A slab with three tetradactyl avian footprints was excavated from the Agha Jari Formation (Mio-Pliocene) in the Zagros Mountains, southwest Iran, in the early last century and named as Urmiornis abeli. The name Urmiornis had been used for the didactyl bird fossil and ichnogenus name was later revised to Iranipeda. Validity of Iranipeda abeli has been discussed by authors in recent decades, and revision of the original material is necessary. Based on re-examination the holotype I. abeli reveals that this name is valid and it differs by long hallux, separate digit imprints and size of lateral digit II and IV traces with other large wading bird footprints. Iranipeda include three ichnospecies: I. abeli and I. millumi and I. intermedia by emended diagnosis of Iranipeda. Ciconiidae is the nearest track-maker candidate for Iranipeda. I. abeli type specimen has been collected from the lower part of the Agha Jari Formation and based on lithostratigraphic position and radiometric data, it is of Late Miocene age.

The Pliocene and Early Pleistocene three-toed horses of Western Eurasia (Caucasus, Anatolia, Balkans, Eastern and Central Europe, Italian and Iberian Peninsulas and England) have been studied since the second half of the 19th Century, leading to different interpretations of their taxonomy and evolution. Herein we provide a revision of the taxa from these countries, based principally on the large equid samples from the localities of Villarroya (Iberian Peninsula) and Kvabebi (Georgia). The equid samples from these two localities are compared to a large suite of Old World hipparions from Late Miocene to Early Pleistocene, to identify the diverse genera and species occurring in the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene from the Caucasus to the Iberian Peninsula. Moreover, we provide a revised interpretation of their taxonomy, chronology, paleobiogeography and evolutionary history. During the Plio-Pleistocene, we recognize the presence of three genera and six species (Cremohipparion sp., Proboscidipparion heintzi, Proboscidipparion crassum, Plesiohipparion longipes, "Plesiohipparion" fissurae and Plesiohipparion rocinantis) with a different distribution in time and space for these lineages in the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene.

AbstractNOW (New and Old Worlds) is a global database of fossil mammal occurrences, currently containing around 68,000 locality-species entries. The database spans the last 66 million years, with its primary focus on the last 23 million years. Whereas the database contains records from all continents, the main focus and coverage of the database historically has been on Eurasia. The database includes primarily, but not exclusively, terrestrial mammals. It covers a large part of the currently known mammalian fossil record, focusing on classical and actively researched fossil localities. The database is managed in collaboration with an international advisory board of experts. Rather than a static archive, it emphasizes the continuous integration of new knowledge of the community, data curation, and consistency of scientific interpretations. The database records species occurrences at localities worldwide, as well as ecological characteristics of fossil species, geological contexts of localities and more. The NOW database is primarily used for two purposes: (1) queries about occurrences of particular taxa, their characteristics and properties of localities in the spirit of an encyclopedia; and (2) large scale research and quantitative analyses of evolutionary processes, patterns, reconstructing past environments, as well as interpreting evolutionary contexts. The data are fully open, no logging in or community membership is necessary for using the data for any purpose.

During Earth’s history, geosphere-biosphere interactions were often determined by momentary, catastrophic changes such as large explosive volcanic eruptions. The Miocene ignimbrite flare-up in the Pannonian Basin, which is located along a complex convergent plate boundary between Europe and Africa, provides a superb example of this interaction. In North Hungary, the famous Ipolytarnóc Fossil Site, often referred to as “ancient Pompeii”, records a snapshot of rich Early Miocene life buried under thick ignimbrite cover. Here, we use a multi-technique approach to constrain the successive phases of a catastrophic silicic eruption (VEI ≥ 7) dated at 17.2 Ma. An event-scale reconstruction shows that the initial PDC phase was phreatomagmatic, affecting ≥ 1500 km 2 and causing the destruction of an interfingering terrestrial–intertidal environment at Ipolytarnóc. This was followed by pumice fall, and finally the emplacement of up to 40 m-thick ignimbrite that completely buried the site. However, unlike the seemingly similar AD 79 Vesuvius eruption that buried Pompeii by hot pyroclastic density currents, the presence of fallen but uncharred tree trunks, branches, and intact leaves in the basal pyroclastic deposits at Ipolytarnóc as well as rock paleomagnetic properties indicate a low-temperature pyroclastic event, that superbly preserved the coastal habitat, including unique fossil tracks.

Rudapithecus hungaricus is an extinct great ape found in the marsh-lake lignite rock layers that covered the open-cast iron ore mine in Rudabánya, Northern Hungary, for 10 million years.Fifty years of regular research have uncovered the remains of more than 300 primate bones, teeth, and more skulls.Intensive Hungarian and international Rudapithecus research has been carried out for such a long time that the data are suitable for the development of a new approach to the evolutionary system in history science.Even today, the history of traditional science regularly separates the history of social science from that of natural sciences.Instead of

The transnational Novohrad-Nograd Geopark situated in Northern Hungary and Southern Slovakia has several important Neogene fossil sites developed for geotourism. One of them is the lower Miocene paleontological locality complex at Ipolytarnoc , which has been well known since the middle of the 19th century. The site is the main geotouristic gateway to the geopark, where high-tech interpretation resources explain the geological background and fossil resources to visitors, like the rich shark-tooth-bearing intertidal sandstone, the terrestrial sandstone and rhyolite tuff containing a petrified forest and leaves, and the great number of animal tracks in a relatively small area. Since 2015, the authors have identified several thousand footprints and body impressions, including new fish, amphibian, reptile, bird, and mammal ichnotaxa, among others. Re-interpretation of the paleohabitats identifies interfingering terrestrial (Rhinoland) and intertidal pool (Crocodilia) landscapes. Similar track assemblages of similar age indicate intensive tectonic uplift and fluviatile-lacustrine sediment accumulations in the Western, Central and Eastern Paratethys forced by Neogene African plate movements.

The classic locality of Hasznos (Middle Miocene, Mid Badenian, Hungary) has yielded a diverse assemblage of insectivores that is dominated by Erinaceidae and Soricidae, with three species each. The Talpidae are represented by one species, Desmanodon aff. crocheti. Prior to this record of D. crocheti in Hasznos, this species has only been recorded in the Late Badenian of the North Alpine Foreland Basin. The high similarity of the assemblage to that of Sámsonháza 3 confirms that Hasznos and Sámsonháza are very close in age. The new data are discussed in their biostratigraphical and biogeographical contexts.

We record the first fossil bats from the Middle Miocene non-karstic marshy-lagoonal deposits at Hasznos, northern Hungary. The bat material consists of mandible fragments of Miostrellus cf. petersbuchensis and Myotis bavaricus, the vespertilionid species until now recorded only from the Miocene sites of Germany. The discovery suggests an extensive palaeogeographical distribution of these species and connectivity of distribution ranges over the Central Paratethys region during the Late Badenian.

Numerous fossil remains (vertebrates, molluscs and plants) were found in more than twenty sites of the Sutto Travertine Complex during the last 150 years. The majority of these remains were recovered from fissures of the travertine, but also from the travertine and an overlying loess-paleosol sequence. The aims of this study were to review the fossil content, to determine the stratigraphical positions of the various vertebrate faunas of Sutto and provide paleoecological interpretation of the periods on the basis of their faunas and floras. In addition, this paper describes new faunas and floras from the sites Sutto 16-20 and provides C-14 dates for Sutto 16. On the basis of the new uranium series isotope and optical dating (OSL), the age of the travertine complex is Middle Pleistocene (235 +/- 21-314 +/- 45 ka, MIS 7-9), while the age of the loess-paleosol sequence in superposition of the travertine is Middle Late Pleistocene (MIS 2 MIS 6). In contrast, the fossils of the travertine indicated an older, Pliocene-Early Pleistocene age. A fissure (Sutto 17) and a red clay layer (Sutto 19) contained mammal faunas of Early Middle Pleistocene age. These results indicated the existence of older travertine in certain quarries (Hegyhati quarry, Cukor quarry). Sedimentological and OSL data of well-dated layers of the loess-paleosol sequence (Sutto/LPS) at Sutto allowed a correlation with the layers of Sutto 6. The paleosol layer in the upper part of the sequence of Sutto 6, was correlated with a pedocomplex of the overlying loess paleosol sequence, which was dated to MIS 5c (upper, dark soil) and MIS 5e (lower, reddish brown soil). The paleoecological analysis of the mammal and mollusc faunas supported the former interpretation of Novothny et al. (2011) inferring warm, dry climate during the sedimentation of the upper layers, and more humid climate for the lower layers). However, the fauna of the lower soil layer indicated cold climate, so an age of MIS 5d is suggested. Dating of the fissure faunas is based on similarity studies. For some faunas, this method cannot be used, because of the low number of species. On the basis of the species compositions and former interpretations, these faunas originated mainly from sediments that were deposited under cold climatic conditions. Other fissure faunas were dated by AMS 14C (Sato 16), or by correlation with soil layers of Sato 6. According to these results, most of the fissure faunas can be correlated with different phases of MIS 5. However, there are a younger (MIS 2) and an older (Early Middle Pleistocene) fissure fauna also. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.

Molecular phylogeography suggests that Micromys minutus, the sole extant species of the genus, colonized its extensive range quite recently, during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene period. Rich Pliocene and Pleistocene fossil records both from Europe and China suggest rather continuous and gradual in situ phenotype rearrangements from the Pliocene to the Recent periods. To elucidate the discrepancy we reexamined a considerable part of the European fossil record of the genus (14 sites from MN15 to Q3, 0.4-4.2 Ma, including the type series of M. preaminutus from MN15 Csarnóta 2), analyzed them with the aid of detailed morphometric comparisons, and concluded that: (a) The European Pliocene form, M. praeminutus, differs significantly from the extant species; (b) it exhibits a broad phenotypic variation covering the presumptive diagnostic characters of MN16 M. caesaris; (c) despite having smaller dimensions, the Early and Middle Pleistocene forms (MN17-Q3, 2.6-0.4 Ma) seem to be closer to M. praeminutus than to the extant species; (d) the extinction of M. praeminutus during Q3 and the re-occupation of its niche by the recent expansion of M. minutus from E-European-C Asiatic sources (suggested by phylogeographic hypotheses) cannot be excluded. Discussing interpretations of the phylogenetic past of the genus we emphasize the distinct history of the West Palearctic clade (Late Miocene-Early Pleistocene) terminating with M. praeminutus and the East Asiatic clade (chalceus, tedfordi, minutus), and the possible identity of the Western clade with the Late Miocene genus Parapodemus.

Rudabánya is rare among Eurasian Miocene fossil primate localities in preserving both a hominid and pliopithecoid, and as such provides the unique opportunity to reconstruct the nature of sympatry and niche partitioning in these taxa. Rudapithecus and Anapithecus have similar locomotor and positional behavior and overlapping body mass ranges. While prior analyses of molar occlusal anatomy and microwear identify Rudapithecus as a soft-object frugivore, reconstructing the dietary behavior of Anapithecus has been more problematic. This taxon has been interpreted to be more folivorous by some, and more frugivorous by others. Here, we use high-resolution polynomial curve fitting (HR-PCF) to quantify and evaluate the mesiodistal and cervico-incisal curvatures of the incisor crowns of Rudapithecus and Anapithecus to identify diet-specific morphological variation in these taxa. Results are consistent with the interpretation that Anapithecus and Rudapithecus were primarily frugivorous and had diets that included similar resource types. However, Anapithecus may have consumed greater amounts of foliage, similar to extant mixed folivore–frugivores (i.e., Gorilla gorilla gorilla, Symphalangus syndactylus), while Rudapithecus generated elevated compressive loads in the incisor region consistent with a specialized role for the anterior dentition in food processing (i.e., removal of tough protective fruit pericarps). We interpret these findings in light of the paleoecology at Rudabánya and conclude that, if these taxa were indeed sympatric, Anapithecus may have used additional leaf consumption as a seasonal fallback resource to avoid direct competition with Rudapithecus. Conversely, Rudapithecus may have relied on less preferred and harder fruiting resources as a seasonal fallback resource during periods of fruit scarcity.

Dental arch reconstructions present as much of a challenge in paleoanthropology as in orthodontics and maxillo-facial surgery. Dentists and dental technicians know that it is very difficult to find the precise physiological crown positions that will yield individually correct occlusal kinematics in living individuals, and this difficulty is compounded by damage and deformation in fossil specimens. Typically, dental arch reconstructions of fossils are not validated, although a functionally correct reconstruction is of undoubted importance for accurate morphological descriptions and comparative studies of fossil dentitions.Here we describe a new method for functional dental arch reconstruction derived from detailed wear facet mapping (Occlusal Fingerprint Analysis, OFA) and dental-technical approaches. OFA was used to restore the entire dental arches of the most complete late Miocene fossil great ape dentition, that of Rudapithecus hungaricus, from Rudabanya in Hungary. Dental stone casts of the maxillary and mandibular dentition were repositioned in a dental articulator. The correct alignment of the tooth crowns was monitored by physically and virtually testing the tooth contacts during occlusal movements.The characteristic distribution pattern of the individual macrowear facets strongly constrains the antagonistic crown relationships in the Rudabanya specimen. We propose that the method used to reconstruct the functional dental arches of R. hungaricus, derived from kinematic evidence encoded in macrowear patterns, can be used as a reliable foundation for dental and facial restorations in fossils, and for individual occlusal crown morphology and dental arch reconstructions in modern dentistry and prosthetics. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Csajag mammoths were discovered during road construction work in June 2006. The skeletal remains are well preserved in an Upper Pleistocene loess deposit. This revealed the skeletons were an adult female woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) of estimated age 24-25 years, largely complete except for the skull; and the partial skeleton of a juvenile of age 6-7 years at death. A tooth sample has been radiocarbon dated (AMS) and is of Late Pleniglacial (MIS 2) age (16.9-15.9 ka cal BP). This new radiocarbon evidence fits into the well-known colonization pattern of M. primigenius in East Central Europe and confirms a continuous distribution at the end of the late Pleistocene. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.

Our understanding of locomotor evolution in anthropoid primates has been limited to those taxa for which good postcranial fossil material and appropriate modern analogues are available. We report the results of an analysis of semicircular canal size variation in 16 fossil anthropoid species dating from the Late Eocene to the Late Miocene, and use these data to reconstruct evolutionary changes in locomotor adaptations in anthropoid primates over the last 35 Ma. Phylogenetically informed regression analyses of semicircular canal size reveal three important aspects of anthropoid locomotor evolution: (i) the earliest anthropoid primates engaged in relatively slow locomotor behaviours, suggesting that this was the basal anthropoid pattern; (ii) platyrrhines from the Miocene of South America were relatively agile compared with earlier anthropoids; and (iii) while the last common ancestor of cercopithecoids and hominoids likely was relatively slow like earlier stem catarrhines, the results suggest that the basal crown catarrhine may have been a relatively agile animal. The latter scenario would indicate that hominoids of the later Miocene secondarily derived their relatively slow locomotor repertoires.