Early Pleistocene Equidae and Suidae from Palan-Tyukan (Azerbaijan)

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Early Pleistocene site of Palan-Tyukan is located in Transcaucasia, northwestern Azerbaijan. More than 300 mammalian bones were laid close to each other in a 25 m2 lens-like accumulation, in a stratum of normally magnetised (the upper part of the Olduvai subchron) yellowish-grey Lower Apsheron loams. The present study is based on the analysis of the Equidae and Suidae remains. The taxonomic scenario of the Early Pleistocene Equidae is intricate and has been a matter of long debate with a multitude of hypotheses. The small-sized horse remains from the locality are ascribed here to species Equus (Allohippus) senezensis. The species likely used here are mostly open landscapes for their main habitat. The main conclusion about the Suidae remains from Palan-Tyukan was reached after a detailed morphological and metrical analysis. The fossil material is here referred to Sus strozzii. Seemingly, during the initial phase of the Early Pleistocene the species lived in humid subtropical Transcaucasian riverine forests and swamps. An Equidae/Suidae community of the Palan-Tyukan type presents evidence of the wider variety of environments ranging from wooded areas including bodies of water to scrub and even savannas as a landscape in a relatively humid subtropical climate.