A hominid tooth from Bulgaria: The last pre-human hominid of continental Europe

Spassov, Nikolaï; Geraads, Denis; Hristova, Latinka; Марков, Георги; Garcia, Géraldine; Tzankov, Tzanko; Stoyanov, K.; Böhme, Madelaine; Димитрова, Антоанета

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.10.008

Cited by 49 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…7 Ma) Bulgarian locality of Azmaka seems to contradict this notion. This find either shows that some hominoid groups persisted into the second half of the Turolian in the Balkans, or alternatively, it documents a new westward dispersal via Anatolia (Spassov et al 2011). Considering the absence of hominoid finds in the Veles collection, and in other Balkan Turolian sites, the latter seems more likely.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

New view on the old collection: 'Pikermian fauna' from the vicinity of Veles (Republic of Macedonia), Part 1: Primates

Radović¹,

Alaburić²,

Marković³

et al. 2013

Bulletin of the Natural History Museum

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The paper presents the first detailed description and the first analysis of the fossil colobine monkey Mesopithecus housed in the collections of the Natural History Museum in Belgrade, Serbia. The material is described using the standard methodology and analyzed in a comparative context of specimens from the published literature (n=45), by using bivariate and multivariate statistical methods (principal component analysis). We determined several species: M. pentelicus, M. delsoni, M. cf. pentelicus, M. cf. delsoni. The associated fauna suggests MN11 to MN12 (Turolian) age, and a relatively open landscape -bushy or sparsely wooded savannah. However, further research into the associated collection will allow us to discuss biostratigraphic and paleoecological characteristics in more detail.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

New view on the old collection: 'Pikermian fauna' from the vicinity of Veles (Republic of Macedonia), Part 1: Primates

Radović¹,

Alaburić²,

Marković³

et al. 2013

Bulletin of the Natural History Museum

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“…An isolated P 4 of a hominoid was described from the old sand quarry of Azmaka, Bulgaria; it is similar in morphology and size to that of female O. macedoniensis [Spassov et al, 2012]. The single specimen was found in an old private collection of a fossil collector together with a middle Turolian mammal fauna; the recent excavations in the area have not yet provided more hominoid material.…”

Section: Comparison Of the New Materialsmentioning

confidence: 98%

New Material of the Hominoid Ouranopithecus macedoniensis from the Late Miocene of the Axios Valley (Macedonia, Greece) with Some Remarks on Its Sexual Dimorphism

Koufos¹,

Bonis²,

Kugiumtzis³

2016

IJFP

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New hominoid teeth from the late Miocene locality Ravin de la Pluie (RPl) of the Axios Valley (Macedonia, Greece) are studied in this article. Their morphology, dimensions and proportions are similar to the hominoid Ouranopithecus macedoniensis, allowing their attribution to this taxon. The studied material provides some new morphological characters for the female P³ (small asymmetry, small mesiobuccal crown projection, paracone higher than protocone) and the lower canine (mesial groove: large in the male and small in the female, distobuccal fovea: large in the female and small in the male). The new material enriches the collection of O. macedoniensis. The estimated degree of sexual dimorphism of the RPl O. macedoniensis, calculated by the multivariate size dimorphism method, is compared with those of extant hominoids (Gorilla, Pan, Pongo) and of the late Miocene Lufengpithecus lufengensis from China, which is considered as more dimorphic than any living hominoid. The results suggest that Ouranopithecus multivariate size dimorphism for the premolar, molar and post-canine row is similar to those of Pongo and Lufengpithecus, slightly higher than that of Gorilla and clearly higher than that of Pan. Therefore, O. macedoniensis is apparently one of the most sexually dimorphic hominoids and the RPl assemblage is monospecific.

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“…Virtually nothing is known about the foot morphology of the Miocene African hominins and no hominin trackways of this age are yet known from Africa. Until very recently the evidence for hominins in the Miocene European body fossil record was at best ambiguous (Spassov et al 2012), but while this paper was in review the early Messinian primate Graecopithecus, represented by two fragmentary specimens from savannah environments in Greece and Bulgaria , was reinterpreted as a probable hominin based on dental characteristics (Fuss et al, 2017). With dates of 7.175 Ma for the Greek mandible and 7.24 Ma for the isolated Bulgarian tooth , Graecopithecus is probably rather older than the Trachilos footprints.…”

Section: Interpretation and Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…like characteristics, particularly the anterior placement of the first digit, would reflect an example of convergent evolution, a familiar phenomenon in the fossil record (Emery and Clayton, 2004;Lockley et al, 2008;Parker et al, 2013). Fossil apes are not uncommon in the Miocene of Europe and there is a considerable diversity of forms, ranging biostratigraphically from the early middle Miocene to the late Miocene (middle Turolian; Harrison, 2010;Sénut, 2010;Spassov et al, 2012;Böhme et al, 2017). The subsequent disappearance of apes from the region has been attributed to climatic drying and cooling.…”

Section: Interpretation and Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Interestingly, apes persist somewhat longer in Eastern than in Western and Central Europe. It has been argued that these late eastern forms are adapted to drier and more open landscapes (Casanovas-Vilar et al, 2011;Spassov et al, 2012). The large-sized genus Ouranopithecus, present in Greece and adjacent regions during the late Miocene (9.6-8.7 My: Koufos and de Bonis, 2005), has been proposed as a close relative of the Hominini or Hominidae (hominins, chimpanzees and gorillas), though this is debated (de Bonis and Koufos, 1993;Begun et al, 2012;Koufos, 2015).…”

Section: Interpretation and Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Possible hominin footprints from the late Miocene (c. 5.7 Ma) of Crete?

2018

Fuß & Sprunggelenk

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A B S T R A C TWe describe late Miocene tetrapod footprints (tracks) from the Trachilos locality in western Crete (Greece), which show hominin-like characteristics. They occur in an emergent horizon within an otherwise marginal marine succession of Messinian age (latest Miocene), dated to approximately 5.7 Ma (million years), just prior to the Messinian Salinity Crisis. The tracks indicate that the trackmaker lacked claws, and was bipedal, plantigrade, pentadactyl and strongly entaxonic. The impression of the large and non-divergent first digit (hallux) has a narrow neck and bulbous asymmetrical distal pad. The lateral digit impressions become progressively smaller so that the digital region as a whole is strongly asymmetrical. A large, rounded ball impression is associated with the hallux. Morphometric analysis shows the footprints to have outlines that are distinct from modern non-hominin primates and resemble those of hominins. The interpretation of these footprints is potentially controversial. The print morphology suggests that the trackmaker was a basal member of the clade Hominini, but as Crete is some distance outside the known geographical range of pre-Pleistocene hominins we must also entertain the possibility that they represent a hitherto unknown late Miocene primate that convergently evolved human-like foot anatomy.

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A hominid tooth from Bulgaria: The last pre-human hominid of continental Europe

Cited by 49 publications

References 42 publications

New view on the old collection: 'Pikermian fauna' from the vicinity of Veles (Republic of Macedonia), Part 1: Primates

New view on the old collection: 'Pikermian fauna' from the vicinity of Veles (Republic of Macedonia), Part 1: Primates

New Material of the Hominoid Ouranopithecus macedoniensis from the Late Miocene of the Axios Valley (Macedonia, Greece) with Some Remarks on Its Sexual Dimorphism

Possible hominin footprints from the late Miocene (c. 5.7 Ma) of Crete?

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