Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Southeastern Europe as the Arena of Vertebrate Evolution in the Late Miocene

  • Published:
Paleontological Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The paper considers the main features of the late Miocene faunas of terrestrial vertebrates and marine mammals of Southeastern Europe and their general dynamics in connection with landscape and climatic changes. We note that the geographical area corresponding to the modern northwestern and northern Black Sea region with adjacent territories was a territory of intense diversification during the late Miocene. The revealed biogeographic significance of the region is associated with the fact that a border between the forest biome and open and/or semi-open landscapes occurred on this territory in the late Miocene. Accelerated diversification in this transitional (ecotone) zone is supposed to be associated with the fragmentation of species’ geographical ranges under pronounced spatial differentiation of plant associations and a wide representation of mosaic habitats caused by significant climatic fluctuations. We further discuss the general evolutionary potential of peripheral communities, as exemplified by the Hipparion vertebrate faunas of southeastern Europe.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  1. Agustí, J., Cabrera, L., Gracés, M., Krijgsman, W., Oms, O., and Parés, J.M., A calibrated mammal scale for the Neogene of Western Europe. State of the art, Earth-Sci. Rev., 2001, vol. 52, pp. 247–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Averianov, A., The Neogene rabbit Hypolagus igromovi Gureev, 1964 (Lagomorpha, Leporidae) from southern European Russia, Acta Zool. Cracov., 1996, vol. 39, pp. 61–66.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bernor, R.L., Göhlich, U.B., Harzhauser, M., and Semprebon, G.M., The Pannonian C hipparions from the Vienna Basin, Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 2017, vol. 476, pp. 28–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Bernor, R.L., Kaya, F., Kaakinen, A., Saarinen, J., Fortelius, M., Old world hipparion evolution, biogeography, climatology and ecology, Earth-Sci. Rev., 2021, vol. 221: 103784. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103784

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Bibi, F., Mio-Pliocene faunal exchanges and African biogeography: the record of fossil bovids, PLoS One, 2011, vol. 6, e16688. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0016688

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Bochenski, Z., Wertz, K., Tomek, T., and Gorobets, L., A new species of the late Miocene charadriiform bird (Aves: Charadriiformes), with a summary of all Paleogene and Miocene Charadrii remains, Zootaxa, 2019, vol. 4624, pp. 41–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Boev, Z.N. and Kovachev, D., Euroceros bulgaricus gen. nov., sp. nov. from Hadzhidimovo (SW Bulgaria) (Late Miocene)—the first European record of Hornbills (Aves: Coraciiformes), Geobios, 2007, vol. 40, pp. 39–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Böhme, M., Spassov, N., Ebner, M., Geraads, D., Hristova, L., Kirscher, U., Kötter, S., Linnemann, U., Prieto, J., Roussiakis, S., Theodorou, G., Uhlig, G., and Winklhofer, M., Messinian age and savannah environment of the possible hominin Graecopithecus from Europe, PLoS One, 2017, vol. 12: e0177347. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Böhme, M., Van Baak, C.G.C., Prieto, J., Winklhofer, M., and Spassov N., Late Miocene stratigraphy, palaeoclimate and evolution of the Sandanski Basin (Bulgaria) and the chronology of the Pikermian faunal changes, Glob. Planet. Change., 2018, vol. 170, pp. 1–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Burchak-Abramovich, N.I., Iskopaemye strausy Kavkaza i yuga Ukrainy (Fossil Ostriches of Caucasus and Southern Ukraine), Baku: Akad. Nauk Azer. SSR, 1953.

  11. Caballero, Ó., Montoya, P., Crespo, V.D., Morales, J., and Abella, J., The autopodial skeleton of Paracamelus aguirrei (Morales 1984) (Tylopoda, Mammalia) from the late Miocene site of Venta del Moro (Valencia, Spain), J. Iber. Geol., 2021, vol. 47, pp. 483–500.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Casanovas-Vilar, I., Moyà-Solà, S., Agustí, J., and Köhler, M., The geography of a faunal turnover: Tracking the Vallesian Crisis, in Migrations of Organisms. Climate. Geography. Ecology, Elewa, A.M.T., Ed., Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, 2005, pp. 247–300.

  13. Casas-Gallego, M., Marza, A., and Tudor, E., Palaeovegetation and palaeoclimate evolution during the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene of SE Romania, Geol. J., 2021, vol. 56, pp. 821–838.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Čermák, S., Angelone Ch., and Sinitsa, M.V., New late Miocene Alilepus (Lagomorpha, Mammalia) from Eastern Europe—a new light on the evolution of the earliest Old World Leporinae, Bull. Geosci., 2015, vol. 90, pp. 431–451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Čermák, S., The Plio-Pleistocene record of Hypolagus (Lagomorpha, Leporidae) from the Czech and Slovak Republics with comments on systematics and classification of the genus, Bull. Geosci., 2009, vol. 84, pp. 497–524.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Čerňanský, A. and Syromyatnikova, E.V., The first Miocene fossils of Lacerta cf. trilineata (Squamata, Lacertidae) with a comparative study of the main cranial osteological differences in green lizards and their relatives, PLoS One, 2019a, vol. 14, e0216191. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216191

  17. Čerňanský, A. and Syromyatnikova, E.V., The first pre-Quaternary fossil record of the clade Mabuyidae with a comment on the enclosure of the Meckelian canal in skinks, Pap. Palaeontol., 2021, vol. 7, pp. 195–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Čerňanský, A. and Syromyatnikova, E.V., The first record of amphisbaenian and anguimorph lizards (Reptilia, Squamata) from the upper Miocene Solnechnodolsk locality in Russia, Histor. Biol., 2020, vol. 32, pp. 869–879.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Collareta, A., Marx, F.G., Casati, S., Di Cencio, A., Merella, M., and Giovanni, B., A cetotheriid whale from the upper Miocene of the Mediterranean, Neues Jahrb. Geol. Palaeontol., Abh., 2021, vol. 301, pp. 9–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Colombero, S., Bonelli, E., Pavia, M., Repetto, G., and Carnevale, G., Paracamelus (Mammalia, Camelidae) remains from the late Messinian of Italy: Insights into the last camels of Western Europe, Histor. Biol., 2017, vol. 29, pp. 509–518.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Faith, J.T. and Behrensmeyer, A.K., Climate change and faunal turnover: testing the mechanics of the turnover-pulse hypothesis with South African fossil data, Paleobiology., 2013, vol. 39, pp. 609–627.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Fang, X., Wang, J., Zhang, W., and Zan, J., Tectonosedimentary evolution model of an intracontinental flexural (foreland) basin for paleoclimatic research, Glob. Planet. Change, 2016, vol. 145, pp. 78–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Flower, B.P. and Kennett, J.P., The middle Miocene climatic transition: East Antarctic ice sheet development, deep ocean circulation and global carbon cycling, Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 1994, vol. 108, pp. 537–555.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Fortelius, M., Werdelin, L., Andrews, P., Bernor, R., Gentry, A., Humphrey, L., Mittmann, H., and Viranta, S., Provinciality, diversity, turnover, and paleoecology in land mammal faunas of the Later Miocene of Western Eurasia, in The evolution of Western Eurasian Neogene Mammal Faunas, Bernor, R.L., Fahlbusch, V. and Mittmann, H.-W., Eds., N.Y.: Columbia Univ. Press, 1996, pp. 414–448.

  25. Fortelius, M., Eronen, J., Liu, L., Pushkina, D., Tesakov, A., Vislobokova, I., and Zhang Z., Late Miocene and Pliocene large land mammals and climatic changes in Eurasia, Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 2006, vol. 238, pp. 219–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Fuss, J., Spassov, N., Begun, D.R., and Böhme, M., Potential hominin affinities of Graecopithecus from the late Miocene of Europe, PLoS One, 2017, vol. 12, e0177127. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Gol’din, P.E. and Startsev, D.B., Brandtocetus, a new genus of Baleen Whales (Cetacea, Cetotheriidae) from the Late Miocene of Crimea, Ukraine, J. Vertebr. Paleontol., 2014, vol. 34, pp. 419–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Harvey, M.G., Bravo, G.A., Claramunt, S., Cuervo, A.M., Derryberry, G., Battilana, J., Seeholzer, G.F., McKay, J., O’Meara, B., Faircloth, B., Edwards, S., Pérez-emán, J., Moyle, R., Sheldon, F., Aleixo, A., Smith, B., Chesser, R., Silveira, L.F., Cracraft, J., Brumfield, R.T., and Derryberry, E., The evolution of a tropical biodiversity hotspot, Science, 2020, vol. 370, pp. 1343–1348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Hilgen, F.J., Lourens, L.J., and van Dam, J.A., The Neogene Period, in The Geologic Time Scale 2012, Gradstein, F.M., Ogg, J.G., Schmitz, M., and Ogg, G., Eds., Oxford: Elsevier, 2012, pp. 924–956.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Ivanov, D., Utescher, T., Mosbrugger, V., Syabryaj, S., Djordjevic-Milutinovic, D., and Molchanoff, S., Miocene vegetation and climate dynamics in Eastern and Central Paratethys (Southeastern Europe), Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 2011, vol. 304, pp. 262–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Ivanov, D., Utescher, T., Djorgova, N., Bozukov, V., Ahraf, A.R.,The late Miocene Beli Breg Basin (Bulgaria): palaeoecology and climate reconstructions based on pollen data, Palaeobiodiv. Palaeoenvir., 2021, vol. 101, pp. 79–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Kaya, F., Bibi, F., Žliobaitė, I., Eronen, J., Hui, T., and Fortelius, M., The rise and fall of the Old World savannah fauna and the origins of the African savannah biome, Nat. Ecol. Evol., 2018, vol. 2, pp. 241–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Koretsky, I.A. and Rahmat, S.J., First record of fossil Cystophorinae (Carnivora, Phocidae): Middle Miocene seals from the northern Paratethys, Riv. Ital. Paleontol. Stratigr., 2013, vol. 119, pp. 325–350.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Koretsky, I.A., Morphology and systematics of Miocene Phocinae (Mammalia: Carnivora) from Paratethys and the North Atlantic Region, Geol. Hung. Ser. Paleontol., 2001, vol. 54, pp. 1–109.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Korotkevich, E.L., Istoriya formirovaniya gipparionovoi fauny Vostochnoi Evropy (The History of the Formation of the Hipparion Fauna of Eastern Europe). Kiev: Naukova dumka, 1988.

  36. Kostopoulos, D.S., The Pikermian Event: temporal and spatial resolution of the Turolian large mammal fauna in SE Europe, Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 2009, vol. 274, pp. 82–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Kovalchuk, O.M., Gorobets, L.V., Syromyatnikova, E.V., Danilov, I. G., Titov, V.V., Krakhmalnaya, T.V., Rekovets, L.I., and Zelenkov, N.V., Vertebrates from the Pontian of the Shkodova Gora locality (Northwestern Black Sea Region, Upper Miocene), Paleontol. J., 2017, vol. 51, no. 4, pp. 414–429.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Krakhmalnaya, T.V., Gipparionovaya fauna drevnego meotisa Severnogo Prichernomor’ya (Hipparion Fauna of the Ancient Meotis of the Northern Black Sea Region). Kiev: Nauk. dumka, 1996.

  39. Kurochkin, E.N. and Lungu, A.N., A new ostrich from the middle Sarmatian of Moldavia, Paleontol. Zh., 1970, no. 1, pp. 118–126.

  40. Lirer, F., Harzhauser, M., Pelosi, N., Piller, W., Schmid, H.P., and Sprovieri, M., Astronomically forced teleconnection between Paratethyan and Mediterranean sediments during the Middle and Late Miocene, Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 2009, vol. 275, pp. 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Lithological-Paleogeographic Maps of Parathethis: 10 Maps Late Eocene to Pliocene, Popov, S.V., Rögl, F., Rozanov, A.Y., Shcherba, I.G., and Steininger, F.F., Eds., Cour. Forschungs. Senckenb., E.Schwei.zerbrat’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart, 2004, vol. 250.

  42. Lungu, A.N., Gipparionovaya fauna srednego sarmata Moldavii (kopytnye mlekopitayushchie) (The Hipparion Fauna of the Middle Sarmatian of Moldavia (Ungulates)). Chișinău: Shtiintsa, 1984.

  43. Lungu, A.N., Early stages of the development of the Hipparion fauna of the continental Paratethys, Doctoral (Geol.-Mineral.) Dissertation, Tiraspol’, 1990.

  44. Mchedlidze, G.A., Iskopaemye kitoobraznye Kavkaza (Fossil Cetaceans of the Caucasus), Tbilisi: Metsniereba, 1964.

  45. Mikhailov, K.E. and Kurochkin, E.N., Eggshells of fossil Struthioniformes from the Palearctic and its place in the system of ideas about the evolution of Ratitae, in Iskopaemye reptilii i ptitsy Mongolii (Fossil Reptiles and Birds of Mongolia), Kurochkin, E.N., Ed., Moscow: Nauka, 1988, pp. 43–64.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Mikhailov, K.E. and Zelenkov, N., The late Cenozoic history of the ostriches (Aves: Struthionidae), as revealed by fossil eggshell and bone remains, Earth-Sci. Rev., 2020, vol. 208, 103270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Mirzaie Ataabadi, M., Liu, L., Eronen, J., Bernor, R., and Fortelius, M., Continental-scale patterns in Neogene mammal community evolution and biogeography: a Europe-Asia Perspective, in Fossil mammals of Asia. Neogene Biostratigraphy and Chronology, Wang, X., Flynn, L.J., and Fortelius, M., Eds., N.Y.: Columbia Univ. Press, 2013, pp. 629–655.

    Google Scholar 

  48. Mlíkovský, J., Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe, Praha: Ninox Press, 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  49. Nesin, V.A., Neogenovye Murinae (Rodentia, Muridae) Ukrainy (Neogene Murinae (Rodentia, Muridae) of Ukraine). Sumy: Univ. Kniga, 2013.

  50. Palcu, D.V., The Dire Straits of Paratethys. Dating, matching and modeling connectivity between the Miocene seas of Eurasia, Utrecht Stud. Earth Sci., 2018, vol. 155, pp. 1–200.

    Google Scholar 

  51. Palcu, D.V., Vasiliev, I., Stoica, M., and Krijgsman, W., The end of the Great Khersonian Drying of Eurasia: Magnetostratigraphic dating of the Maeotian transgression in the Eastern Paratethys, Basin Res., 2019, vol. 31, pp. 33–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Petronio, C., Krakhmalnaya, T., Bellucci, L., Di Stefano, G., Remarks on some Eurasian pliocervines: characteristics, evolution, and relationships with the tribe Cervini, Geobios., 2007, vol. 40, pp. 113–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Podvintsev, V.G., Kurshakov, S.V., Malyshkina, T.P., Orlov, N.A., Syromyatnikova, E.V., Tarasenko, K.K., Tesakov, A.S., and Titov, V.V., A new heterogeneous locality of marine and terrestrial vertebrates of the Late Miocene Gladkovskoye (Krasnodar Krai), in Mater. LXII Yubil. sess. Paleontol. Obsch. Ross. Akad. Nauk (Proc. 62 Sess. Paleont. Soc. Russ. Acad. Sci.), St. Petersburg, 2016, pp. 267–268.

  54. Popov, S.V., Antipov, M.P., Zastrozhnov, A.S., Kurina, E.E., and Pinchuk, T.N., Sea level fluctuations on the northern shelf of the Eastern Paratethys in the Oligocene-Neogene, Stratigr. Geol. Correl., 2010, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 99–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Qiu Zhan-Xiang, Qiu Zhu-Ding, Deng, T., Li, Ch-K., Zhang, Zh.-Q., Wang, B.-Y., and Wang X., Neogene land mammal stages/ages of China: Toward the goal to establish an Asian land mammal stage/age, in Fossil Mammals of Asia. Neogene Biostratigraphy and Chronology, Wang, X., Flynn, L.J., and Fortelius, M., Eds., N.Y.: Columbia Univ. Press, 2013, pp. 29–90.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  56. Rasnitsyn, A.P., Inadaptation and euadaptation, Paleontol. Zh., 1986, no. 1, pp. 4–7.

  57. Roček, Z. A contribution to the herpetofauna from the late Miocene of Gritsev (Ukraine), C. R. Palevol., 2019, vol. 18, pp. 817–847.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Rӧgl, F., Palaeogeographic considerations for Mediterranean and Paratethys seaways (Oligocene to Miocene), Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien., 1998, vol. 99, pp. 279–310.

    Google Scholar 

  59. Semenenko, V.N. and Teslenko, Yu.V., Geological events in the Eastern Paratethys at the Miocene-Pliocene boundary, Geol. Zh., 1994, no. 1, pp. 58–68.

  60. Shvyreva, A.K. and Titov, V.V., Late Sarmatian fauna from the deposits of the Beshpagirsky quarry (Stavropol Territory), in Mater. LXVI Sess. Paleontol. Obshch. Ross. Akad. Nauk “Biogeografiya i evolyutsionnye protsessy” (Proc. 66 Sess. Paleont. Soc. Russ. Acad. Sci. “Biogeography and Evolutionary Processes”), St. Petersburg: Vseross. Nauchno-Issled. Geol. Inst., 2020, pp. 281–282.

    Google Scholar 

  61. Sinitsa, M.V. and Delinschi, A., The earliest member of Neocricetodon (Rodentia: Cricetidae): a redescription of A. moldavicus from Eastern Europe, and its bearing on the evolution of the genus, J. Paleontol., 2016, vol. 90, pp. 771–784.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  62. Sinitsa, M.V. and Nesin, V.A., Systematics and phylogeny of Vasseuromys (Mammalia, Rodentia, Gliridae) with a description of a new species from the late Miocene of Eastern Europe, Palaeontology., 2018, vol. 61, pp. 679–701.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. Sotnikova, M. and Rook, L., Dispersal of the Canini (Mammalia, Canidae: Caninae) across Eurasia during the Late Miocene to Early Pleistocene, Quart. Int., 2010, vol. 212, pp. 86–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  64. Spassov, N., Geraads, D., Hristova, L., Markov, G.N., Merceron, G., Tzankov, T., Stoyanov, K., Bӧhme, M., Dimitrova, A., A hominid tooth from Bulgaria: the last prehuman hominid of continental Europe, J. Hum. Evol., 2012, vol. 62, pp. 138–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  65. Syabryaj, S., Utescher, T., Molchanoff, S., and Bruch, A.A., Vegetation and palaeoclimate in the Miocene of Ukraine, Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 2007, vol. 253, pp. 153–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  66. Syromyatnikova, E.V., Redescription of Pelobates praefuscus Khosatzky, 1985 and new records of Pelobates from the late Miocene–Pleistocene of Eastern Europe, Histor. Biol., 2019, vol. 31, pp. 888–897.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  67. Tarasenko, K.K. and Lopatin, A.V., New baleen whale genera (Cetacea, Mammalia) from the Miocene of the Northern Caucasus and Ciscaucasia: 1. Kurdalagonus gen. nov. from the Middle–Late Sarmatian of Adygea), Paleontol. J., 2012, vol. 46, no. 5, pp. 531–542.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  68. Tarasenko, K.K. and Pakhnevich, A.V., Formation of stromatolite biogerms on the bones of fossil cetaceans, in Mater. LXVI sess. Paleontol. Obshch. Ross. Akad. Nauk “Biogeografiya i Evolyutsionnye Protsessy” (Proc. 66 Sess. Paleont. Soc. Russ. Acad. Sci. “Biogeography and Evolutionary Processes”), St. Petersburg: Vseross. Nauchno-Issled. Geol. Inst., 2020, pp. 159–160.

    Google Scholar 

  69. Tarasenko, K.K., Kovalenko, E.S., and Podurets, K.M., New data on the morphology of the bone labyrinth of the stony bone of the Miocene baleen whale from Chechnya – Vampalus sayasanicus, in Mater. LXIV sess. Paleontol. Obshch. Ross. Akad. Nauk (Proc. 64 Sess. Paleont. Soc. Russ. Acad. Sci.), St. Petersburg: Vseross. Nauchno-Issled. Geol. Inst., 2018, pp. 234–235.

    Google Scholar 

  70. Tarasenko, K.K., Lopatin, A.V., and Startsev, D.B., First record of Late Miocene baleen whales Zygiocetus (Cetotheriidae, Mysticeti) in Crimea (Melek-Chesme locality, Kerch Peninsula), Dokl. Biol. Sci., 2020, vol. 491, no. 1, pp. 176–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  71. Tarasenko, K.K., New data on sedimentology and taphonomy of the Late Miocene locality Polevoe 1 (Northwest Caucasus, Republic of Adygea), in XXI Int. Conf. Young Geol. Herlany, Kraków: MINERALPRESS, 2020, pp. 79–82.

  72. Tarasenko, K.K., New genera of Baleen Whales (Cetacea, Mammalia) from the Miocene of the Northern Caucasus and Ciscaucasia: 3. Zygiocetus gen. nov. (Middle Sarmatian, Adygea), Paleontol. J., 2014, vol. 48, no. 5, pp. 534–550.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  73. Ter Borgh, M., Vasiliev, I., Stoica, M., Knežević, S., Matenco, L., Krijgsman, W., Rundić, L., and Cloetingh, S., The isolation of the Pannonian basin (Central Paratethys): New constraints from magnetostratigraphy and biostratigraphy, Glob. Planet. Change, 2013, vol. 103, pp. 99–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  74. Tesakov, A.S., Titov, V.V., Simakova, A.N., Frolov, P., Syromyatnikova, E.V., Kurshakov, S.V., Volkova, N., Trikhunkov, Ya.I., Sotnikova, M., Kruskop, S., Zelenkov, N., Tesakova, E., and Palatov, D.M., Late Miocene (Early Turolian) vertebrate faunas and associated biotic record of the Northern Caucasus: Geology, palaeoenvironment, biochronology, Fos. Impr., 2017, vol. 73, pp. 383–444.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  75. Titov, V.V. and Logvinenko, V.V., Early Paracamelus (Mammalia, Tylopoda) in the Eastern Europe, Acta Zool. Cracov., 2006, vol. 49, pp. 163–178.

    Google Scholar 

  76. Titov, V.V. and Tesakov, A.S., Late Miocene (Turolian) vertebrate faunas of the southern European Russia, in Fossil Mammals of Asia. Neogene Biostratigraphy and Chronology, Wang, X., Flynn, L.J., and Fortelius, M., Eds., N.Y.: Columbia Univ. Press, 2013, pp. 536–543.

  77. Titov, V.V., Tesakov, A.S., Sotnikova, M.V., Syromyatnikova, E.V., Kurshakov S.V., Frolov P.D., and Simakova A.N., Late Miocene terrestrial communities of vertebrates and mollusks of the Caucasus Foreland, in Mater. Vseross. Nauch. Prakt. Konf. “Geologiya i bioraznoobraziye Tetisa i Vostochnogo Paratetisa” (Proc. Russ. Res. Conf. “Geology and Biodiversity of the Tethys and Eastern Paratethys”), Popov, S.V., Ed., Goryachy Klyuch, 2017, pp. 89–93.

  78. Titov, V.V., Tesakov, A.S., Danilov, I.G., Danukalova, G.A., Mashchenko, E.N., Panteleev, A.V., Sotnikova, M.V., and Sychevskaya, E.K., The first representative vertebrate fauna of the Late Miocene in the south of European Russia, Dokl. Biol. Sci., 2006, vol. 411, no. 5, pp. 715– 717.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  79. Tobien, H., Subdivision of Pontian mammal faunas, Giorn. Geol., 1967, vol. 35, pp. 1–5.

    Google Scholar 

  80. Vangengeim, E.A., Lungu, A.N., and Tesakov, A.S., Age of the Vallesian lower boundary (continental Miocene of Europe), Stratigr. Geol. Correl., 2006, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 81–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  81. Vasiliev, I., Iosifidi, A.G., Khramov, A.N., Krijgsman, W., Kuiper, K., Langereis, C.G., Popov, V.V., Stoica, M., Tomsha, V.A., and Yudin, S.V., Magnetostratigraphy and radio-isotope dating of upper Miocene–lower Pliocene sedimentary successions of the Black Sea Basin (Taman Peninsula, Russia), Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 2011, vol. 310, pp. 163–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  82. Velichko, A.A., Akhlestina, E.F., Borisova, O.K., Gribchenko, Yu.N., Zhidovinov, N.Ya., Zelikson, E.M., Iosifova, Yu.I., Klimanov, V.A., Morosova, T.D., Nechaev, V.P., Pisareva, V.V., Svetlitskaya, T.V., Spasskaya, I.I., Udartsev, V.P., Faustova, M.A., and Shik, S.M., East European Plain, in Cenozoic Climatic and Environmental Changes in Russia, Spec. Pap.—Geol. Soc. Amer., 2005, vol. 382, pp. 31–66.

    Google Scholar 

  83. Vislobokova, I.A., Associations of ruminants in Miocene ecosystems of Eastern Alpine region, Paleontol. J., 2006, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 438–447.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  84. Vislobokova, I.A., Historical development and geographical distribution of giant deer (Cervidae, Megacerini), Paleontol. J., 2011, vol. 45, no. 6, pp. 674–687.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  85. Vislobokova, I.A. and Tarasenko, K.K., Finds of ruminants and new data on the stratigraphy of the late Miocene locality of Fortep’yanka 2 (Northwest Caucasus, Adygea Republic), Paleontol. J., 2019, vol. 53, no. 6, pp. 660–665.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  86. Volokitin, V.V., Shvyreva, A.K., and Titov, V.V., Bunodont mastodons (Gomphotheriidae) from the Late Sarmatian of Stavropol territory, in Mater. LXVII sess. Paleontol. Obsch. Ross. Akad. Nauk “Teoreticheskie i prikladnye aspekty paleontologii” (Proc. LXVII Sess. Paleont. Soc. “Theoretical and Applied Aspects of Paleontology”), St. Petersburg: Vseross. Nauchno-Issled. Geol. Inst., 2021, pp. 102–103.

    Google Scholar 

  87. Vrba, E.S., Mass turnover and heterochrony events in response to physical change, Paleobiology., 2005, vol. 31, Suppl. 2, pp. 157–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  88. Wang, X., Flynn, L.J., and Fortelius, M., Eds., Fossil Mammals of Asia: Neogene Biostratigraphy and Chronology, N.Y.: Columbia Univ. Press, 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  89. Woodburne, M.O., Bernor, R.L., and Swisher, C.C., An appraisal of the stratigraphic and phylogenetic bases for the “Hipparion” datum in the Old World, in The Evolution of Western Eurasian Neogene Mammal Faunas, Woodburne, M.O., Bernor, R.L., and Swisher, C.C., Eds., N.Y.: Columbia Univ. Press, 1996, pp. 124–136.

    Google Scholar 

  90. Zachos, J., Pagani, M., and Sloan, L., Thomas, E., and Billups, K., Trends, rhythms, and aberrations in global climate 65 Ma to present, Science, 2001, vol. 292, pp. 686–693.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  91. Zelenkov, N.V., Evolution of bird communities in the Neogene of Central Asia, with a review of the Neogene fossil record of Asian birds, Paleontol. J., 2016, vol. 50, no. 12, pp. 1421–1433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  92. Zelenkov, N.V., The revised avian fauna of Rudabánya (Hungary, Late Miocene), in Paleontologia y Evolución de las Aves, Acosta Hospitaleche, C., Agnolin, F., Haidr, N. Noriega, J.I., and Tambussi, C.P., Eds., Contribuciones del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, Buenos-Aires: Mus. Argent. Cienc. Natur., 2017, pp. 253–266.

  93. Zelenkov, N.V., Cenozoic Evolution of Eurasian Anatids (Aves: Anatidae s. l.), Biol. Bull. Rev., 2020, vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 417–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  94. Zelenkov, N., Boev, Z., and Lazaridis, G., A large ergilornithine (Aves, Gruiformes) from the Late Miocene of the Balkan Peninsula, Paläontol. Z., 2016, vol. 90, pp. 145–151.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  95. Zelenkov, N.V. and Gorobets, L.V., Revision of Plioperdix (Aves: Phasianidae) from the Plio-Pleistocene of Ukraine, Paleontol. J., 2020, vol. 54, no. 5, pp. 531–541.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  96. Zelenkov, N.V. and Kurochkin, E.N., Class Aves, Iskopaemye pozvonochnye Rossii i sopredel’nyh stran. Iskopaemye reptilii i ptitsy. Chast’ 2 (Fossil vertebrates of Russia and neighbouring countries. Fossil reptiles and birds. Pt. 2), Kurochkin, E.N., Lopatin, A.V., and Zelenkov, N.V., Eds., Moscow: GEOS, 2015, pp. 86–290.

    Google Scholar 

  97. Zelenkov, N.V. and Panteleyev, A.V., Three bird taxa (Aves: Anatidae, Phasianidae, Scolopacidae) from the Late Miocene of the Sea of Azov (Southwestern Russia), Paläontol. Z., 2015, vol. 89, pp. 515–527.

    Google Scholar 

  98. Zelenkov, N.V., Panteleyev, A.V., and De Pietri, V.L., Late Miocene rails (Aves: Rallidae) from southwestern Russia, Palaeobiodiv. Palaeoenvir., 2017, vol. 97, pp. 791–805.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  99. Zelenkov, N.V., Stidham, T.A., and Martynovich, N.V., Vokova, N.V., Li, Q., and Qiu, Zh., The middle Miocene duck Chenoanas (Aves, Anatidae): new species, phylogeny and geographical range, Pap. Palaeontol., 2018, vol. 4, pp. 309–326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  100. Zelenkov, N.V., Volkova, N.V., and Gorobets, L.V., Late Miocene buttonquails (Charadriiformes, Turnicidae) from the temperate zone of Eurasia, J. Ornithol., 2016, vol. 157, pp. 85–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  101. Zerova, G.A., Localities of Late Miocene-Early Pleistocene lizards and snakes of Ukraine, Tr. Inst. Zool. Akad. Nauk Ukrain. SSR, 1987, no. 12, pp. 12–18.

  102. Zhang, W., Appel, E., Wang, J., Fang, X., Zan, J., Yang, Y., Miao, Y., and Yan, X., New paleomagnetic constraints for Platybelodon and Hipparion faunas in the Linxia Basin and their ecological environmental implications, Glob. Planet. Change, 2019, vol. 176, pp. 71–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (grant no. 18-74-10081).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117647, Moscow, Russia

    N. V. Zelenkov, E. V. Syromyatnikova & K. K. Tarasenko

  2. Southern Scientific Center Russian Academy of Sciences, 344006, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

    V. V. Titov

  3. Geological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119017, Moscow, Russia

    A. S. Tesakov

Authors
  1. N. V. Zelenkov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. E. V. Syromyatnikova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. K. K. Tarasenko
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. V. V. Titov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. A. S. Tesakov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to N. V. Zelenkov.

Ethics declarations

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Translated by D. Ponomarevko

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zelenkov, N.V., Syromyatnikova, E.V., Tarasenko, K.K. et al. Southeastern Europe as the Arena of Vertebrate Evolution in the Late Miocene. Paleontol. J. 56, 213–226 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030122020149

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030122020149

Keywords:

Search

Navigation