A new primate assemblage from La Verrerie de Roches (Middle Eocene, Switzerland)

Abstract

Primates reached a great abundance and diversity during the Eocene, favored by warm temperatures and by the development of dense forests throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Here we describe new primate material from La Verrerie de Roches, a Middle Eocene karstic infill situated in the Jura Region (Switzerland), consisting of more than 80 dental remains. The primate assemblage from La Verrerie de Roches includes five different taxa. The best represented primate is Necrolemur aff. anadoni, similar in size and overall morphology to Necrolemur anadoni but resembling in some features the younger species Necrolemur antiquus. Microchoerines are also represented by two species of Pseudoloris, P. pyrenaicus and Pseudoloris parvulus, constituting the unique joint record of these two species known up to now. Remains of Adapiformes are limited to one isolated tooth of a large anchomomyin and another tooth belonging to the small adapine Microadapis cf. sciureus. The studied primate association allows assigning La Verrerie de Roches to the Robiacian Land Mammal Age. More specifically, this site can be confidently situated between the MP15 and MP16 reference levels, although the primate assemblage probably indicates some degree of temporal mixing. This is the first record of P. pyrenaicus and a form closely related to N. anadoni out of the Iberian Peninsula. The identification of these microchoerines in Switzerland gives further support to the connection of NE Spain and Central Europe during the Middle Eocene.

Eocene Western European endemic genus Thaumastosaurus: new insights into the question “Are the Ranidae known prior to the Oligocene?”

“…Based on the species composition of the latter, the fauna correlates to the Robiacian European Land Mammal Age–MP16, corresponding to the Bartonian stage, late middle Eocene (Becker, Rauber & Scherler, 2013). A latest study on primate fauna from the pockets of the La Verrerie de Roches suggested a slightly older age of transition of the MP15–MP16 zone (Minwer-Barakat et al, 2017). The ages of other karstic pockets (see below) cannot be directly dated due to the lack of any mammal taxa.…”

“…romani , (Becker, Rauber & Scherler, 2013), between MP15 and MP16 Necrolemus aff. anadoni , Pseudoloris parvulus , Pseudoloris pyrenaicus (Minwer-Barakat et al, 2017). …”

The fossil assemblage from Pontils, a middle Eocene primate-bearing locality from Northeastern Spain

“…Although its incompleteness prevents taking measurements, direct comparison shows that this tooth is larger than those of Necrolemur anadoni from Sant Jaume de Frontanyà-1 (Minwer-Barakat et al, 2015b) and N. aff. anadoni from La Verrerie de Roches (Minwer-Barakat et al, 2017a), similar in size to Necrolemur antiquus from La Bouffie (Godinot, 2003) and smaller than Microchoerus hookeri from Sossís (Minwer-Barakat et al, 2017b). This specimen is therefore identified as Necrolemur sp.…”

“…Some dental elements found in the same levels (PO-22, 25, 33, 38, 38 TOP, and 39) can be ascribed to the genus Pseudoloris , common in middle and late Eocene localities from the Iberian Peninsula, France, Germany, and Switzerland (Crusafont-Pairó, 1967; Godinot, 1983, 1988a; Köhler & Moyà-Solà, 1999; Minwer-Barakat et al, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015a, 2017a; Thalmann, 1994). The material from Pontils shows features typical of this genus such as lower first and second molars (IPS86802; Fig.…”