A new middle Pleistocene small vertebrate fauna from the Nagyharsány Crystal Cave (Villány Hills, Southern Hungary)

Abstract

The Nagyharsány Crystal Cave in the Villány Hills (Southern Hungary) has yielded a very rich assemblage of small vertebrate material, mainly consisting of isolated frog bones. Th e systematic collection involved sampling from several levels in three diff erent sites. During the detailed taxonomic processing of the vertebrate material, a total of 78 taxa were identifi ed. In addition to the rich herpetofauna, birds as well as small and large mammal remains were found. Preliminary palaeoecological studies have also been carried out on material from Site I. Th e small vertebrates of the lower levels indicate a warmer, moister, and more closed environment. Towards the top of the series, this gradually changes to a cooler, drier, more open one. Th e taxonomic, allometric, and palaeoecological results also allowed the stratigraphic position of the sites to be determined. We found that the material from the Nagyharsány Crystal Cave is most resembling to the material from the MIS 11 sites of the Vár Cave (Budapest). With 3 figures and 3 tables.