Felis cf. attica Wagner, 1857

Bonis, Louis de, 2005, Carnivora (Mammalia) from the late Miocene of Akkaşdağı, Turkey, Geodiversitas 27 (4), pp. 567-589 : 578-579

Felis cf. attica Wagner, 1857

MATERIAL. — Piece of left maxilla (AKK-212) with C-P4.

DESCRIPTION ( FIG. 10 ; APPENDIX: TABLE 2)

A small feline ( Fig. 10 ) a little larger than a wild cat and reaching the size of the serval is represent- ed in Akkaşdagwı by an undistorted fragment of a left maxilla with the zygomatic arch and bearing C-P4 (AKK-212). On the maxilla, the quite large pear-shaped infra-orbital foramen is above the anterior root of P3. The muzzle seems to have been very high, relatively short and steeply forwardly inclined. The zygomatic arch is robust, high and it bears a strong lateral antero-posterior ridge like in most felines. In ventral view, the temporal fossa appears to be narrower than in other cats of similar size, like Leptailurus Severtzov, 1858 or Leopardus Gray, 1852 . The canine is robust and laterally flattened, especially on the lingual face; there is only a posterior crest, a little worn near the tip of the crown. P2 is very small with a somewhat laterally flattened asymmetric crown; there is a diastema between canine and premolar, and another between P2 and P3. The P3 is high, without an anterior accessory cusp but with a small posterior cingular cusp. On P4, the parastyle is small, smaller for instance than in Leptailurus , and there is no ectoparastyle (preparastyle); the paracone and metastyle are lengthened; the protocone is more reduced than in the modern felines and it passes by a little the level of the parastyle. The first molar is absent on the specimen.

COMPARISONS

The small felines are rare in sites of the late Miocene. The first specimens were described by Kaup (1833) under the names Felis prisca and F. antediluviana . Both came from the Dinotherium sands of the late Miocene (Vallesian) of Eppelsheim. Wagner (1857) described, under the name Felis attica , the anterior part of a calvarium accompanied by its mandible, currently housed in the Palaeontological Museum of Munich. The lower jaw was not separated from the calvarium until recently, so the observation of the dentition was difficult. A fragment of maxilla from M a r a g h a (I r a n) h a s b e e n p u b l i s h e d b y d e Mecquenem (1924 -1925) and a skull from “V a t i l ü k” (n o w a d a y s V a t h y l a k k o s 3) n e a r Thessaloniki ( Greece) by Arambourg F Piveteau (1929) as Felis attica or F. cf. attica , both from the late Miocene. Another skull from the late Miocene of Samos ( Greece) and housed in the Museum of Lausanne, had been published by M a j o r (1 8 9 1) a s F. n e a s M a j o r, 1 8 9 1 b u t renamed with the same name by Pilgrim (1931) who did not consider the designation of Major valid. The same skull has been also considered as close to F. attica ( Beaumont 1961) . Some fragmentary late Miocene remains of small felines have also been assigned to one of the previous species sometimes without figuration or description. This is the case, for example, of F. attica (Schmidt-Kittler 1976; Azanza et al. 1993; Morales et al. 1999), F. antediluviana Kaup, 1833 (Morales F Soria 1979), F. aff. prisca Kaup, 1833 ( Nicolas 1978) , Felis sp. ( Kretzoi 1952; Qi 1983; Qiu F Qiu 1995).

Both type specimens of Felis antediluviana and F. prisca are larger than the Akkaşdagwı maxilla ( Kaup 1832) and they probably do not belong to the genus Felis . So we shall compare only our specimens with F. attica and F. neas . Pilgrim (1931) attempted to specify differences between the two species. F. attica is a little bigger than the present European wild cat with an elongated skull and a muzzle that is relatively longer than the occiput. The teeth are rather strong, P2 is small, P3 is provided with a small posterior accessory cusp and P4 with an ectoparastyle (preparastyle) and a more reduced protocone than in extant felids except Leopardus . M1 is relatively larger than that of the cat. For Pilgrim (1931) F. neas is of medium size, a little larger with a relatively more slender skull than in any other species, but with a short muzzle and a stretched out occipital region. The orbits are elongated antero-posteriorly, the post-orbital process is not prominent, the zygomatic arch slightly projecting to the outside, so the temporal cavity is longer than broad, the jugal process of the zygomatic overhangs the infra-orbital foramen, which is pear-shaped, the lachrymal is bounded above by a sharp ridge above which are the flat, rather broad nasals, while below the face falls very steeply to the alveolar margin. The upper canine is oval in cross-section. P2 is rather long, and separated from the canine. P3 has a small posterior accessory cusp but no anterior cusp or cingulum. The carnassial does not have an ectoparastyle. But from the study of the skull in the Lausanne Museum, Beaumont (1961) reached a different conclusion. A careful comparison with the specimens from Pikermi shows that there are only slight differences between them and they must belong to the same species Felis attica .

A survey of the small feline of “Salonika” has recently been undertaken ( Koufos 2000) and the author took this opportunity to review the description of the type specimen of F. attica . It seems not to possess an ectoparastyle, contrary to the affirmation of Pilgrim (1931) which was a result of the figures of the specimen of Vathylakkos which was better described at this time than that of Pikermi. F. attica did not possess an ectoparastyle, as it is the case in the specimens of Samos, Maragha and Akkaşdagwı. Therefore Vathylakkos constitutes an exception in this respect and one may wonder about the importance of this character in the diagnosis of the species. The size is rather variable between all these specimens. The length of the upper carnassial can vary between 1 2.3 and 1 3.0 mm (Appendix: Table 2) with a mean of 12.85 and a standard deviation of 0.46 for only four specimens. In the extant European wild cat, Felis sylvestris Schreber, 1777 , the mean is 10.89 and the standard deviation is 0.69 for 17 specimens (original data from S. Peigné). It seems that the size of the different specimens could correspond to a single species, Felis attica . Nevertheless AKK-212 differs a little from the other specimens in the height of the maxilla and its steepler inclination. It is probably better to consider it as Felis cf. attica until the cranial variation of this species is better known.

Figures

FIG. 10. — Felis cf. attica, piece of left maxilla with C-P4 AKK-212 (drawings), Akkaşdağı, late Miocene (Turolian), Turkey; A, lateral view; B, medial view; C, occlusal view. Scale bar: 1 cm.