An omomyid primate from the Pontide microcontinent of north-central Anatolia: Implications for sweepstakes dispersal of terrestrial mammals during the Eocene


Beard K. C., Métais G., OCAKOĞLU F., Licht A.

Geobios, cilt.66-67, ss.143-152, 2021 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 66-67
  • Basım Tarihi: 2021
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.geobios.2020.06.008
  • Dergi Adı: Geobios
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, BIOSIS
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.143-152
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Eocene, Omomyidae, Sweepstakes dispersal, Pontides, Orhaniye Basin, Turkey, MIDDLE EOCENE, EARLIEST EOCENE, EVOLUTION, PALEOCENE, ORIGINS, TURKEY, FOSSIL, FAUNA, BASIN, MICROCHOERINAE
  • Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

© 2020 Elsevier Masson SASA new genus and species of omomyid primate is described from the middle Eocene (Lutetian) Lülük Member of the Uzunçarşidere Formation, Orhaniye Basin, north-central Anatolia, Turkey. This is the first Eocene primate to be reported from the vast area between Switzerland and Pakistan. The new taxon is currently represented by a single dentary fragment, limiting the scope of morphological comparisons that can be made with related taxa. Nevertheless, its dentition differs fundamentally from that of contemporary European microchoerids. The new taxon most closely resembles North American middle Eocene omomyines such as Mytonius hopsoni, and it is therefore interpreted as a member of the Asian/North American omomyine radiation. Its occurrence on the Pontide microcontinent must have resulted from sweepstakes dispersal across the intervening Tethyan barrier that separated the Pontides from adjacent parts of Eurasia during the Lutetian. Sweepstakes dispersal by various terrestrial mammal clades, especially rodents and primates, was facilitated by Eocene greenhouse climatic conditions, which promoted extreme precipitation events and frequent flooding of major river drainages.