The Oldest and Youngest Records of Afrosoricid Placentals from the Fayum Depression of Northern Egypt
http://app.pan.pl/archive/published/app55/app20100023.pdf


Tenrecs (Tenrecoidea) and golden moles(Chrysochloroidea) are among the most enigmatic mammals alive today. Mo−lecular data strongly support their inclusion in the morphologically diverse clade Afrotheria, and suggest that the twolineages split near the K−T boundary, but the only undoubted fossil representatives of each superfamily are from earlyMiocene (~20 Ma) deposits in East Africa. A recent analysis of partial mandibles and maxillae of Eochrysochloris,Jawharia, and Widanelfarasia, from the latest Eocene and earliest Oligocene of Egypt, led to the suggestion that thederived “zalambdomorph” molar occlusal pattern (i.e., extreme reduction or loss of upper molar metacones and lowermolar talonids) seen in tenrecoids and chrysochloroids evolved independently in the two lineages, and that tenrecoidsmight be derived from a dilambdomorph group of “insectivoran−grade” placentals that includes forms such asWidanelfarasia. Here I describe the oldest afrosoricid from the Fayum region, ~37 Ma Dilambdogale gheerbranti gen.et sp. nov., and the youngest, ~30 Ma Qatranilestes oligocaenus gen. et sp. nov. Dilambdogale is the most generalizedof the Fayum afrosoricids, exhibiting relatively broad and well−developed molar talonids and a dilambdomorph ar−rangement of the buccal crests on the upper molars, whereas Qatranilestesis the most derived in showing relatively ex−treme reduction of molar talonids. These occurrences are consistent with a scenario in which features of thezalambdomorph occlusal complex were acquired independently and gradually through the later Paleogene. Phylogen−etic analysis places Dilambdogale and Widanelfarasia as sister taxa to the exclusion of crown afrosoricids, but derivedfeatures that these taxa share with early Miocene Protenrec hint at the possibility that both taxa might be stemtenrecoids. Late Paleocene Todralestes and Afrodon from Morocco are similarly placed as stem afrosoricids, indicat−ing that African adapisoriculids (including Garatherium) might also be relevant to the origin of the tenrecoid andchrysochloroid clades

Megatherioidea (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Tardigrada) from the Pinturas Formation (Early Miocene), Santa Cruz Province (Argentina) and th...


AbstractPyroclastic and epiclastic continental sediments bearing the “fauna Astrapothericulense” from the Pinturas Formation of Ameghino crop out mainly at several localities at the upper valley of the Pinturas River and its tributaries, northwestern Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. These continental sediments are referred to the Burdigalian Stage and constitute the basis for the recognition of the Pinturas Formation. The fauna recorded in the Pinturas Formation mainly consists of mammals, specially rodents, native ungulates, xenarthrans and primates. Here we describe the first association of Megatherioidea (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Tardigrada) from different localities of the Pinturas Formation with accurate geographic and stratigraphic provenance. The Megatherioidea from the Pinturas Formation presented herein are represented by (1) Schismotherium cf. binum; (2) Hapalops sp.; and (3) a Megatherioidea indet. In addition, the holotypes of Schismotherium binum (MACN A 11750), Hapalops curvus (MACN A 11140), and Pelecyodon arcuatus were collected from the “fauna Astrapothericulense” of Ameghino; unfortunately, it is not easy to determine if they were collected from the Pinturas Formation since they are part of Ameghino’s Collection (MACN), but were collected a time when the Pinturas Formation had not yet been proposed. The presence of a species of Schismotherium and of Hapalops in the Pinturas Formation represent accurate early records for these genera, but not necessarily the earliest. The age of the Pinturas Formation could overlap, partially or totally, with the age of the Santa Cruz Formation at the Atlantic coast, where most Early Miocene Megatherioidea were collected.


https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299660224_Megatherioidea_Mammalia_Xenarthra_Tardigrada_from_the_Pinturas_Formation_Early_Miocene_Santa_Cruz_Province_Argentina_and_their_chronological_implications

Petrosal Anatomy of the Nine-Banded Armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus Linnaeus, 1758 (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Dasypodidae)


AbstractAlthough isolated mammalian petrosals often are encountered in the fossil record, few detailed descriptions of these bones exist for extant taxa. As a contribution to that void, isolated petrosals are described in detail for two nine-banded armadillos, Dasypus novemcinctus Linnaeus, 1758, and are placed in the context of the basicranium based on an additional 18 specimens, all from Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Neurovascular structures are reconstructed based on study of serially sectioned fetal specimens from the Anatomisches Instituts in Frankfurt and Heidelberg, Germany. Preliminary comparisons are made with other extinct and extant eutherians that the author has described in recent years. Unexpectedly, quite a few similarities are found between the petrosals of D. novemcinctus and the chiropteran Pteropus livingstonii Gray, 1866, which in light of the divergent phyletic affinities and biologies of these animals are remarkable convergences.


https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232691516_Petrosal_Anatomy_of_the_Nine-Banded_Armadillo_Dasypus_novemcinctus_Linnaeus_1758_Mammalia_Xenarthra_Dasypodidae

The carnivore guild circa 1.98 million years: biodiversity and implications for thepalaeoenvironment at Malapa, South Africa


http://www.archaeomagnetism.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Kuhn2016-Malapa-carnivore-guilds.pdf


Abstract The Malapa fossil assemblage was likely accumulatedas a result of a death trap. Given this, the carnivoranspecies found there must have lived in proximity, close proximityfor the smaller species, to the site, offering the possibilityof expanding our interpretation of the habitats available toAustralopithecus sediba via pinpoint palaeoenvironmental interpretation.To date, the identified carnivorans are the mostabundant identified non-hominin taxa at Malapa, and giventheir territorial behaviour, are important when interpreting thepalaeoecology of the site. The extinct false saber-tooth felid(Dinofelis barlowi) suggests that the presence of closed environmentsand the ancestral form of modern water mongoose(Atilax mesotes) indicates the presence of water in the vicinity.Canids generally support the presence of open habitats. Thefirst appearance in the fossil record of Vulpes skinneri andFelis nigripes indicates the presence of drier open grassland/scrub. The Malapa carnivorans support widespread shifts incarnivore turnover circa 2.0 Ma in Africa and suggest, togetherwith other lines of evidence, the occurrence of a regionaltransitioning environment during the time of Au. sediba.

Activity pattern of Procyon cancrivorus (Carnivora: Procyonidae) in Argentina


http://www.ots.ac.cr/rbt/attachments/volumes/vol41-1/21_Yanosky_Procyon_cancrivorus.pdf

Rare Late Miocene Seal Taxa (Carnivora, Phocidae) from the North Sea Basin
https://www.degruyter.com/downloadpdf/j/vzoo.2014.48.issue-5/vzoo-2014-0050/vzoo-2014-0050.xml

Functional morphology of the cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) mandible: a 3D geometric morphometric analysis
AbstractThe diet of the fossil cave bears (Ursus spelaeus group) has been debated extensively. Thought traditionally to be herbivorous, more recent studies have proposed more meat in the cave bear diet. To test this, the mandibular morphology of cave bears was analysed using 3D geometric morphometrics and compared to that of extant Ursidae. Landmarks for 3D digitisation of the mandible were chosen to reflect functional morphology relating to the temporalis and masseter muscles. Extant and extinct Pleistocene Ursidae were digitised with a MicroScribe G2. Generalised Procrustes superimposition was performed, and data were allometrically and phylogenetically corrected. Principal component analysis (PCA), two-block partial least squares analysis (2B-PLS), regression analysis and discriminant function analysis were performed. PCA and 2B-PLS differentiate between known dietary niches in extant Ursidae. The lineage of the cave bear runs parallel to that of the panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) in morphospace, implying the development of morphological adaptations for eating foliage. A regression of shape onto foliage content in the diet and a discriminant function analysis also indicate that the cave bear diet consisted primarily of foliage.


https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283259562_Functional_morphology_of_the_cave_bear_Ursus_spelaeus_mandible_a_3D_geometric_morphometric_analysis

借此贴求教下@神皇上帝临时ID@duanmianxiong
日前看到一篇博文，内容如下：
Today the cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus is the only cat with clear adaptations for extremely fast sprint running, but in the past there were other species, more or less closely related to it, which also developed that kind of specialisation. The American cats of the genus Miracinonyx(about which I wrote in some detail in an earlier post) lived during the Pleistocene and paralleled to a remarkable degree the cursorial features of the cheetah skeleton, although none of them was quite as specialised as the true cheetah. But in the Pliocene and Pleistocene of the Old World there was an early species of the true cheetah genus Acinonyx, what we could call a cheetah with a difference. Of course I am talking about Acinonyx pardinensis, the giant cheetah known from many fossil sites from Spain to China, and which is known to have been considerably taller than the modern species. It is tempting to imagine that, having comparable adaptations for running as the modern cheetah but with absolutely longer limbs, the giant cheetah could have reached higher peak speeds, but would it?
Many years ago I had the opportunity to study casts of a partial skeleton of A. pardinensisfrom Perrier (France) housed at the Paris Museum of Natural History, and I was impressed by the animal’s enormous size and advanced running adaptations. The animal probably weighted about 70 kg, but its limb bones were quite elongated and so were its lumbar vertebrae, betraying a long and flexible back just as in the modern cheetah. But a detailed examination reveals some features in which the giant cheetah appears to be intermediate between the advanced morphology of the modern cheetah and that of the more “normal”, slower cats. For instance, the femur is not as strongly bowed as in A. jubatus, and the fibula is relatively robust without signs of the incipient fusion with the tibia observed in living cheetahs. In the radius, the tuber for the biceps muscle occupies about 10% of the shaft length in A.pardinensis as in most felines, while in the modern cheetah it is only half that long (muscle force tends to concentrate in the proximal part of the limb in the cheetah, as in all cursorial mammals).
Here are some of the limb bones of A. pardinensis that I photographed in Paris


And here are some of the animal’s vertebrae


In this comparative drawing the skeleton of the modern cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus (foreground) is shown to the same scale as the extinct giant cheetah, Acinonyx pardinensis (background)


More recently, the bones of the forelimb of a giant cheetah were found at the Georgian site of Dmanisi, and their study has revealed some interesting facts. The authors estimate that the body mass of that individual would be in the vicinity of 100 kilos, quite larger than the individual from France that I examined and more than twice the average weight of extant cheetahs. The humerus bone is far more stout than in modern cheetahs, probably in relation with the animal’s great mass, but otherwise the proportions of the bones are remarkably elongate.
Here is a photo of the Dmanisi giant cheetah forelimb exhibited at the National Museum of Georgia in Tbilisi (by the way, the small round objects are not cheetah bones, they are actually hyena coprolites!)



OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Other fossil sites, including Saint Vallier in France and Pantalla in Italy, have yielded amazing fossil skulls of A. pardinensis, showing a considerable but not total similarity with modern cheetahs. The skull was proportionally somewhat longer and lower than in A. jubatus, thus resembling more “conventional” cats. But the dentition is very similar to that of the modern cheetah, especially in the fact that the upper carnassial was remarkably blade-like, lacking the inner cusp or protocone. This feature indicates that the animal consumed little if any bone, and, just like modern cheetahs, it would hurriedly eat the more meaty parts if its prey and leave the rest for more powerful competitors.
Here we see a life reconstruction of A. pardinensis (background) shown to scale with a modern cheetah


All in all , we get a complex picture of A. pardinensis. Undoubtedly it would be an extremely fast sprint runner, but its adaptations were a little less refined than in its modern relative, which, combined with a greater body mass, almost surely implied that it would not be a faster animal, in spite of its longer legs. Once A. pardinensis made a kill, its blade-like carnassials allowed it to cut and consume skin and meat very efficiently, but it would probably not stay at the kill site long enough to consume any significant proportion of bone. And it makes sense that, in a world populated by large jaguars, sabertooths like Homotherium, giant hyenas likePachycrocuta and packs of wolves, the elegant giant cheetah would not risk injury in a fight over a carcass. Just as in the modern cheetah, there was a price to pay for extreme sprinting efficiency. And just like its modern relative, its hunting would have been a true spectacle of nature. Ah, to see such a scene!
Here is a reconstruction of A. pardinensis in hot pursuit of the Pleistocene antelope Gazellospira


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想知道这里面说的是哪种动物？速度和今天的猎豹相比较怎样？以及它的体尺和预测下体重。（图片有水印我就不发了）附上导航链接：https://chasingsabretooths.wordpress.com/2016/12/

中国北方上中新统的早期玛姆象属(Mammut)及其在玛姆象科
(Mammutidae)分化和演化中的意义


摘要：玛姆象属是长鼻类玛姆象科这一重要类群的最终成员。虽然这一属在上新世的欧
亚大陆和更新世的北美大陆广泛分布，它早期的进化历史却鲜为人知。报道了中国北方
上中新统发现的斜脊玛姆象(相似种) (Mammut cf. M. obliquelophus)的新材料，包括一个
几乎完整的幼年头骨，这些材料显示了玛姆象科的许多原始特征，因此很好地解释了玛
姆象属形态特征的形成过程。斜脊玛姆象(相似种)具有强烈向两侧扩展的枕部，在门齿
窝的基部具有收缩，这些特征与莫罗托始轭齿象(Eozygodon morotoensis)和广河豕脊齿象
(Choerolophodon guangheensis)均具有相似性，后两者分别为玛姆象科与豕脊齿象科的早期
代表。因此，玛姆象科与豕脊齿象科(Choerolophodontidae)具有近的亲缘关系，二者同位于
象形类(Elephantimorpha)系统发育中的基部。支序分析支持了这一结论。


连接：http://www.ivpp.cas.cn/cbw/gjzdwxb/xbwzxz/201704/P020170720393143211845.pdf

Out of Tibet: Pliocene Woolly Rhino Suggests High-Plateau Origin ofIce Age Megaherbivores
论文连接：http://science.sciencemag.org/content/suppl/2011/08/31/333.6047.1285.DC1/Deng.SOM.pdf

论文连接：http://estudiosgeol.revistas.csic.es/index.php/estudiosgeol/article/download/32/31
A complete skullofChasmaporthetes lunensis(Carnivora, Hyaenidae) from the Span-ish Pliocene site of La Puebla de Valverde (Teruel).
A remarkably complete, well-preserved skull of the Pliocene hunting hyaena Chasmaporthetes lunensis from La Puebla de Valverde (Teruel) is described. This exceptional find allows us to define more clearly the cranial morphology of this taxon, and to put its morphological features into evolutionary and functional perspective. Compared with the sympatric hyaenid Pliocrocuta perrieri, C. lunensis has a higher and wider rostrum, cheek teeth placed more anteriorly in relation to the orbits, a lower zygoma and a dorsally concave saggital crest, all pointing to a lesser development of the muscle temporalis and a greater emphasis on canine bite over premolar crushing bite. Horizontal wear on the premolars, caudal extension of the frontal sinus and other features indicate that scavenging or at least complete utilization of carcasses was a behavioural trait of the hunting hyaena. Overall, the available evidence suggests that C. lunensis was an active, group hunting predator of medium-sized ungulates, able to fully utilize carcasses but less dedicated to scavenging than the contemporary species P. perrieri. Describimos un cráneo prácticamente completo y bien preservado de la hiena cazadora del Plioceno, Chasmaporthetes lunensis, proveniente de La Puebla de Valverde (Teruel). Este hallazgo excepcional nos permite definir más claramente la morfología craneal de este taxón, y poner sus rasgos morfológicos en perspectiva funcional y evolutiva. Comparado con el hiénido simpátrico Pliocrocuta perrieri, C. lunenis muestra un hocico más alto y ancho, dientes post-caninos situados en posición más anterior respecto a las órbitas, arcos zigomáticos más bajos y una cresta sagital con un perfil dorsal cóncavo, todo lo cual apunta a un desarrollo menor del músculo temporal y un mayor énfasis en la mordida a nivel de los caninos respecto a la mordida trituradora de los premolares. El desgaste horizontal en los premolares, la extensión caudal de los senos frontales y otros rasgos indican que el carro eo, o al menos la utilización a fondo de los cuerpos de las presas, sería un rasgo del comportamiento de las hienas cazadoras. En conjunto, la evidencia disponible sugiere que C. lunensis era una cazadora activa y grupal de ungulados medianos, capaz de utilizar a fondo las presas pero menos estrictamente carro era que P. perrieri.

Variation and covariation ofskulls and teeth: modern carnivores and the interpretation of fossilmammals.
Abstract.—Teeth are generally the best-preserved elements among mammal fossil remains and arehighly diagnostic characters. Consequently, much mammalian paleontological, systematic, andevolutionary research focuses on teeth, so it is important to understand how they vary and covarywith other characters. Dental traits within populations of carnivores appear to be more variablethan cranial traits, a pattern that results only partly from their usually smaller size. Furthermore,dental traits, although highly correlated with one another, are not highly correlated with cranialtraits, which are also highly correlated with one another. Thus, teeth and cranial bones may besubject to quite different selective pressures and genetic/developmental constraints and may suggestdifferent microevolutionary scenarios. Vestigial teeth show significantly greater variabilitythan expected, reflecting the absence of stabilizing selection


http://www.tau.ac.il/lifesci/zoology/members/dayan_files/articles/variability.pdf

Some Hyaenidae from the LateMiocene of Macedonia (Greece) and a contribution to the phylogenyof the hunting hyaenas.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292792711_Some_Hyaenidae_from_the_Late_Miocene_of_Macedonia_Greece_and_a_contribution_to_the_phylogeny_of_the_hunting_hyaenas

论文地址：http://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/RIPS/article/download/5833/5862
an endemic hyaenid (Carnivora, Mammalia) from the MonteTuttavista fissure fillings (Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene; Sar-dinia, Italy).
AbstractOccurrence of large carnivores in island ecosystems is unusual, especially in the case of top predators. Here, a new endemic hyaenid species, Chasmaporthetes melei, from the late Late Pliocene to earliest Pleistocene fissure fillings of Monte Tuttavista, Orosei, Sardinia, is described. Although smaller, C. melei is morphologically comparable with the Plio-Pleistocene Eurasian hunting-hyena Chasmaporthetes lunensis, a possible ancestor of the Sardinian species. C. melei displays all the characteristic feeding adaptations of Chasmaporthetes, including a derived enamel structure similar to the condition in extant bone-crushing hyaenas. C. melei was an active predator that nonetheless included a relatively large amount of bone in its diet.SHORT

A Miocene breeding ground of an extinct baleen whale (Cetacea: Mysticeti)
https://peerj.com/articles/3711/
Locating breeding sites is definitely a key to understanding the ecological requirements and maintaining the sustainability of populations/species. Here I re-examined published specimens of an extinct baleen whale,Parietobalaena yamaokai, from the lower part of Itahashi Formation (16.1–15.6 Ma, Middle Miocene) in Shobara, Hiroshima, Japan. A critical and previously unnoticed feature, the open suture between the supraoccipital and exoccipital, in one specimen indicates the preservation of a very young individual–under six months old and even close to a new-born calf. Given the occurrence of a new-born whale and relatively abundant assemblage ofParietobalaena yamaokai, I propose a previously hidden and unknown breeding ground for the extinct baleen whale, P. yamaokai, in the Middle Miocene of Shobara (16.1–15.6 Ma), Hiroshima. Discovery of paleo-breeding sites of extinct populations/species should further help us to understand biological extinctions from a long-term perspective as conservation paleobiology aims to offer new insights into policy making for conserving endangered populations/species.

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MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF METACARPAL AND METATARSAL BONES OF CAVEBEARS (CARNIVORA, URSIDAE)
http://fi.nm.cz/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/1_Baryshnikov_final.pdf
Abstract: For the first time, morphometric variation has been studied in metacarpal and metatarsal bones of all known taxaof cave bears, which belong to different molecular genetic groups (deningeri, kudarensis, spelaeus, and ingressus haplotypes).The examined material involves nearly three thousand specimens from 28 localities of Europe, the Urals, Caucasus, andCentral Asia. For comparison we used samples of fossil and recent Ursus arctos, as well as U. etruscus, regarded as a commonancestor of brown bears and cave bears. Methods of univariate and multivariate statistical analyses of metapodial bones wereemployed, providing an opportunity to ascertain the degree of sexual dimorphism in different taxa, the degree of morphologicaldifference between taxa, and to define “size” and “shape” morphospaces for concise description of morphological diversityand classification of cave bears. Our study reveals that, on average, sexual dimorphism is more pronounced in U. arctos andU. kudarensis praekudarensis than in cave bears. Sexual dimorphism of bear metapodia is greater than sexual dimorphism ofthe skull (Baryshnikov and Puzachenko 2011). The contribution of sexual dimorphism to size of the metapodials is close toa contribution associated with morphological disparity between the bears belonging to different taxa. By the example of twochronosubspecies of Kudaro cave bear: U. kudarensis praekudarensis from Middle Pleistocene and U. k. kudarensis from LatePleistocene, we succeeded in detecting a decrease of sexual dimorphism over time, which suggests that earlier cave bears inheriteda pronounced sexual dimorphism from ancestral taxa. Metacarpal and metatarsal bones of cave bears are easily distinguishedfrom those of U. etruscus and U. arctos, simultaneously demonstrating similarity between cave bears from different geneticgroups, involving the species U. kudarensis (the basal taxon for all cave bears, including U. deningeri); some peculiarities ofthese bones are revealed only in the smaller U. rossicus. The examples have shown the presence (U. k. kudarensis) as well asabsence (U. deningeri, U. kanivetz ingressus) of evident spatial (geographical) and temporal patterns in metapodial variability.It is determined that taxa can be better differentiated by metacarpals rather than by metatarsals, because the latter proved to bemore “conservative” and less variable over time. It is hypothesized that very rapid modification of metapodial bones occurredat an early stage of evolution of this group, which was presumably a result of occupation of a special ecological niche by cavebears. This study reveals that the size and shape of metacarpal and metatarsal bones did not have an observable link with thetaxonomic or evolutionary position of cave bears. At the same time, the clear morphological differences between brown bearsand cave bears reflect an early evolutionary divergence between “arctoid” and “spelaeoid” lineages.

SMALL MAMMAL FAUNA IN EUROPE DURING THE SECOND HALF OF THE MIDDLEPLEISTOCENE
http://fi.nm.cz/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2_Markova_final.pdf
Abstract: Evolutionary changes in European small mammals during the second half of the Middle Pleistocene, from the Likhvin(Holsteinian, Hoxnian) Interglacial (MIS 11) to the beginning of the Mikulino (Eemian) Interglacial (MIS 5e), that is between424 ka BP and 130 ka BP were traced. Trends in evolutionary change were documented, and East European and West Europeanfaunas were compared. An integrated analysis of available theriological, geological, and geochronological data for the secondhalf of the Middle Pleistocene in Europe has shown marked changes in the small mammal fauna throughout the period underconsideration and provided information on the climate and environments at different time intervals. Changes traceable in theArvicolinae phyletic lines made a correlation between the West European and East European mammal localities possible. Thebiostratigraphic scheme of the second half of the Middle Pleistocene has been developed and maps of small mammal localitiescompiled.

REPORT ON THE DISCOVERY OF FOSSIL MARES WITH PRESERVED UTEROPLACENTAFROM THE EOCENE OF GERMANY
http://fi.nm.cz/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/3_Franzen_final.pdf
Abstract: I report on the discoveries of three pregnant mares from the middle Eocene of Germany that contain remains offetuses still wrapped in the fossilized uteroplacenta. These are the first and up to now only discoveries of this kind. One specimencomes from the Eckfeld Maar (Eifel Mountains). It is 44 million years of age. The other two were discovered at Grube Messeland are 48 million years old. These are the oldest fossil uteroplacentae known so far. Their morphology corresponds to recenthomologues. Presumably, the uteroplacenta developed as part of the propagation system of mammals during the Palaeocene,perhaps already during the late Mesozoic.

A REVIEW OF THE PLEISTOCENE DWARFED ELEPHANTS FROM THE AEGEANISLANDS, AND THEIR PALEOGEOGRAPHIC CONTEXT
http://fi.nm.cz/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/4_Sen_final.pdf
Abstract: This paper provides a synthesis of the present knowledge on dwarfed endemic elephants from the Pleistocene of thesouth Aegean islands. Pleistocene elephants are quite well documented from Crete and Tilos, but with scarce remains on otherislands. The systematics and affinities of these elephants are discussed here in the light of recent knowledge on their dispersalhistory and morphological features. There were apparently three different species on Crete, an older species of Early Pleistoceneage and related to Mammuthus, and two others of Middle or Late Pleistocene age, namely Palaeoloxodon creutzburgi andP. chaniensis. The unique m3 from Kassos is similar in size and morphology to P. creutzburgi. From the other islands, the mostfamous and particularly well-documented species is P. tiliensis from Tilos. It was a dwarfed form estimated as being 1.8m atthe shoulders. Other important records are from the islands of Rhodos, Naxos, Dilos, Kalymnos and Kythera. These islandsyielded palaeoloxodontine elephant fossils presumably of the Middle-Late Pleistocene age. The pattern of their dentition andthe character of the limb bones, when known, resemble those of the European straight-tusked elephant P. antiquus, and thegeneral opinion is that they were derived from this species. The main question discussed in the present study is the relationshipbetween the elephant occurrences and palaeogeographic evolution of the Aegean domain. It appears that elephants populatedCrete at least twice at different times using sweepstake roots. On other islands, elephants probably became isolated because ofthe subsidence of the Aegean domain and the sea level rise during the Late Pleistocene, which reduced land surfaces and foodresources. Hence different degrees of dwarfism existed in these elephants and varied from one island to another.

PLEISTOCENE MAMMAL FAUNA OF THE TRLICA LOCALITY, MONTENEGRO
Abstract: The paper presents new evidence on the small and large mammal fauna from the Trlica locality, Montenegro,based on our records from the 2010 – 2014 excavations. It is shown that the lower layers of the locality correspond to theEarly Pleistocene, and the upper layers are dated as the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene. The results obtained allow us tocharacterize the environment in which the oldest hominid migrants dwelt in this region of South-Eastern Europe. Within theinterval 1.8–1.5 Ma, there was a relatively cool climate in the region. At the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene, the climatebecame milder; the areas occupied by forests, including broad-leaved forests, increased. The presence of Lagurini throughoutthe section is evidence of the existence of local areas of steppe in northern Montenegro during the Early Pleistocene and firsthalf of the Middle Pleistocene.
http://fi.nm.cz/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/5_Agadzhanyan_final.pdf