Tragoportax sp.

Montoya, Plinio, Ginsburg, Léonard, Alberdi, María Teresa, Made, Jan Van Der, Morales, Jorge & Soria, María Dolores, 2006, Fossil large mammals from the early Pliocene locality of Alcoy (Spain) and their importance in biostratigraphy, Geodiversitas 28 (1), pp. 137-173 : 137-173

Tragoportax sp. ( Fig. 8L )

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Left m1 or m2 ( MCNV).

M-2435, left astragalus; M-703, left astragalus; M-696, fragment of left calcaneus; M-699, distal fragment of humerus ( MGM).

Alc 10, right astragalus; Alc 11, right astragalus; Alc 14, distal fragment of humerus ( MNHN).

MEASUREMENTS. — See Appendix: Table 8.

DESCRIPTION

m1 or m2: unworn, quite hypsodont tooth with a small basal pillar, the internal wall is wavy and the stylids are well marked, particularly the metastylid and the anterior conid. There is a caprine fold of normal size. The external selenes are somewhat flattened and well separated.

Astragalus ( Fig. 8L ): the most complete specimen is M-703 and like the rest of them it is wide and shows the morphological features of the Boselaphini . Some of these features, shared with Alephis boodon , have also been mentioned in the description of that species. It is the case of the morphology of the medial and lateral faces: the first one is relatively flat and with little marked relief including the proximal process, and the second one has a strongly concave plantar half with a strong proximal process. The posterior lateral stop facet is very big and deep and the medial one is hardly visible. The distal trochlea has a wide throat centrally located, the edges are less divergent than in A. boodon and the lateral condyle is slightly more pronounced than the medial one.

These astragali from Alcoy are generally larger than those of the large representatives of Tragoportax gaudryi (Kretzoi, 1941) from Venta del Moro ( Moyà 1983; Morales 1984) and Crevillente sites ( Montoya 1994; Montoya & Alberdi 1995). This is in agreement with the dimensions of the lower molar ( Table 8).

The fragments of calcaneus and humerus do not yield significant data. They are assigned to this species according to their sizes that correspond to that of the astragali.

DISCUSSION

Morphologies of lower molars that combine primitive features (strong stylids, wavy internal wall, separation of the internal and external conids) and relatively strong hypsodonty have been described in the Boselaphini from the upper Miocene of the Teruel basin ( Alcalá 1994). This combination of characters has not been found in the other known bovids from the late Miocene and Pliocene of Spain. Therefore, despite the scarcity of the material, we classify this form as Tragoportax sp. , with a size close to that of the Tragoportax from the Teruel basin.

Order PERISSODACTYLA Owen, 1848

Figures

FIG. 8. — Bovidae from Alcoy: A-K, Alephis boodon (Gervais, 1852); A, B, right P2 (MAA); A, labial view; B, occlusal view; C, D, left M3 (M-2101); C, labial view; D, occlusal view; E, F, right m3 (MAA); E, occlusal view; F, lingual view; G, right m2 (MAA), labial view; H, I, second phalanx (M-693); H, dorsal view; I, lateral view; J, distal fragment of metacarpal (M-698), dorsal view; K, left astragalus (M-2430), dorsal view; L, Tragoportax sp., left astragalus (M-2435), dorsal view. Scale bar: 10 mm.