UTRECHT MICROPALEONTOLOGICAL Bulletins
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UTRECHT MICROPALEONTOLOGICAL BUllETINS SPECIAL PUBLICATION RODENTS FROM THE MIDDLE OLIGOCENE OF TURKISH 5 THRACE Editor C. W. Drooger Department of Stratigraphy and Paleontology State University of Utrecht Budapestlaan 4, Postbus 80.021 3508 TA Utrecht, Netherlands Sales office U.M.B.: Budapestlaan 4, 3584 CD Utrecht, Netherlands Postal account: 30 28 890, T. van Schaik, Leusden Bank account: 55 89 855, Algemene Bank Nederland, T. van Schaik, Leusden > After prepayment to the sales office on one of the above accounts, the books will be sent by surface mail without further charges. Orders for these books not directly from the purchaser to the sales office may cause much higher costs to the purchaser. Bull. 1. T. FREUDENTHAL - Stratigraphy of Neogene deposits in the Khania Pro- vince, Crete, with special reference to foraminifera of the family Planor- bulinidae and the genus Heterostegina. 208 p., 15 pI., 33 figs. (1969) f 32,- Bull. 2. J.E. MEULENKAMP - Stratigraphy of Neogene deposits in the Rethymnon Province, Crete, with special reference to the phylogeny of uniserial Uvigerina from the Mediterranean region. 172 p., 6 pI., 53 figs. (1969) f 29,- Bull. 3. J. G. VERDENIUS - Neogene stratigraphy of the Western Guadalquivir basin, S. Spain. 109 p., 9 pI., 12 figs. (1970) f 28,- Bull. 4. R. C. TJALSMA - Stratigraphy and foraminifera of the Neogene of the Eastern Guadalquivir basin, S. Spain. 161 p., 16 pI., 28 figs. (1971) f 44,- Bull. 5. C. W. DROOGER, P. MARKS, A. PAPP et al. - Smaller radiate Nummulites of northwestern Europe. 137 p., 5 pI., 50 figs. (1971) f 37,- Bull. 6. W. SISSINGH - Late Cenozoic Ostracoda of the South Aegan Island arc. 187 p., 12 pI., 44 figs. (1972) f 57,- Bull. 7. author's edition. F. M. GRAD STEIN - Mediterranean Pliocene Globorotalia, a biometrical approach. 128 p., 8 pI., 44 figs. (1974) f 39,- Bull. 8. J. A. BROEKMAN - Sedimentation and paleoecology of Pliocene lagoonal- shallow marine deposits on the island of Rhodos (Greece). 148 p., 7 pI., 9 figs. (1974) f 47,- Bull. 9. D. S. N. RAJU - Study of Indian Miogypsinidae. 148 p., 8 pI., 39 figs. (1974) f 38,- Bull. 10. W. A. VAN WAMEL - Conodont biostratigraphy of the Upper Cambrian and Lower Ordovician of north-western (Hand, south-eastern Sweden. 128 p., 8 pI., 25 figs. (1974) f 40,- Bull. 11.W. J. ZACHARIASSE - Planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the Late Neogene of Crete (Greece). 171 p., 17 pI., 23 figs. (1975) f 52,- Bull. 12. J. T. VAN GORSEL-Evolutionary trends and stratigraphic significance of the Late Cretaceous Helicorbitoides-Lepidorbitoideslineage. 100p., 15pI., 14 figs. (1975) f 37,- Bull. 13. E. F. J. DE MULDER - Microfauna and sedimentary-tectonic history of the Oligo-Miocene of the Ionian Islands and western Epirus (Greece). 140 p., 4 pI., 47 figs. (1975) f 45,- Bull. 14. R. T. E. SCHUTTENHELM - History and modes of Miocene carbonate deposition in the interior of the Piedmont Basin, NW Italy. 208 p., 5 pI., 54 figs. (1976) f 56,- RODENTS FROM THE MIDDLE OLIGOCENE OF TURKISH THRACE ENGIN UNAY-BAYRAKTAR 'As elsewhere. extreme splitters and specialists without a broad vista of classification raise each of the sub families and many of the tribes or smaller groups of this classification (of the Cricetidae) to family rank, a procedure that is not necessarily wrong but is disproportionate and is not generally adopted' G.G. Simpson, 1945 The principles of classification and a classification of mammals. p. 206 To Tuncer Printed in the Netherlands by Loonzetterij Abe. Hoogeveen and OMI-GB, Utrecht April 20, 1989 CONTENTS page Abstract 5 Chapter 1 Introduction 7 General introductory remarks 7 Geological setting 9 Review of literature on fossil mammals from the Lignite-Sandstone Formation 10 Rodent localities in the Lignite-Sandstone Formation 13 Absolute age determinations 14 Acknowledgements 14 Chapter 2 Taxonomy 17 Muroidea 17 Remarks on the classification of the European Paleogene Muroidea 17 Melissiodontidae Schaub, 1925 19 Paracricetodontinae Mein and Freudenthal, 1971 19 Paracricetodon Schaub, 1925 19 Trakymys n. gen. 29 Melissiodontinae Schaub, 1925 33 Edirnella n. gen. 34 Pseudocricetodontidae Engesser, 1987 38 Pseudocricetodontinae Engesser, 1987 38 Pseudocricetodon Thaler, 1969 39 Lignitella n. subgen. 47 Adelomyarioninae n. subfam. 48 Kerosinia n. gen. 49 Eucricetodontidae n. fam. 56 Eucricetodontinae Mein and Freudenthal, 1971 56 Eucricetodon Thaler, 1966 57 Heterocricetodontidae n. fam. 60 Heterocricetodon Schaub, 1925 60 Geomyoidea 61 Eomyidae Deperet and Douxami, 1902 61 Eomys Schlosser, 1884 61 Gliroidea 70 Gliridae Thomas, 1897 70 Bransatoglis Hugueney, 1967 71 Glis Brisson, 1762 76 3 Theridomyoidea 82 Pseudosciuridae Zittel, 1893 82 Suevosciurus Dehm, 1937 82 Castoroidea 84 Castoridae Gray, 1821 84 Steneofiber Geoffrey, 1833 84 Sciuroidea 85 Petauristidae Miller, 1912 85 Ctenodactyloidea 86 Ctenodactyloidea indet. 86 Chapter 3 Biostratigraphy, chronostratigraphy and paleoecology 89 References 95 4 ABSTRACT Associations of Middle Oligocene rodent teeth are described from five localities in the Lignite-Sandstone Formation of the Ergene basin. The Muroidea are the most abundant as well as the most diverse group in these associations. In rodent faunas of Western Europe the Theridomyoidea dominate. So far representatives of the Theridomyidae have not been found in Thrace and do not seem to have reached Turkey. In addition to seven new (sub)species four new (sub)genera of the Muroidea are defined: Trakymys, Edirnella, Lignite!!a and Kerosinia. The classification of the European Paleogene representatives of this superfamily is discussed and revised. It is concluded that raising a number of taxonomic entities within the Muroidea to a higher rank in the hierachy is in better accordance with our pre sent knowledge of the group than the widely followed classification of Mein and Freudenthal (1971), who include all Tertiary hamsters in one family: the Cricetidae. In addition to Muroidea the rodent associations from Thrace contain teeth of members of the families Eomyidae, Gliridae, Pseudosciuridae, Castoridae and Petauristidae in limited numbers. New species of each of the genera Eomys, Bransatoglis and Glis are described. The faunal details suggest that the five localities correspond to successive levels during an Oligocene time span of approximately one My. Two major zones are apparent but there seem to be possibilities to make a further (sub)zonal subdivision. Our faunas are correlated with part of the MP 23-27 in terval of the European standard zonation. The large numbers of Melissiodon tidae and Anthracotheriidae suggest vegetated wetland biotopes throughout the investigated interval. 5 N t MOUNTAIN RANCE ROAD RIVER "' BORDER NORTH ANATOLIA I I 8 16 24 km Fig. J. Map of western Turkey showing the position of the area studied and of geographical names men tioned in the text. Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION GENERAL INTRODUCTORY REMARKS In the course of the 'Tertiary of Southern Thrace' project of the scientific research department of the Mineral Research and Exploration Institute of Turkey (M.T.A.) (1978-1981) the Oligocene deposits in the Karasati syncline in the southern part of the Ergene basin (fig. 2) were prospected for vertebrate re mains. Although the Ergene basin was outside the actual study area of the pro ject, and therefore not mapped in detail, it seemed of interest to try and establish a more detailed biozonation for the economically important Lignite Sandstone Formation (Perejas, 1939) than had been done so far (Ozansoy, 1962, 1964, 1966, Lebkiichner, 1974). A.J. van der Meulen and H. de Bruijn (pers. comm.) had recently found small mammals in the dump from a closed lignite quarry in the same formation near Kyprinos (Greece, fig. 1). This study aims at filling a gap in our knowledge of the Oligocene rodents of southeastern Europe. The insectivores which occur associated with the rodents will not be dealt with in this paper. Information about the geology of the area (e.g. fig. 2) is derived almost ex clusively from the literature (Kopp et al. 1969; Lebkiichner, 1974; ~enol, 1980 and others), and is reproduced without criticism. The rodent teeth described below were collected by wet-screening material from the five fossiliferous localities. The mesh of the finest sieve used is 0.5 mm. Because of induration of the claystone it was necessary in some cases to soak the sediment in kerosine prior to washing. The approximate weight of the matrix washed from the various localities was: 2200 kg for Kocayarma, 1900 kg for Kavakdere, 1000 kg for Karacali, 900 kg for Haskoy, and 900 kg for Papkoy. The residues obtained after washing were sorted using a Leitz microscope. The measurements of the rodent cheek teeth are maximum lengths measured in the direction of the tooth row and maximum widths at right angles to the length. All measurements were taken using an ocular micrometer (50 micron units). All values are given in 0.1 mm units. Estimates of the relative abundance of the various taxa in each association are based on the number of complete, or almost complete, Mlml and M/m2. We used a Student's t-test to evaluate differences between the calculated means of length andlor width of a particular tooth when comparing the material from different localities. A five per cent level of significance was 7 00 LEGEND --_/.~:::_---:_-_. 'vtu hacp Format 101" Lignite Seams (Interpretedl Lignite Sana stone Formation Kocayarma Conglomerate Alluvial Depos,ls ~L Roaos o Mammal Localities '0 Fig. 2. Geological map of the Karasati syncline (after Lebkiichner (1974)). The lignite seams [-VI of Lebkiicher are indicated by a-f. chosen and confidence intervals of ninety five per cent are given in the tables. The terminology used for parts of cheek teeth is essentially after Mein and Freudenthal (1971) for the Muroidea, after Fahlbusch (1970) for the Eomyidae and after de Bruijn (1967) for the Gliridae.