Late Cenozoic micromammal biochronology of northwestern Africa

Lartetium africanum (Lavocat, 1961) (Eulipotyphla · Soricidae) from Beni-Mellal (Morocco), the oldest African shrew: new descriptions, palaeoenvironment and comments on biochronological context

“…Although the ascending ramus, the condyle and the anterior part of the maxilla are unknown in the specimens from Beni-Mellal, this African soricid shares many characteristics with L. dehmi from Vieux-Collonges. The number of lower antemolars, the morphology of the p4, the position of the mental foramen and the configuration of teeth and cingula confirm its attribution to the genus Lartetium, as previously proposed by Butler (1998), Mein and Ginsburg (2002) and Stoetzel (2013).…”

“…As stated by Jaeger (1977) and Stoetzel (2013), the occurrence of Megapedetes in Beni-Mellal is probably an Early Miocene North African tropical element that persisted into the Middle Miocene. In any case, this assemblage testifies to exchanges between Anatolia and Africa during the early Middle Miocene and suggests that the faunal assemblage of Beni-Mellal could be older than previously proposed.…”

“…from the Late Miocene of Sheikh Abdallah (Central Egypt, MN9). Moreover, Stoetzel (2013) states that L. dehmi occurs up to her local Biozone 4 in the Late Miocene localities Oued Zra (MN9) and Khendek el Ouaich (MN13) in Morocco, which would be the youngest records of the genus to date. However, the only cited reference for these localities is an unpublished Master's dissertation (Vergilino 1999) in which only the material from Oued Zra is figured (P4, A2?, M3, p4, I, m3), with correspondence to the characteristics of L. africanum.…”

“…Lartetium from Beni-Mellal, together with Myosorex mentioned from the Ketchaba Formation in Tunisia dated at about 12 Ma (Butler 1998;Furió et al 2007;Stoetzel 2013), constitute the first two occurrences of the family Soricidae in the Middle Miocene of Africa. Up to now, the Beni-Mellal fauna comprises almost exclusively African taxa, making it difficult to draw comparisons with Eurasian faunas and consequently to propose a correlation with the European mammal Neogene chronology (MN units;Mein 1975).…”

Were Upper Pleistocene human/non-human predator occupations at the Témara caves (El Harhoura 2 and El Mnasra, Morocco) influenced by climate change?

“…Its presence in layer 6 of EM Cave indicates a savannah-type environment, probably with a humid winter and a dry summer. Arvicanthis occurred sporadically in the Maghreb throughout the Quaternary period in relation with climatic changes and the opening of migration routes (notably in the Saharan and Sahelian areas during wet periods) allowing the expansion of its distribution towards northern Morocco (Stoetzel, 2013a;Stoetzel et al, 2014). Thus, in accordance with the OSL dating , the occupation of layer 6 of EM Cave may be related to the wet period and the high sea level of OIS 5c (only~À20 m bellow sea level) (e.g., Shackleton, 2000;Jouzel et al, 2002;Waelbroeck et al, 2002).…”