First evidence of “ancient deer” (cervid) in the late Miocene Bira Formation, Northern Israel

Abstract

Despite the extensive geological and paleontological searches in the south Levant, no terrestrial fauna of late Neogene age was yet reported. Here, we report the first evidence of “ancient deer”–cervid in the late Miocene (Tortonian) lacustrine section of the Bira Formation at Hagal Stream, Jordan Valley, northern Israel. The section comprises rich assemblage of macrofauna fossils, mostly freshwater mollusks. The mammalian bone was discovered among the macrofauna fossils, and is described as an almost complete left humerus of an adult animal identified as an artiodactyls element probably of a cervid. This terrestrial mammal shares similar paleoenvironmental conditions with other contemporaneous localities, where cervids prevailed with bovids and other taxa. It appears that the freshwater lakes provided favorite habitat for the development of the cervids and possibly other mammals. The specific conditions of preservation of the cervid illuminate the role of post depositional processes (taphonomic constrains) in masking terrestrial fauna remains in the region. Accordingly, further efforts will be devoted to unveil the mute part of the southern Levant–east Mediterranean terrestrial faunistic realm at the end of the Miocene.

Formation of lacustrine dolomite in the late Miocene marginal lakes of the East Mediterranean (Northern Israel)

“…The limestones of the Bira and Gesher formations formed under fresh to brackish salinity conditions, as indicated by their dominant fossil assemblages (Chalifa, ; Shaked Gelband et al ., ; Rozenbaum et al ., ), strontium isotope ratios (Rozenbaum, ) and lithofacies characterization (Rozenbaum et al ., ). The fossil assemblage of the Bira Formation at the Hurbat Ze'ev section comprises mainly freshwater gastropods occurring in limestones (Figs , A and B).…”

“…() suggested that high δ 18 O values of early diagenetic dolomite indicate deposition at cold temperatures and >100 m water depth. This scenario is an unlikely description for the dolostones of the Bira and Gesher formations that formed in shallow lakes where evaporative conditions occasionally developed (Rozenbaum et al ., , ). The δ 18 O values of the water from which calcite and dolomite precipitated were calculated using the calcite–water fractionation equation of Kim & O'Neil () and the dolomite–water fractionation equation of Vasconcelos et al .…”

Paleobiogeography of Crown Deer

“…Reports on the presence of Cervidae in the late Miocene of the Near East are more than scanty. The almost complete humerus of an "ancient deer" discovered in the Tortonian Bira Formation of the Jordan valley [36] belongs to a rather large ruminant similar in size to a modern red deer that does not fit the revealed pattern of the early evolutionary radiation of Capreolinae.…”