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Download Full Article in PDF Format First record of Trogontherium cuvieri (Mammalia, Rodentia) from the middle Pleistocene of Poland and review of the species Łucja FOSTOWICZ-FRELIK Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, PL-00-818 Warsaw (Poland) and Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (USA) [email protected] Fostowicz-Frelik Ł. 2008. — First record of Trogontherium cuvieri (Mammalia, Rodentia) from the middle Pleistocene of Poland and review of the species. Geodiversitas 30 (4) : 765-778. ABSTRACT Th e fossil record of the family Castoridae in Poland is rather poor. It consists mainly of small Miocene species, Chalicomys jaegeri Kaup, 1832, Steneofi ber eseri (Meyer, 1846), and S. minutus Meyer, 1838, as well as Pliocene Boreofi ber wenzensis (Sulimski, 1964) and more abundant remains of Castor fi ber Linnaeus, 1758, from the late Pleistocene. Herein, the fi rst discovery of Trogontherium cuvieri Fischer de Waldheim, 1809, a large Eurasian beaver from the early mid- dle Pleistocene site of Kozi Grzbiet (Central Poland) is reported. Th is species was widespread in Eurasia during the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene, when it reached its maximum dispersal, ranging from France eastwards to China and KEY WORDS from northern Siberia (the Kolyma region) southwards to the Sea of Azov. It Mammalia, became extinct in the middle Pleistocene (Saalian). Th e taxonomic history and Rodentia, Castoridae, complex nomenclature of this beaver are reviewed and discussed. Th e Euro- adaptations, pean fossil record of this species and some evolutionary trends in its dentition distribution, are summarized. Also, a brief review of the postcranial characters and possible systematics, Kozi Grzbiet, mode of life of the animal are presented. In general, its adaptations confi rm a Pleistocene. more terrestrial lifestyle than that of the modern Castor. GEODIVERSITAS • 2008 • 30 (4) © Publications Scientifi ques du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. www.geodiversitas.com 765 Fostowicz-Frelik Ł. RÉSUMÉ Première récolte de Trogontherium cuvieri (Mammalia, Rodentia) du Pléistocène moyen de Pologne et révision de l’espèce. Les restes fossiles de Castoridae sont relativement rares en Pologne. Il s’agit essentiel lement de petites espèces miocènes, comme Chalicomys jaegeri Kaup, 1832, Steneofi ber eseri (Meyer, 1846) et S. minutus Meyer, 1838, ainsi que Boreofi ber wenzensis (Sulimski, 1964) du Pliocène et de l’espèce contemporaine Castor fi ber Linnaeus, 1758 connue en abondance dans le Pléistocène supérieur. On décrit ici la récolte de Trogontherium cuvieri Fischer de Waldheim, 1809, un grand Castoridae eurasiatique dans le site Kozi Grzbiet (centre de la Pologne) daté du début du Pléistocène moyen ; il s’agit de la première récolte de cette espèce en Pologne. L’aire de répartition de cette espèce au Pliocène supérieur et au Pléistocène inférieur (où il a atteint son maximum) englobait l’Eurasie depuis la France jusqu’à la Chine à l’est et depuis la Sibérie du nord (région de MOTS CLÉS la Kolyma) jusqu’à la Mer d’Azov au sud. Trogontherium cuvieri s’est éteint à Mammalia, la fi n du Pléistocène moyen (Saalien). L’histoire taxonomique et les problèmes Rodentia, Castoridae, complexes de nomenclature de cette espèce sont présentés. On présente égale- adaptations, ment la répartition des restes fossiles de cette espèce et quelques changements répartition, évolutifs concernant la dentition, ainsi qu’un bref résumé des caractères du systématique, Kozi Grzbiet, squelette postcrânien. De façon générale, le mode de vie de cet animal était Pléistocène. plus lié à l’habitat terrestre que celui du Castor contemporain. INTRODUCTION Trogontherium cuvieri is known from many Plio- Pleistocene fossil sites in Europe and China (Maul Although Poland is one of the few European coun- 1990; Xu 1994). It is sometimes called the “giant tries where beavers, members of the rodent family beaver”, but this usage could be misleading because it Castoridae, have survived until today, the Polish was also applied to the North American extinct bea- fossil record of this family is rather poor. It includes ver Castoroides Foster, 1838, which was signifi cantly remains of Chalicomys jaegeri Kaup, 1832, collected larger than any other beaver as its skull attained 242- in the localities Przeworno 1 (Kubiak & Wolsan 397 mm in lenght (Xu 1994). Among other Eurasian 1986), Opole 1 (Oppeln; Wegner 1913; Kowalski beavers also Youngofi ber Chow & Li, 1978, exceeded 1967), and Opole 2 (Kowalski 1967), Steneofi ber Trogontherium by 5-10% in the skull dimensions, and eseri (Meyer, 1846) and S. minutus Meyer, 1838, Anchitheriomys Roger, 1898, matched it in size (Xu from Opole 2 (Kowalski 1967), all middle Mio- 1994). Th erefore, the term “giant beaver” should be cene in age, also the Pliocene Boreofi ber wenzensis restricted to Castoroides only (Schreuder 1931; May- (Sulimski, 1964) from Węże 1 (Radulescu & Sam- hew 1978) and the term “Eurasian Giant Beaver”, son 1972), as well as more numerous fi nds of the being ambiguous, should be avoided. extant Castor fi ber Linnaeus, 1758, from the late Pleistocene and Holocene deposits (Sommer & Nadachowski 2006). Here the fi rst Polish record of MATERIAL AND METHODS the Plio-Pleistocene Eurasian Trogontherium cuvieri Fischer de Waldheim, 1809, is reported. Th e paper Th e terminology used for the folds in the cheek teeth also reviews and updates information on this extinct follows Stirton (1935). Th e length (greatest mesio- species, with emphasis on its taxonomic history, distal dimension) and width (greatest bucco-lingual chronobiogeography, and lifestyle. dimension) of the P4 crown were measured at the 766 GEODIVERSITAS • 2008 • 30 (4) Trogontherium cuvieri (Mammalia, Rodentia) from Poland occlusal surface. Th e specimen examined is housed 20°21’E, at Zajączków near Kielce, Świętokrzyskie Mts, in ISEZ. southeastern Poland (Głazek et al. 1976, 1977a, b). Unit 2 is composed principally of yellowish-brown to Comparative material: Castor canadensis Kuhl, dark brown sandy loams and contains abundant fossils. 1820 (CM 1217, 25282, 31618), C. fi ber (CM Th ese represent more than 100 species of mammals, 1793), Myocastor coypus (Molina, 1782) (CM 1776), including lipotyphlans (Rzebik-Kowalska 1994), bats and Ondatra zibethicus (Linnaeus, 1766) (CM (Wołoszyn 1988), lagomorphs (Sych 1980; Fostowicz- 2081). Frelik 2008), rodents (Kowalski 2001, and references therein), carnivorans (Wiszniowska 1989), and artio- dactyls (Stefaniak 2007). ABBREVIATIONS Th e deposition period of the bone bearing layers of Kozi CM Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pitts- Grzbiet (Fig. 1) was established on the basis of the fl uoro- burgh; chloro -apatite (FCL/P) and collagene methods at c. 700- ISEZ Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, 550 ka (Głazek et al. 1976). It is assigned to an interstadial Polish Academy of Sciences, Cracow; warming, correlated with the Cromerian II (Małopolanian PIN Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Interglacial according to Ber 2005). Paleomagnetic investi- Sciences, Moscow. gation of the sediment revealed positive magnetic polarity referred to Brunhes normal magnetic epoch (Głazek et al. 1977b; Lindner 1982). Th e composition of the rodent fauna SYSTEMATICS indicates the uppermost Biharian of the Templomhegy phase (Nadachowski 1990). Mimomys savini Hinton, 1910, the index species for the upper Biharian in Central Europe, is Order RODENTIA Bowdich, 1821 quite abundant and shows some advanced morphological Family CASTORIDAE Hemprich, 1820 features similar to Arvicola Lacépède, 1799, believed to be Genus Trogontherium its descendant (Nadachowski 1985). Th e presence of the Fischer de Waldheim, 1809 other Biharian species, such as Pliomys episcopalis Méhely, 1914, P. lenki (Heller, 1930), Allocricetus bursae Schaub, Trogontherium cuvieri 1930, and A. ehiki Schaub, 1930, as well as the late Vil- Fischer de Waldheim, 1809 lanyian and Biharian glirid species, Glis cf. sackdillingensis and, on the other hand, the lack of Allophaiomys Kormos, Castor trogontherium Cuvier, 1812: pt. IV, chap. V, a. 1933, confi rm the late Biharian dating. Presence of Micro- I: 4. tus (Pitymys) arvalidens Kretzoi, 1958, M. (Stenocranius) gregaloides (Schrank, 1798), and Clethrionomys glareolus “Diabroticus schmerlingi” Pomel, 1848: 167, nomen (Schreber, 1780) narrows this period to the latest part of nudum. the Biharian (Nadachowski 1990). Th e composition of the vertebrate fauna suggests a moist Conodontes boisvilletti Laugel, 1862: 715-717. and sylvan environment (Lindner 1982), at least for the greater part of the time of deposition. Th e presence of Dipoides lydekkeri Schlosser, 1902: 117. typical forest rodents such as Petauria sp., Clethrionomys Trogontherium Soergeli Rüger, 1928: 224, pl. 11, fi gs 5, 6. glareolus, Eliomys cf. quercinus, Sicista praeloliger Kormos, 1930, and Glis cf. sackdillingensis, as well as birds such as Sinocastor andersoni Teilhard de Chardin, 1942: 5, fi g. 7. Tetrao sp. and Tetrastes sp., indicates a woodland habitat of taiga type (Bocheński 1984). HOLOTYPE. — PIN 2422/1, an incomplete skull (Fischer de Waldheim 1809a: pl. I). REVISED DIAGNOSIS. — Large beaver but smaller than Castoroides and Youngofi ber, maximal skull length 210 mm; TYPE LOCALITY. — Taganrog, Azov seashore, Russia; the sagittal suture of skull distinct, fl anked by two deep de- horizon unknown. pressions. Incisors with convex enamel face, lower pair pear-shaped in cross section. Th e enamel surface of the DISTRIBUTION. — Late Pliocene
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