The suid dentognathic remains from the Middle Miocene (late Aragonian, MN6) site of Ca l'Almirall (formerly 'Can Almirall'; Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula) were originally assigned to Hyotherium soemmeringi and subsequently to Conohyus steinheimensis (currently Versoporcus steinheimensis).However, such a taxonomic attribution is not backed by published descriptions or adequate iconography. Here we figure and describe the material to substantiate its taxonomic assignment and revisit the age of the site. We conclude that most of the material belongs to a tetraconodont that can be readily distinguished from Conohyus simorrensis and Parachleuastochoerus valentini in premolar size and proportions and shows greatest similarities with Versoporcus spp. Some authors have synonymised Versoporcus grivensis with Versoporcus steinheimensis, which overlaps in chronostratigraphic range and geographic distribution.However, based on size we tentatively support the distinction of the two species and assign the studied material to the former-while noting that the attribution of other Versoporcus remains from the Vallès-Penedès Basin is in need of revision.With an estimated age of ~14.0-13.5 Ma, the Ca l'Almirall material is roughly coeval with the oldest record of both Versoporcus spp., supporting the view that they are not successive chronospecies of a single evolving lineage.
Although the suid assemblages from the Miocene of the Vallès-Penedès Basin (NE Iberian Peninsula) are reasonably well known, taxonomic studies devoted to them have lagged behind during the last decades. We describe the unpublished suid dentognathic remains from the earliest Vallesian (MN9) of Creu de Conill 20 (CCN20; 11.18 Ma), which represents the First Appearance Datum of hipparionin equids in western Europe. The sample includes 118 specimens, mostly isolated teeth, and a few maxillary and mandibular fragments. More than three-quarters of the specimens are assigned to the suine Propotamochoerus palaeochoerus, which is characteristic of MN9, albeit the described remains are slightly larger than average for the species. The rest of the sample belongs to a large tetraconodontine that is assigned to Parachleuastochoerus valentini, recorded elsewhere from MN7+8 to MN9, except for two specimens attributed to the small suid cf. Albanohyus sp. Our results support a synchronous dispersal of Hippotherium and P. palaeochoerus into Western Europe at ~11.2 Ma, suggesting that the latter is a suitable biochronological marker of the Vallesian. In turn, the remains of Pa. valentini refine our knowledge on the dental morphology of this species and strengthen the view that this species (unlike Conohyus doati and Conohyus melendezi) is not a junior synonym of Conohyus simorrensis. The lack of Listriodon splendens and Versoporcus sp. from CCN20, together with the scarcity of Albanohyus, contrasts with their abundance in the roughly coeval site of Castell de Barberà, hinting at local paleoenvironmental differences.
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