First occurrence of carnivore footprint with hyaenid affinities from the Late Miocene of Crete (Greece)

Abstract

Nine terrestrial mammal localities of Miocene age based on body fossils have been reported from the island of Crete to date. A new locality where footprints of terrestrial mammals were exposed has recently been discovered in western Crete. Platýlakkos, the locality, is situated near the village Vouves, west of the city of Chania. The ichnofossils come from lacustrine deposits that belong to the Chatzi Formation. The most impressive finding is a clearly defined footprint that might be referred to a large-sized hyaenid. The footprint impression, a convex hyporelief on a sandstone slab, is a natural cast of a left manus where the traces of the interdigital pad and all four digital pads, as well as their respective claw marks- are clearly visible. Based on nearby marine deposits of the Chatzi Formation, the age of the fossiliferous layer with the footprints can be considered to be early to middle Turolian (MN11-MN12) in terms of mammalian biochronology. To date, there is no certain record of Miocene large-sized hyaenid footprints worldwide, and thus this isolated footprint might belong to a new ichno- taxon. However, in the absence of a trackway, the erection of a new ichnotaxon is avoided. The Platýlakkos findings are the first recorded case of fossil land mammal footprints from the Neogene of Crete, and Greece in general. They further the evidence for the presence of well-established terrestrial environments and faunas in the area of Crete during the Late Miocene.