Abstract

The first abundant vertebrate and mollusc fauna from a travertine complex Dreveník (northern Slovakia) is preliminarily reported. The greatly diversified community of small mammals (580 MNI, 38 spp.) is characterized by the simultaneous appearance of elements otherwise restricted to the earliest Biharian stage (such as Petenyia, Pitymimomys pitymyoides), those related to the late Biharian clades (Mimomys savini, Cricetus c. runtonenesis), and the typical elements of the late early Biharian (such as Pliomys episcopalis, Mimomys pusillus, Pliomys hollitzeri, including a derived form of Pliomys coronensis). A rich assemblage of early Microtus (s. l.) clade exhibiting an extreme phenotype diversity covering a broad spectrum of diverse transitional morphotypes is compared with the situation in other European sites of assumed age along the early/late Biharian transition. The common biostratigraphic characteristics of these sites and the stratigraphic setting of the transitional period between the early and late Biharian (Q 1 and Q 2 zones in terms of Horáček and Ložek 1988) are discussed. The record of non-mammalian vertebrates and particularly the molluscs assemblage (2,452 MNI, 51 spp.), supposedly the richest reported for that stage in Europe, further supplement the report with detailed paleoenvironmental reconstructions.

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Csakvaromys sciurinus is an enigmatic stem ground squirrel from the Late Miocene of Hungary that has previously only been briefly described. The restudy of the holotype allows a detailed redescription and comparison with different xerines. Csakvaromys sciurinus is recognized as a junior synonym of Csakvaromys bredai and diagnosed by the following combination of characters: medium size, close to the maximum limits of C. bredai; massive body of the mandible with deep diastemal portion and shallow diastemal depression; elevated area of the mental foramen; nonconfluent lower and upper masseteric crests separated by the attachment area for the anterior fibers of the anterior deep masseter muscle; transversely compressed lower incisor with longitudinally striated anterior enamel face; and brachyodont cheek teeth with mesoconids, rudimentary entoconids, and well-developed anteroconulid of p4.

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In memory of Oldřich Fejfar