Ancylotherium pentelicum, Gaudry & Lartet, 1856

Denis Geraards, 2017, Late Miocene large mammals from Mahmutgazi, Denizli province, Western Turkey, Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie-Abhandlungen 284 (3), pp. 241-257 : 247

Ancylotherium pentelicum (GAUDRY & LARTET, 1856)

This strange and highly characteristic animal is represented by the poorly preserved proximal portions of left associated metacarpals, Ma2-Gips21 ( Fig. 5H ). Their length cannot be estimated, but what remains shows that they were stoutly built, and certainly shorter and less slender than those from Hadjidimovo ( GERAADS et al. 2006b), more like those from Maragha ( MECQUENEM 1924 -1925; ROUSSIAKIS & THEODOROU 2001). The proximal epiphysis of the Mc III is broader than deep (in dorsopalmar direction), unlike all other specimens ( Table 7), and the facet for the magnum is relatively broad. The meaning of this difference, and the post-cranial evolution of the species, which is present in the area since the Vallesian ( KOUFOS 2012), remain unknown. Ancylotherium was previously assumed to be a leaf browser, but both GERAADS et al. (2006b) and SCHULZ et al. (2007) came to the conclusion that it fed on bark or stems of large plants. This specialization may explain why it is always rare at any site, although present in many of them (map in GERAADS et al. 2006b).

Figures

Fig. 5. Perissodactyla from Mahmutgazi. A-C – Hipparionini gen. et sp. indet. (A: upper P2–M3 Ma2-Gips24; B: upper P2-M3 Ma2-Gips3; C: lower p2-m3 ‘M’ [reversed from the right side]). D-G – Cremohipparion cf. matthewi (D: upper P2- M3 Ma1-Gips 17 [reversed from the left side]; E: lower p3-m3 ‘K’; F: lower p2-m2 ‘H’; G: lower p3-m3 ‘J’ [reversed from the right side]). H – Ancylotherium pentelicum, front view of proximal metacarpals Ma2-Gips21. Scale bar = 5 cm for Figs. A-G, 10 cm for Fig. H.