https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5626-2777
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ABSTRACT
The locality of Udabno, Georgia, preserves material referred to the hominoid primate Dryopithecus. In this study, we describe the microvertebrate fauna from the site, which includes fishes (Scardinius sp., Carassius sp.), anurans (Pelophylax sp.), squamates (Lacertidae indet., Ophidia indet.), insectivores (Schizogalerix sinapensis, Turiasorex cf. pierremeini), and rodents (Byzantinia pikermiensis, Hansdebruijnia erksinae, Vasseuromys pannonicus). The association of two rodents, the cricetid B. pikermiensis and the murid H. erksinae, constrains the age of the Udabno fauna more precisely than previous studies. Byzantinia pikermiensis was first recognized at the site of Pikermi, Chomateri, and later recovered in other sites from Turkey, including the hominid-bearing site of Çorakyerler. The murid H. erksinae was also described from Çorakyerler in Turkey. Therefore, the presence of these rodents at Udabno indicates that the fauna postdates late Vallesian faunas such as Biodrak, Greece, and Bayraktepe II, Turkey, which are characterized by the association of the more archaic species Byzantinia nikosi and Progonomys cathalai. This study demonstrates that Udabno is temporally equivalent to typical Turolian sites from the Mediterranean area, such as Pikermi, Çorakyerler, and Crevillente 2.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work has been supported by the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación (projects CGL2016-80000-P, CGL2016-76431-P, and CGL2017-82654-P), the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union (AEI/FEDER EU), Generalitat de Catalunya (AGAUR, SGR2017-859 and CERCA Program), and Shota Rustaveli Georgian Science Foundation (project no. 217626, ‘Late Miocene of the Iori Valley [Georgia]: Understanding primate turnover in the Southern Caucasus’). P.P. is beneficiary of a postdoctoral fellowship from the Argentinian Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET).
ORCID
Pedro Piñero http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5626-2777
Oriol Oms http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8355-847X