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Upper Miocene mammals from Strumyani, South-Western Bulgaria

Denis GERAADS, Nikolaï SPASSOV, Latinka HRISTOVA, Georgi N. MARKOV & Tzanko TZANKOV

en Geodiversitas 33 (3) - Pages 451-484

Published on 30 September 2011

The localities of Strumyani in the Struma valley (South-Western Bulgaria) yield a rich assemblage of large mammals, including more than 20 species, hipparions and rhinos being especially well represented. Many species are commonly found in the Balkano-Iranian province, but there are also some rarely found taxa, such as Tapirus Brünnich, 1771, Dorcatherium Kaup, 1833, and a cervid that looks different from other contemporaneous finds. The instantaneous nature of the deposition shows that the association of taxa with likely diverse ecological requirements reflects a truly mosaic environment. The close similarity of the faunal association with that of Pikermi implies a similar middle Turolian age, although some differences suggest that Strumyani is earlier than this Greek locality. The issue of the age of Turolian sites of the Balkans is discussed.


Keywords:

Bulgaria, Miocene, mammalian fauna, paleoenvironments

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