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Pliocene Vertebrate Locality of Qalta, Ankara, Turkey. 12. Paleoecology, Biogeography and Biochronology

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Pliocene Vertebrate Locality of Qalta, Ankara, Turkey. 12. Paleoecology, Biogeography and Biochronology Pliocene vertebrate locality of Qalta, Ankara, Turkey. 12. Paleoecology, biogeography and biochronology Sevket SEN Laboratoire de Paléontologie, URA 12 du CNRS, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, 8 rue de Buffon, F-75231 Paris cedex 05 (France) [email protected] Geneviève BOUVRAIN Laboratoire de Paléontologie des Vertébrés, URA 1761 du CNRS, université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, 4 place Jussieu, F-75252 Paris cedex 05 (France) Denis GERAADS EP 1781 du CNRS, Collège de France, 30 avenue Marcelin-Berthelot, F-92360 Meudon (France) Sen S., Bouvrain G. & Geraads D. 1998. — Paleoecology, biogeography and biochrono­ logy, in Sen S. (ed.), Pliocene vertebrate locality of Qalta, Ankara, Turkey. 12, Geodiversitas 20 (3) : 497-510. ABSTRACT Integrated studies on the Pliocene vertebrate locality of Calta provided abun­ dant data on the environment of the fauna, its biogeographic relationships and its age. The fauna is dominated by animals adapted to relatively dry and KEYWORDS open environments with loose soil and some watet points. The presence of Mammals, short-limbed herbivores and of ochotonids might indicate a landscape with Pliocene, a ta Ruscinian, some relief nearby. The C l fauna is mainly composed of elements with Turkey, European and some Asiatic affinities. African affinities of some taxa are paleoenvironment, doubtful. The time range of some mammalian groups is discussed, the Caha biogeography, biochronology. locality is dated as eatly MN15 (late Ruscinian). 1998 • 20 (3) 497 Sen S., Bouvrain G. & Geraads D. RÉSUMÉ Le gisement de vertébrés pliocenes de Çalta, Ankara, Turquie. 12. biogéographie et biochronologie. Des recherches multidisciplinaires sur la faune de vertébrés et les sédiments de Çalta ont permis d'obtenir des résultats sur l'environnement, les affinités de la faune et son âge. Cette faune est dominée par des éléments vivant dans un milieu telativement sec et ouvert, avec cependant quelques points d'eau et un sol meuble. Quelques hetbivotes à MOTS CLES pattes couttes et l'abondance des Ochotonidae suggèrent des reliefs dans le Mammifères, paysage. Dans cette faune, les groupes à affinités européennes sont plus nom­ Pliocène, Ruscinien, breux que ceux à affinités asiatiques. Les rapports africains de quelques Turquie, taxons sont sujet à caution. La synthèse des données biochronologiques per­ paléoenvironnemenr, met de corréler ce gisement à la partie inférieure de la zone MN15 biogéographie, biochronologie. (Ruscinien supérieur). INTRODUCTION Reptiles Testudo sp. In the present monograph on the Caha vertebrate Scincidae indet. fauna, the sedimentology of deposits and the iso- Lacertidae indet. topic values of bones, teeth and soil samples are Ophisaurus sp. studied. Previous papers reported on amphibians, Varanus marathonensis Weithofer, 1888 reptiles and some mammals, and also on the geo­ Amphisbaenidae indet. logical context of this locality. Thetefore, a com­ Scolecophidia indet. plete and reliable faunal list of Ca'ta is now Eryx sp. available. Colubtidae indet. All these studies provide numerous data on envi­ Palaeonaja sp. ronmental habits of various taxa and their bio- Aves geographic affinities. Moreover, the new criteria Struttolo sp. allow a better estimate of the age of this locality. Consequently, it is now possible to provide a Mammalia synthetic view on the paleoecology of the site, Insectivora the resemblances of the fauna with its equivalents Asoriculus gibberodon (Petenyi, 1864) from other regions, and to discuss its age. Mafia csarnotense Reumer, 1984 Soricidae indet. Erinaceus sp. FAUNAL LIST Rodentia *Centralomys magnus (Sen, 1977) a The faunal list of the C ha locality is as follows Occitanomys sp. a (the new taxa described from C ha are indicated *Orientalomys galaticus (Sen, 1975) by an asterisk): Apodemus dominans Kretzoi, 1959 Mesocricetus sp. cf. M. primitivus de Bruijn et Gastropoda al, 1970 Helix cineta Müller, 1781 *Pseudomeriones tchaltaensis Sen, 1977 Subzebrinus sp. Mimomys davakosi van de Weerd, 1979 Amphibians Pliospalax macoveii (Simionescu, 1930) Pelobates sp. Dryomimus eliomyoides Kretzoi, 1959 Bufo sp. cf. B. viridis Laurenti, 1768 Lagomorpha Rana sp. *Ochotonoma anatolica Sen, 1998 498 GEODIVERSITAS • 1998 • 20(3) Pliocene paleoecology, biogeography and biochronology of Calta Carnivora Rhinocerotidae *Vulpes galaticus Ginsburg, 1998 Nyctereutes donnezani (Depéret, 1890) *Chasmaporthetes kani anatolicus Ginsburg, 1998 Lynx issiodorensis (Croizet et Jobert, 1828) Machairodus giganteus (Wagner, 1848) Perissodactyla Dicerorhinus megarhinus (de Christol, 1834) *Hipparion heintzi Eisenmann et Sondaar, 1998 Hipparion sp. cf. H. longipes Gromova, 1952 Artiodactyla Gerbillidae A Sus arvernensis minor Depéret, 1 890 Cervus sp. cf. C. perrieri Croizet et Jobert, 1828 Giraffa sp. cf. G. jumae Leakey, 1965 *Gazella emilii Bouvrain, 1998 *Tchaltacerus longicornis Bouvrain, 1998 Bovidae indet. cf. Koufotragus bailloudi (Arambourg et Piveteau, 1929) Gazellospira sp. Hippotragini indet. PALEOENVIRONMENTAL RECONSTRUCTION The community of vertebrates from Calta reflects quite well the environment in which it lived; this environment seems to have been contrasted, juxtaposing different types of bio- topes. The pie-diagram of figure 1A gives the relative proportions (in terms of MNI) of the various groups present at Calta. Systematic screening yielded a great number of micromammals, among which gerbils are dominant, thus poin­ ting to an open environment. When only large mammals are considered (Fig. IB), we may notice the abundance of carnivores, probably greater Fig. 1. — Mammalian faunal composition of Calta and than in living assemblages. As in the late Kemiklitepe A + B localities based on the minimum number of individuals. A, Calta mammalian fauna with all groups; B, the Miocene of Kemiklitepe A + B (Fig. 1C, Bonis et same fauna without small mammals; C, Kemiklitepe A + B fauna al. 1994), bovids are the dominant group among without rodents. artiodactyls, but the latter are more diverse at Calta, with the addition of a suid and a cervid, missing at Calta; some of them (Tubulidentata, than at Kemiklitepe A + B. However, several Hyracoidea, Chalicotheriidae) may have become groups which occur in the upper Miocene are extinct in the meantime, but proboscideans sur- GEODIVERSITAS • 1998 • 20(3) 499 Sen S-, Bouvrain G. & Geraads D. vived in the area until the Pleistocene, and their burrows (Sen this volume). The pig Sus arver- absence here might have an ecological meaning. nensis minor is also known as a inhabitant of We may also, once more, notice the lack of cer- humid and hot loose soils in which it looks for copithecid primates, a group which remains its food (Guérin et al. this volume). completely unknown in Turkey. Two groups clearly indicate the presence of water bodies: frogs, although they are not very abun­ dant, and an aquatic shrew, Asoriculus, which FUNCTIONAL ADAPTATIONS represents 64.9% of the insectivore remains One of the characteristics of this fauna is the (Reumer this volume). The presence of some marked lengthening of the distal segment of limb murids (Sen this volume) and a deer (Geraads bones in several herbivores. This lengthening is this volume) evidences the existence of a zone an adaptation to running and implies therefore with abundant vegetation cover in the area. the presence of open landscapes. Thus Hipparion The landscape of Çalta, when the fossiliferous cf. longipes, as its name indicates, is characterized deposits accumulated, seems to be mainly com­ by lengthened limbs (Eisenmann & Sondaar this posed of steppic environments (cursorial ani­ volume); Gazella emilii has limb bones longet mals, strong percentage of gerbils, spalacids and than those of extant gazelles, and this is also the ochotonids, Sen this volume), with some water case of the Hippotragini (Bouvrain this volume). sources (persistent or temporary?), forested zones Dicerorhinus megarhinus is also a cursorial rhino and also probably with some relief. Such an envi­ (Guerin & Sen this volume). The Calta giraffe is ronment is in agteement with sedimentological close to the African Plio-Pleistocene Giraffa results (Lunkka et al. this volume). jumae, which allows us to envisage a similar bio- The climate could have been dry. Indeed the tope to that of the living giraffe (Geraads this weak specific diversity of Soricidae would imply volume) .This is also the case for the Calta ostrich a dry and even arid climate (Reumer this volu­ (Janoo & Sen this volume). me). The specialization of the nasal region of Hipparion heintzi recalls the disposition existing However, beside these herbivores with lengthe­ in the Saïga antelope or in Camelidae and would ned limb bones, there exist two taxa showing a mean an adaptation to an arid climate different adaptation: Tchaltacerus is a small ante­ (Eisenmann & Sondaar this volume). Isotopic lope with short and robust metapodials; such analyses show on the one hand the absence of C4 metapodials are currently known in bovids living rich plants, therefore similar to the ptesent day in steep landscapes such as caprines (Bouvrain situation in central Anatolia, and on the other this volume). The strong shortening of the meta­ hand a strong évapotranspiration of plants cor­ carpal bones in Hipparion heintzi as compared to responding to an open environment with arid the radius is found only in mountain zebras; conditions (Bocherens & Sen this volume). however the widening of the hoofs in Hipparion Independently of indications provided by each heintzi contradict an adaptation to a
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