Caught in travertine: computed tomography reveals the youngest record of Amphicyon giganteus from the travertine deposits of Karacalar (late middle Miocene, central Anatolia, Turkey)

Abstract

A computed tomography scan of a travertine slab from the Karacalar Silver Travertine Quarry (Afyonkarahisar Province, Turkey) revealed the presence of an encased partial cranium, partial mandible and three vertebrae. 3D reconstruction of the fossil helped identifying it as Amphicyon giganteus. As the travertine caps a section correlated to MN7/8, the specimen represents the youngest record of Amphicyon giganteus, the known range previously being limited to MN4 – MN6. This young age is in line with the more advanced morphology of the lower molars.

A new gigantic carnivore (Carnivora, Amphicyonidae) from the late middle Miocene of France

“…Viranta (1996) estimated that the decline of the Amphicyonidae started in MN7/8 and considered that MN9 marked the probable disappearance of amphicyonids in Western Europe. However, the recent descriptions of the amphicyonids Magericyon anceps (Magericyonini; Peigné et al, 2008 ), Ammitocyon kainos (Thaumastocyoninae; Morales et al, 2021a ) in MN9 and MN10 Spanish localities, the first discovery of Megamphicyon giganteus in MN7/8 (Turkey; Van der Hoek et al., 2022 and Tartarocyon nov. gen. have greatly changed our perception of the latest amphicyonid evolution ( Fig. 6 ; Table 5 ).…”

“… Morales et al (2021b) created two new tribes (Pseudarctini and Magericyonini) to clarify the systematics of Miocene amphicyonines. Amphicyonini groups the genera Amphicyon , Cynelos , Euroamphicyon , Heizmannocyon , Megamphicyon , and Paludocyon —we here use the genus Megamphicyon but see Morales et al (2021b) and Van der Hoek et al (2022) for opposite opinion regarding the validity of this genus. Pseudarctini groups the genera Ictiocyon , Dehmicyon , and Pseudarctos .…”