate faunas.

Keywords

Cercopithecidae K Late Miocene K Melchingen K Swabian Alb K Germany

Full text (PDF)

Export citation

Related articles