First remains of Diplocynodon cf. ratelii from the early Miocene sites of Ahníkov (Most Basin, Czech Republic)

 

Authors: Chroust M, Mazuch M, Ivanov M, Ekrt B, Luján AH

Published in: Bulletin of Geosciences, volume 96, issue 2; pages: 123 - 138; Received 5 June 2020; Accepted in revised form 14 December 2020; Online 7 February 2021

Keywords: fossil crocodiles, alligatoroid, Ahníkov, Ohře/Eger Graben, Eggenburgian,

full text (PDF, 8.01 MB)

Export to RIS

 

Abstract

Fossil crocodylians from the early Miocene (Eggenburgian, MN3a) sites of Ahníkov (Most Basin, Czech Republic) are described in this paper. The new material presented here includes over 200 remains (bones, teeth and osteoderms), and therefore constitutes the largest crocodylian sample known from the fossil record of the Czech Republic. Assignment of the specimens to the fossil alligatoroid taxon Diplocynodon cf. ratelii Pomel, 1847 (family Diplocynodontidae) is justified by the presence of several cranial and postcranial features. In the Czech Republic, this species has been previously reported only from the Tušimice site (MN3, Most Basin, Ohře/Eger Graben). The majority of the material reported from Ahníkov is composed of disarticulated juvenile individuals. Both sites are most likely attributable to the specific environment of swampy areas, where crocodile hatchlings would hide from predators. The presence of the genus Diplocynodon supports the assumption of rather warm climatic conditions in Central Europe during the early to middle Miocene, as well as a swampy depositional environment previously inferred for Ahníkov. However, some squamate taxa suggest the existence of additional, surrounding palaeoenvironment characterised by a more open landscape with slightly drier conditions.

References

Altrichter, M. & Sherman, P.M. 1999. Distribution and abundance of the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) in the Welder Wildlife Refuge, Texas. Texas Journal of Science 51(2), 139-146.

Antunes, M.T. 2003. Lower Paleogene crocodilians from Silveirinha, Portugal. Palaeovertebrata 32(1), 1-26.

Berg, D.E. 1966. Die Krokodile, insbesondere Asiatosuchus und aff. Sebecus?, aus dem Eozän von Messel bei Darmstadt/Hessen. Abhandlungen des Hessischen Landesamtes für Bodenforschung 52, 1-105.

Berg, D.E. 1969. Characteristic crocodiles of the Paleogene in Europe. Mémoires du Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minieres 69, 73-75.

Böhme, M. 2003. The Miocene Climatic Optimum: evidence from ectothermic vertebrates of Central Europe. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 195(3-4), 389-401. View article

Böhme, M. & Ilg, A. 2003. fosFARbase. www.wahre-staerke.com (Accessed 15. 11. 2019).

Brochu, C.A. 1996. Closure of neurocentral sutures during crocodilian ontogeny: implications for maturity assessment in fossil archosaurs. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 16(1), 49-62. View article

Brochu, C.A. 1997. Phylogenetic systematics and taxonomy of Crocodylia. 432 pp. Ph.D. thesis, University of Texas, Austin.

Brochu, C.A. 1999. Phylogenetics, taxonomy, and historical biogeography of alligatoroidea. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 19(1), 9-100. View article

Brochu, C.A., Parris, D.C., Smith Grandstaff, B., Denton, R.K. & Gallagher, W.B. 2012. A new species of Borealosuchus (Crocodyliformes, Eusuchia) from the Late Cretaceous-early Paleogene of New Jersey. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32(1), 105-116. View article

Buscalioni, A.D., Sanz, J.L. & Casanovas, M.L. 1992. A new species of the eusuchian crocodile Diplocynodon from the Eocene of Spain. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 187(1), 1-29.

Bůžek, Č., čtyroký, P., Fejfar, O., Konzalová, M. & Kvaček, Z. 1988. Biostratigraphy of Tertiary coal-bearing deposits of Bohemia and Moravia (C.S.R.), 291-305. In Pešek, J. & Vozár, J. (eds) Coal-bearing formations of Czecho- slovakia. Thematic volume concerning IGCP project 166. Dionýz Štúr Institute of Geology, Bratislava.

Čerňanský, A. 2012. The oldest known European Neogene girdled lizard fauna (Squamata, Cordylidae), with comments on Early Miocene immigration of African taxa. Geodiversitas 34(4), 837-848. View article

Čerňanský, A. & Bauer, A.M. 2010. Euleptes gallica Müller (Squamata: Gekkota: Sphaerodactylidae) from the Lower Miocene of North-West Bohemia, Czech Republic. Folia Zoologica 59(4), 323-328. View article

Čerňanský, A. & Joniak, P. 2009. New finds of lacertids (Sauria, Lacertidae) from the Neogene of Slovakia and Czech Republic. Biologia 66(5), 899-911. View article

Čerňanský, A. & Venczel, M. 2011. An amphisbaenid reptile (Squamata, Amphisbaenidae) from the Lower Miocene of Northwest Bohemia (MN 3, Czech Republic). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 260(1), 73-77. View article

Čerňanský, A., Rage, J.-C. & Klembara, J. 2015. The Early Miocene squamates of Amöneburg (Germany): The first stages of modern squamates in Europe. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 13(2), 97-128. View article

Chroust, M., Mazuch, M. & Luján, A.H. 2019. New material from the Eocene-Oligocene transition of the NW Bohemia (Czech Republic): an updated fossil record in Central Europe during the Grande Coupure. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 293(1), 73-82. View article

Čtyroký, P., Fejfar, O. & Holý, F. 1964a. Neue Paläntologische Funde im Untermiozän des böhmischen Braunkohlenbeckens. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläntologie, Abhandlungen 119(2), 134-156.

Čtyroký, P., Fejfar, O. & Holý, F. 1964b. Nové paleontologické nálezy ve spodním miocénu severočeské uhelné pánve. Zprávy o Geologických Výzkumech v Roce 1963, 201-203.

Delfino, M. & Rook, L. 2008. African crocodylians in the Late Neogene of Europe: A revision of Crocodylus bambolii Ristori, 1890. Journal of Paleontology 82(2), 336-343. View article

Delfino, M. & Rossi, M.A. 2013. Fossil crocodylid remains from Scontrone (Tortonian, Southern Italy) and the late Neogene Mediterranean biogeography of crocodylians. Geobios 46(1-2), 25-31. View article

Delfino, M. & Smith, T. 2012. Reappraisal of the morphology and phylogenetic relationships of the middle Eocene alligatoroid Diplocynodon deponiae (Frey, Laemmert, and Riess, 1987) based on a three-dimensional specimen. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32(6), 1358-1369. View article

Delfino, M., Böhme, M. & Rook, L. 2007. First European evidence for transcontinental dispersal of Crocodylus (late Neogene of southern Italy). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 149(3), 293-307. View article

Delfino, M., Luján, A.H., Abella, J., Alba, D.M., Böhme, M., Pérez-Ramos, A., Tschopp, E., Morales, J. & Montoya, P. 2021. Late Miocene remains from Venta del Moro (Iberian Peninsula) provide further insights on the dispersal of crocodiles across the late Miocene Tethys. Journal of Paleontology 95(1), 184-192. View article

Díaz Aráez, J.L., Delfino, M., Luján, A.H., Fortuny, J., Bernardini, F. & Alba, D.M. 2017. New remains of Diplocynodon (Crocodylia: Diplocynodontidae) from the Early Miocene of the Iberian Peninsula. Comptes Rendus Palevol 16(1), 12-26. View article

Dvořák, Z., Mach, K., Prokop, J. & Knor, S. 2010. Třetihorní fauna severočeské hnědouhelné pánve. 175 pp. Granit, Praha.

Elznic, A., Macůrek, V., Brož, B. Dašková, J., Fejfar, O., Krásný, J., Kvaček, Z., Mikuláš, R., Pešek, J., Spudil, J., Sýkorová, I., Teodoridis, V. & Titl, F. 2010. Severočeská (mostecká) pánev, 40-137. In Pešek (ed.) Terciérní pánve a ložiska hnědého uhlí České republiky. Česká geologická služba, Praha.

Ekrt, B., Mikuláš, R., Wagner, J., čermák, S., Procházková, K., Kadlecová, E. & Fejfar, O. 2016. New contribution to the palaeoichnology and taphonomy of the Ahníkov fossil site, Early Miocene, Most Basin (the Czech Republic). Fossil Imprint 72(3-4), 202-214. View article

Fejfar, O. & Kvaček, Z. 1993. Excursion No. 3. Tertiary basins in Northwest Bohemia. Paläontologische Gesellschaft 63, 21-26.

Fejfar, O. & Schleich, H.H. 1994. Ein Chamaeleon fund aus dem Orleanium des Braunkohle-Tagebaus Merkur-Nord (Nordböhmen). Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 173, 167-173.

Fejfar, O., Dvořák, Z., & Kadlecová, E. 2003. New record of early miocene (MN3a) mammals in the open brown coal pit Merkur, North Bohemia, Czech Republic, 163-182. In Reumer, J.W.F. & Wessels, W. (eds) Distribution and migration of tertiary mammals in Eurasia. A volume in honour of Hans de Bruijn. Deinsea 10.

Frey, E., Laemmert, A. & Rieß, J. 1987. Baryphracta deponiae n. g. n. sp. (Reptilia, Crocodylia), ein neues Krokodil aus der Grube Messel bei Darmstadt (Hessen, Bundesrepublik Deutschland). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Monatshefte 1987(1), 15-26. View article

Frič, A. 1903. Krokodýlové v Čechách. Vesmír 32, 241-242.

Ginsburg, L. & Bulot, C. 1997. Les Diplocynodon (Reptilia, Crocodylia) de l’Orléanien (Miocene inférieur a moyen) de France. Geodiversitas 19(1), 107-128.

Gmelin, J.F. 1789. Regnum animal. Caroli a Linne Systema Naturae per regna tri naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. 1516 pp. Beer, Leipzig. View article

Gray, J.E. 1844. Catalogue of Tortoises, Crocodilians and Amphisbaenians in the Collection of the British Museum. 80 pp. British Museum of Natural History, London.

Hofmann, A. 1887a. Crocodiliden aus dem Miocaen der Steiermark. Beiträge zur Paläontologie Österreich-Ungarns und des Orients 5, 26-35.

Hofmann, A. 1887b. Crocodilus steineri von Schönegg und Brunn bei Wies, Steiermark. Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Geologischen Reichanstalt 1887, 219.

Hua, S. 2004. Les crocodiliens du Sparnacien (Eocene inférieur) du Quesnoy (Oise, France). Oryctos 5, 57-62.

Hurník, S. & Kvaček, Z. 1999. Satellite basin of Skyřice near Most and its fossil flora (Miocene). Acta Universitatis Carolinae, Geologica 43(4), 643-656.

Ivanov, M. 2002. The oldest known Miocene snake fauna from Central Europe: Merkur-North locality, Czech Republic. Acta Paleontologica Polonica 47(3), 513-534.

Jokély, J. 1858. Die Tertiärablagerungen des Saazer Beckens und der Teplitzer Bucht. Jahrbuch der Kaiserlich Königlichen Geologischen Reichsanstalt 9, 519-575.

Kadlecová, E., Kočí, T. & Ekrt, B. 2013. Preliminary report on molluscan fauna from the locality Ahníkov II (Nástup Tušimice Pit) in Brown Coal Most Basin (North Bohemia, Lower Miocene, Eggenburgian. Geoscience Research Reports 2012, 173-177.

Kälin, J.A. 1936. Hispanochampsa mülleri nov. gen. nov. spec., ein neuer Crocodilide aus dem unteren Oligocaen von Tárrega (Catalonien). Abhandlungen Schweizerischen Paläontologischen Gesellschaft 58, 1-40.

Klembara, J. 2012. A new species of Pseudopus (Squamata, Anguidae) from the early Miocene of Northwest Bohemia (Czech Republic). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32(4), 854-866. View article

Klembara, J. 2015. New finds of anguines (Squamata, Anguidae) from the Early Miocene of Northwest Bohemia (Czech Republic). Paläontologische Zeitschrift 89(2), 171-195. View article

Klembara, J. & Rummel, M. 2018. New material of Ophisaurus, Anguis and Pseudopus (Squamata, Anguidae, Anguinae) from the Miocene of the Czech Republic and Germany and systematic revision and palaeobiogeography of the Cenozoic Anguinae. Geological Magazine 155(1), 20-44. View article

Kvaček, Z., Böhme, M., Dvořák, Z., Konzalová, M., Mach, K., Prokop, J. & Rajchl, M. 2004. Early Miocene freshwater and swamp ecosystems of the Most Basin (northern Bohemia) with particular reference to the Bílina Mine section. Journal of the Czech Geological Society 49(1-2), 1-40.

Laube, C.G. 1901. Synopsis der Wirbeltierfauna der böhmischen Braunkohlenformation und Beschreibung neuer, oder bisher unvollständig bekannter Arten. Lotos 2, 1-80.

Laube, C.G. 1910. Vogel und Reptilienreste aus der Braunkohle von Skyritz bei Brüx. Lotos 58, 120-121.

Ludwig, R. 1877. Fossile Crocodiliden aus der Tertiärformation des Mainzer Beckens. Paleontographica 3 (Supplement), 1-52.

Luján, A.H., Chroust, M., čerňanský, A., Fortuny, J., Mazuch, M. & Ivanov, M. 2019. First record of Diplocynodon ratelii Pomel, 1847 from the early Miocene site of Tušimice (Most Basin, Northwest Bohemia, Czech Republic). Comptes Rendus Palevol 18(7), 877-889. View article

Lutterschmidt, W. & Wasko, D. 2006. Seasonal activity, relative abundance, and size-class structure of the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) in a highly disturbed inland lake. The Southwestern Naturalist 51(3), 346-351. View article

Macaluso, L., Martin, J.M., Del Favero, L. & Delfino, M. 2019. Revision of the crocodilians from the Oligocene of Monteviale, Italy, and the diversity of European eusuchians across the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 39(2). e1601098. View article

Mach, K., Teodoridis, V., Matys Grygar, T., Kvaček, Z., Suhr, P. & Standke, G. 2014. An evaluation of palaeogeography and palaeoecology in the Most Basin (Czech Republic) and Saxony (Germany) from the late Oligocene to the early Miocene. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 272(1), 13-45. View article

Mach., K., žák, K., Teodoridis, V. & kvaček, Z. 2017. Consequences of Lower Miocene CO2 degassing on geological and paleoenvironmental settings of the Ahníkov/Merkur Mine paleontological locality (Most Basin, Czech Republic). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläntologie, Abhandlungen 285(3), 235-266. View article

Martin, J.E. 2010. A new species of Diplocynodon (Crocodylia, Alligatoroidea) from the Late Eocene of the Massif Central, France, and the evolution of the genus in the climatic context of the Late Palaeogene. Geological Magazine 147(4), 596-610. View article

Martin, J.E. & Gross, M. 2011.Taxonomic clarification of Diplocynodon Pomel, 1847 (Crocodilia) from the Miocene of Styria, Austria. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 261(2), 177-193. View article

Martin, J.E., Smith, T., Lapparent de Broin, F. de, Escuillie, F. & Delfino, M. 2014. Late Paleocene eusuchian remains from Mont de Berru, France and the origin of the alligatoroid Diplocynodon. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 172(4), 867-891. View article

Matys Grygar, M., Mach, K., Schnabl, P., Pruner, P., Laurin, J. & Martinez, M. 2014. A lacustrine record of the early stage of the Miocene Climatic Optimum in Central Europe from the Most Basin, Ohře (Eger) Graben, Czech Republic. Geological Magazine 151(6), 1013-1033. View article

Pešek, J. & Spudil, J. 1986. Paleogeografie středočeského a západočeského neogénu. Studie ČSAV 14-86, 1-79.

Piras, P. & Buscalioni, A.D. 2006. Diplocynodon muelleri comb. nov., an Oligocene diplocynodontine alligatoroid from Catalonia (Ebro Basin, Lleida Province, Spain). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26(3), 608-620. View article

Pomel, A. 1847. Note sur les animaux fossiles découverts dans le département de l’Allier. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 2, 378-385.

Prangner, E. 1845. Über Enneodon Ungeri, ein neues Genus fossiler Saurier aus den Tertiär-Gebilden zu Wies im Marburger Kreise Steiermark’s. Steiermärkische Zeitschrift, Neue Folge 8, 114-139.

Rajchl, M., Uličný, D., Grygar, R. & Mach, K. 2009. Evolution of basin architecture in an incipient continental rift: the Cenozoic Most Basin, Eger Graben (Central Europe). Basin Research 2(3), 269-294. View article

Rio, J.P., Mannion, P.D., Tschopp, E., Martin, J.E. & Delfino, M. 2019. Reappraisal of the morphology and phylogenetic relationships of the alligatoroid crocodylian Diplocynodon hantoniensis from the late Eocene of the United Kingdom. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 188(2), 579-629. View article

Rossmann, T. & Blume, M. 1999. Die Krokodil-Fauna der Fossillagerstätte Grube Messel: Ein aktueller Überblick. Natur und Museum 129, 261-270.

Somaweera, R., Brien, M. & Shine, R. 2013. The Role of Predation in Shaping Crocodilian Natural History. Herpetological Monographs 27(1), 23-51. View article

Stevenson, C. 2019. Crocodiles of the World: A complete guide to Alligators, Caimans, Crocodiles and Gharials. 288 pp. New Holland Publishers, London.

Štúr, D. 1873. Ein Krokodilzahn aus der Braunkohlenablagerung von Klösterle. Verhandlungen der Geologischen Reichsanstalt 17, 315-316.

Štúr, D. 1879. Studien über die Altersverhältnisse der nordböhmischen Braunkohlenbildung. Jahrbuch der Kaiserlich Königlichen Geologischen Reichsanstalt 29, 137-164.

Vaillant, L. 1872. Étude zoologique sur les crocodilians fossils tertiaires de Saint-Gérand-le-Puy. Annales de la Societe Geologique 3, 1-57.

van den Hoek Ostende, L.W. & fejfar, O. 2015. All time high: Dimylidae (Eulipotyphla, Mammalia) diversity in the early Miocene locality of Ahníkov 1 (Czech Republic, MN 3). Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 95(3), 453-464. View article

Vejvalka, J. 1997. Obojživelníci (Amphibia: Caudata, Salientia) a plazi (Reptilia: Lacertilia, Choristodera) miocénní lokality Merkur - sever (Česká republika). 74 pp. Master thesis, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.

Wood, S. 1846. On the discovery of an alligator and of several new Mammalia in the Hordwell Cliff; with observations upon the geological phenomena of that locality. The London Geological Journal, and Record of Discoveries in British and Foreign Paleontology 1, 117-122.

Ziegler, P.A. & Dezes, P. 2007. Cenozoic uplift of Variscan Massifs in the Alpine foreland: Timing and controlling mechanisms. Global and Planetary Change 58(1-4), 237-269. View article