Kerassia 1 (K1) (Miocene of Greece)

Where: Euboea, Greece (38.9° N, 23.3° E: paleocoordinates 38.6° N, 23.0° E)

• coordinate estimated from map

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: MN 12 mammal zone, Late/Upper Miocene (11.6 - 5.3 Ma)

• Combining the above given data, an MN12 age is plausible for the fauna of Kerassiá, although MN11 cannot be rejected. A biochronological distinction of the two fossiliferous levels found in Kerassiá is not possible for the moment.

Environment/lithology: terrestrial; lithified, silty, conglomeratic sandstone

• The numerical dominance of bovids and hipparions in the fauna of Kerassiá indicates an open and rather dry environment. Forest elements as cervids and suids are rare or absent. The giraffids, as well as Tragoportax, may have lived in open woodland environments (Gentry et al. 1999). A paleoecological shift between the lower and the upper fossiliferous level is possible due to the small differences in the faunal content, but such an assumption requires more material from both levels.
• They belong to the so-called "reddish-brown fluvial deposits" (Mettos et al. 1991) in the lower layers of the upper sequence of the Límni–Istiéa Basin. The lower sequence, as well as the ophiolithic basement, are exposed NE of the village Kerassiá. The superposed reddish-brown fluvial deposits include clays, conglomerates, sands, and siltstones in succession. Their total thickness is about 250–300 m.

Size class: macrofossils

Collected by G. Theodorou Team in 1992; reposited in the AMPG

Collection methods: surface (in situ),

• AMPG, Museum of Palaeontology and Geology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Primary reference: G. Theodorou, A. Athanassiou, S. Roussiakis and G. Iliopoulos. 2003. Preliminary remarks on the Late Miocene herbivores of Kerassiá (Northern Euboea, Greece). In J.W.F. Reumer, W. Wessels (eds.), Deinsea, Distribution and Migration of Tertiary Mammals in Eurasia. A volume in honour of Hans de Bruijn 10:519-530 [E. Vlachos/E. Vlachos]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 195432: authorized by Evangelos Vlachos, entered by Evangelos Vlachos on 08.08.2018

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• In this paper (Theodorou et al. 2003) they describe the herbivore fossils. The carnivores are described in another paper.
Show authors, comments, and common names
Aves
 Struthioniformes - Struthionidae
Struthio karatheodoris1
Struthio karatheodoris1 Forsyth Major 1888 ostrich
K1/143/2 (C3), K1/143/1 (C4), K1/177 (C5), K1/ 183/1 (C6), K1/183/2 (C7), K1/184 (C8), K1/185 (C10-11), K1/142 (C12), K1/136 (C13), K1/141 (C14) and K1/98/1 (belonging to the C6-10 series) (Figure 3(A)–(H))
Mammalia
 Proboscidea - Choerolophodontidae
? Choerolophodon sp.
? Choerolophodon sp. Schlesinger 1917 proboscidean
 Tubulidentata - Orycteropodidae
Orycteropus sp.
Orycteropus sp. Geoffroy 1791 aardvark
 Perissodactyla - Chalicotheriidae
Ancylotherium sp.
Ancylotherium sp. Gaudry 1863 chalicothere
 Perissodactyla - Equidae
Hipparion sp.
Hipparion sp. de Christol 1832 hipparionine horse
 Artiodactyla - Giraffidae
Palaeotragus sp., Samotherium sp., Helladotherium cf. duvernoyi
Palaeotragus sp. Gaudry 1861 giraffe
Samotherium sp. Forsyth Major 1888 giraffe
Helladotherium cf. duvernoyi Gaudry and Lartet 1856 giraffe
 Artiodactyla - Bovidae
Tragoportax cf. amalthea, Gazella sp.
Tragoportax cf. amalthea Roth and Wagner 1854 antelope
Gazella sp. Blaineville 1816 gazelle
 Artiodactyla - Suidae
Microstonyx major
Microstonyx major Gervais 1848 pig
erymanthius (subspecies)
 Carnivora - Felidae
Metailurus cf. parvulus2
Metailurus cf. parvulus2 Hensel 1862 cat
K1/∆18: left mandible with ci, p3 and p4
 Carnivora - Hyaenidae
? Adcrocuta eximia2
? Adcrocuta eximia2 Roth and Wagner 1854 hyaena
K1/∆104 (a left P4)
1Kampouridis et al. 2020; 2Roussiakis and Theodorou 2003