Middle and Late Miocene Terrestrial Vertebrate Localities And
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ZOBODAT - www.zobodat.at Zoologisch-Botanische Datenbank/Zoological-Botanical Database Digitale Literatur/Digital Literature Zeitschrift/Journal: Beiträge zur Paläontologie Jahr/Year: 2006 Band/Volume: 30 Autor(en)/Author(s): Nargolwalla Mariam C., Hutchison Matt P., Begun David R. Artikel/Article: Middle and Late Miocene Terrestrial Vertebrate Localities and Paleoenvironments in the Pannonian Basin 347-360 ©Verein zur Förderung der Paläontologie am Institut für Paläontologie, Geozentrum Wien Beitr. Paläont., 30:347-360, Wien 2006 Middle and Late Miocene Terrestrial Vertebrate Localities and Paleoenvironments in the Pannonian Basin by Mariam C. N a r g o l w a l l a *),Matt P. H u t c h is o n & David R. B e g u n Nargolwalla , M.C., H utchison , M.P. & Begun , D.R., 2006. Middle and Late Miocene Terrestrial Vertebrate Localities and Paleoenvironments in the Pannonian Basin. — Beitr. Palaont., 30:347-360, Wien. Abstract Crisis,’ in addition to the paleoenvironmental evidence for the location and timing of potential corridors for The Pannonian Basin, surrounded by the Carpathians, faunal interchange. Alps and Dinarides, has long been known as a sedimen tary catchment area rich in information on the environ Key words: Miocene, Pannonian Basin, Lake Pannon, fos mental and biological evolution of Central Europe in the sil, vertebrate, paleoenvironment, paleogeography Miocene. We present here the results of an integrative study using GIS to synthesize the findings from our last three years of survey and excavation of new terrestrial Kurzfassung vertebrate fossil localities of Miocene age, together with the most recent paleogeographic reconstructions of the Das Pannonische Becken, umgeben von den Karpaten, region and published faunal and environmental data, Alpen und Dinariden, ist schon lange bekannt für seinen with the purpose of presenting a revised, comprehensive Sedimentreichtum und für seine Informationen bezüglich history of the paleogeography and paleobiogeography der Umweltentwicklung und der biologischen Evolution of the Pannonian Basin. We also present a preliminary in Zentraleuropa im Miozän. Wir präsentieren hier die description of changes in faunal diversity over time in Resultate einer integrativen Studie, die unter Verwendung response to paleoenvironmental fluctuations. von GIS die miozänen terrestrischen Funde aus Auf Our results indicate that between the late Sarmatian sammlungen und Grabungen der letzte drei Jahre zusam (12 Ma) and early to mid Pannonian (9.5 Ma), terrestrial menfasst, mit der Absicht eine revidierte, verständliche localities are confined to the margins of the basin system Geschichte der Paläogeo- und Paläobiogeographie des and areas of high topographic relief due to a gradual Pannonischen Beckens zu präsentieren. Weiters stellen transgression and associated increase in areal extent of wir eine vorläufige Beschreibung der Veränderung der Lake Pannon. Following the dramatic contraction of Faunendiversität im Zusammenhang mit den paläoöko- the lake in the Late Miocene between 9.5 and 9.0 Ma, logischen Fluktuationen vor. the fossil localities migrate towards the basin interior; Unsere Ergebnisse lassen vermuten, dass zwischen dem possibly indicating faunal tracking of brackish to fresh Obersarmat (12 Mill.) und dem frühen bis mittleren Pan water lake shoreline habitats. The large mammal faunas non (9,5 Mill.), terrestrische Lokalitäten auf den Rand known from the Pannonian Basin are well represented des Beckensystems und auf Gebiete mit einem höheren in the more northerly regions of the basin system. In topographischen Relief, wegen einer graduellen Trans- complete sampling of faunas underestimates generic gression und damit verbunden Ausbreitung des panno diversity during MN 7/8, MN 10 and MN 12. Faunal nischen Sees, beschränkt waren. Nach dem dramatischen diversity appears to decline after MN 9; however this is Verkleinern des Sees im oberen Miozän, (9,5 bis 9 Mill.) significantly influenced by a corresponding decrease in verlagerten sich die Fossillokalitäten Richtung Becke the number of localities during these temporal intervals. ninneren. Damit kann man möglicherweise den Wechsel We discuss the clearly documented faunal turnover in the von brackischen zu limnischen Uferhabitaten verfolgen. Pannonian Basin that occurs at the time of the ‘Vallesian Die aus dem Pannonischen Becken stammenden Groß säugerfaunen sind eher aus der nördlichen Region des Beckens bekannt. Unvollständige Aufsammlungen der Corresponding Author: Mariam C. Nargolwalla , De Faunen führen zu einer Unterschätzung der Diversität in partment of Anthropology, University of Toronto, 100 St. MN 7/8, MN10 und MN12. Die Diversität scheint in MN9 George Street, Toronto ON. M5S 3G3, Canada; e-mail: abzunehmen, allerdings geht dies mit einem Rückgang in [email protected]*, [email protected] , der Zahl der Lokalitäten in diesem Zeitintervall einher. [email protected] Wir diskutieren den deutlich dokumentierten „faunal ©Verein zur Förderung der Paläontologie am Institut für Paläontologie, Geozentrum Wien 348 Beitr. Paläont., 30, Wien, 2006 turnover“ in der vallesischen Krise, zusammen mit den sent a transgressive-regressive cycle (i.e., Eggenburgian, paläoökologischen Belegen für die Lokalitäten und po Ottnangian, Karpatian, lower Badenian and upper Bad- tentiellen Korridoren für einen Faunenaustausch. enian/Sarmatian). Following the isolation of Lake Pannon from the Paratethys due to the final uplift of the East Carpathians and/or regression during the Upper Badenian 1. Introduction to Sarmatian (between approximately 14 and 12 Ma), the lake then experienced a gradual transgressive phase Located within the Alpine mountain belt of Central (until 9.5 Ma) followed by a terminal regression during Europe, the Pannonian Basin is almost completely en the Late Miocene (M agyar et al., 1999). Complete infill circled by the Southern and Eastern Alps to the west, the ing of the Pannonian Basin system due to post-rift delta Carpathian arc to the north, east and southeast and the progradation began in the northwesterly Vienna Basin, Dinarides to the south. The Pannonian Basin is generally and proceeded southeasterly during the Late Miocene considered to be a Middle Miocene Mediterranean back- and Pliocene, with the deep basins of the Pannonian being arc extensional basin (H orväth , 1988), composed of a formed more basinward during the transgression than the series of smaller, deep sub-basins (including the Vienna, Sarmatian basins (M agyar et al., 1999). A wide variety Danube and Transylvanian Basins, Fig. 1) separated by of sedimentary environments were established at the lake relatively shallow basement blocks. The formation of margins, consisting of shallow lacustrine, swamp and the isolated Lake Pannon occurred at approximately 12 fluvial sandstone, mudstone and lignite facies. Ma, and by 2.4 Ma, the Pannonian Basin was completely During this period of intense tectonic activity in the Mi filled with terrestrial sediments covering an area of ap ocene, the Pannonian Basin also experienced significant proximately 250,000 km2 across central Europe (Kazmer , biotic change. Mammalian taxonomic diversity was high 1990). but fluctuated during the Middle and Late Miocene. Pri Diachronous Neogene sedimentation in the Pannonian mates are especially diverse compared to other regions. Basin occurred during the final stages of thrusting and Hominoid, pliopithecoid and cercopithecoid primates folding in the outer parts of the Carpathians (R oyden known from the Pannonian Basin include Griphopithecus & H orvath , 1988). Clastic supply was derived from the darwini, Pliopithecus platyodon, Pliopithecus antiquus, uplifting Alps and Carpathians, with southerly sediment Pliopithecus sp., Crouzelidae indet., Epipliopithecus transport occurring from the north, west and east towards vindobonensis, Dryopithecus fontani and Dryopithecus the centre of the Pannonian Basin (K azmer , 1990). Berczi brancoi, Anapithecus hernyaki and Anapithecus sp., et al.’s (1988) study of Neogene sedimentation in Hungary Mesopithecus pentelicus, and Dolichopithecus and concluded that the five basal Miocene stages each repre Macaca in the Pliocene (see B egun et al., 2006). ©Verein zur Förderung der Paläontologie am Institut für Paläontologie, Geozentrum Wien Nargolwalla , M.C. et al., Middle and Late Miocene Terrestrial Vertebrate Localities ... 349 Figure 2: Total distribution of our sample of Middle and Late Miocene terrestrial vertebrate localities in the Pannonian Basin. Num bers represent localities listed in Appendix 1. Our localities are concentrated in Austria and Hungary, but also occur less frequently and in significantly lower numbers in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Romania, Serbia and Bosnia. We present here the results of an integrative study, pro cavated localities (ie., Felsotarkany, Hungary; Subpiatra, viding a detailed and up-to-date paleogeographic and Romania) are available from the NOW Database. paleobiogeographic history of the Pannonian Basin. We New and previously known localities were plotted accord have surveyed and excavated new and previously studied ing to their geographic coordinates (Appendix 1), using localities in Hungary, Romania and Croatia for the past ArcGIS 9.1 (ESRI 2005) to create distributions per MN three years (2003-2005). Our primary focus involves zone map layers of our total locality sample. These lay combining new and previously published paleontological ers were added to a world topographic