Palaeontologia Electronica palaeo-electronica.org Re-evaluation of the very large Eomellivora fricki (Pia, 1939) (Carnivora, Mustelidae, Mellivorinae) from the Late Miocene of Austria Alberto Valenciano, Juan Abella, Ursula B. Göhlich, M. Ángeles Álvarez-Sierra, and Jorge Morales ABSTRACT We re-evaluated the Austrian material for Hadrictis fricki Pia, 1939, from the local- ities Wien XII-Altmannsdorf and Gaiselberg (MN9, Vallesian, Late Miocene), conclud- ing that Hadrictis can be considered as a synonymy of Eomellivora Zdansky, 1924; we therefore named it as Eomellivora fricki. This species is one of the earliest representa- tives of the genus, together with E. piveteaui Ozansoy, 1965. Our phylogenetic analy- ses indicate that Eomellivora forms a monophyletic group, establishing the sister clade of the large and derived Late Miocene Ekorus ekakeran. Eomellivora fricki shows a primitive dental morphology and is the largest species of the genus. This species shows the complexity of the genus Eomellivora, in which large and small species coex- isted since the beginning of the Late Miocene. Alberto Valenciano. Departamento de Geología Sedimentaria y Cambio Medioambiental. Instituto de Geociencias (CSIC, UCM). Calle José Antonio Novais 12, 28040. Madrid, Spain and Departamento de Paleontología Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas UCM. Calle José Antonio Novais 12, 28040, Madrid, Spain.
[email protected] Juan Abella. Universidad Estatal Península de Santa Elena. Kilómetro 1,5 de la Vía Santa Elena- La Libertad. Edificio Instituto de Investigacion Científica y Desarrollo Tecnológico INCYT), Segundo Piso. 240210 La Libertad, Ecuador.
[email protected] and Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.