Reappearance of Galerix (Erinaceomorpha, Mammalia) at the Middle to Late Miocene transition in South Germany: biostratigraphic and palaeoecologic implications

Abstract

The presence of Galerix molars in the South German fossil locality Hammerschmiede 3 is interpreted as evidence for a reimmigration of West European origin into the North Alpine Foreland Basin at the transition of the Middle to Late Miocene. The brief re-appearence of Galerix in southern Germany can be used as a biostratigraphic marker that allows promising correlations between local biostratigraphic subdivisions from Spain and Germany, suggesting that, contrary to previous thought, the Hammerschmiede locality may antedate the hipparionine horses’ appearance event. Based on the supposed climatic adaptation of galericine taxa and lower vertebrate record, it is hypothesized that short term climatic fluctuations occurred in South Germany around the time of the first appearance of the hipparionine horses in Europe.

Hedgehogs (Erinaceidae, Lipotyphla) from the Miocene of Pakistan, with description of a new species of Galerix

“…The stratigraphic range of G. rutlandae is shorter than that of G. wesselsae, but it coincides with one of the best-sampled intervals in the Siwalik fossil record. The species last appears at 11.6 Ma, close to the last secure occurrence of Galerix exilis in Spain at 11.5 Ma (Prieto et al 2011). Galerix is also known from similar-age sites in France and Germany (Mein and Ginsburg 2002;Prieto et al 2011).…”

“…The galericine fossil record of Pakistan mirrors that of western and central Europe (see Van den Hoek Ostende 2001;Van den Hoek Ostende and Doukas 2003;Prieto et al 2011) in some important ways. In both areas, Galerix first appears in the Early (not earliest) Miocene as an apparent immigrant.…”

The tangled cases of Deinogalerix (Late Miocene endemic erinaceid of Gargano) and Galericini (Eulipotyphla, Erinaceidae): a cladistic perspective

“…Notable is the ‘reapperance’ of Galerix exilis recently reported by Prieto et al. () from the middle/late Miocene transition in southern Germany. This shows how imperfect is our knowledge even of the central European Miocene faunas.…”

The Genus Eomyops Engesser, 1979 (Rodentia, Eomyidae) from the youngest deposits of the German part of the North Alpine Foreland Basin

“…While most of the E. catalaunicus samples are probably Late Miocene in age, earlier occurrences of the species at the end of the Middle Miocene cannot be ruled out, as the original dating of Hammerschmiede, assigned to the Late Miocene, has recently been challenged (see discussion in Prieto et al 2010Prieto et al , 2011, and might be older than traditionally believed. Unfortunately the time gap between the localities containing E. oppligeri and E. catalaunicus is too large to precisely understand the relations between the species, and thus to propose a more in-depth phylogenetic scenario.…”

“…Hammerschmiede deposits (NNW of Kaufbeuren, see Mayr and Fahlbusch (1975) for details) are widely known for their rich fossil content, dominated by small mammals, ectothermic tetrapods and fishes Fahlbusch and Mayr 1975;Mayr 1979;Schleich 1985;Bolliger 1999;Hugueney 1999;Böhme 2003;Böhme and Ilg 2003;Prieto and Rummel 2009;Klembara et al 2010;Prieto et al 2011), as well as a rich mollusc fauna (Schneider and Prieto 2011). Large mammals, most of which are remains of carnivores, have sporadically been reported Eronen and Rössner 2007).…”