Early Pleistocene Feliformia from Palan-Tyukan (Azerbaijan)

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Early Pleistocene site of Palan-Tyukan (MNQ18, ca 1.85 Mya) 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 Palan-Tyukan fauna includes two species of sabertoothed cats. The medium-sized sabertoothed cat remains are ascribed here to Megantereon cf. cultridens. The large size of the massive fossil ulna from Palan-Tyukan is comparable to that of a broadly lion-sized felid. We attribute the bone to the species Homotherium cf. crenatidens. The morphological characters and the size of the Panthera remains from Palan-Tyukan suggest its similarities with the P. gombaszogensis remains from Olivola, Upper Valdarno and Dmanisi localities (the initial phase of Early Pleistocene). The occurrence of P. cf. gombaszogensis in Palan-Tyukan provides information on stratigraphic range of these taxa: it represents one of the earliest records of the genus Panthera in all of Eurasia. The hyaenid remains are ascribed here to Pliocrocuta perrieri. A Feliformia community of the Palan-Tyukan type presents evidence of the wider variety of environments ranging from wooded areas and savanna landscape.