Urmiatherium rugosifrons (Sickenberg, 1932)

Kostopoulos, Dimitris S. & Karakütük, Seval, 2015, Late Miocene bovids from Şerefköy- 2 (SW Turkey) and their position within the sub-Paratethyan biogeographic province, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 60 (1), pp. 49-66 : 60

Urmiatherium rugosifrons (Sickenberg, 1932)

Fig. 13 .

Material. —MYŞE PV-1182, partial opisthocranium; MYŞE PV-2503, frontlet; MYŞE PV-2504, frontlet of young individual; MYŞE PV-2599, axis+3 rd cervical vertebra; MYŞE PV-2506, axis; MYŞE PV-2505, 3 rd cervical vertebra (possibly representing the same individual as MYŞE PV-2505). All from Şerefköy-2, Turkey, Late Turolian (Late Miocene).

Description. —This bizarre species is represented by at least two individuals and can unambiguously be identified based on (i) its small size ( Table 5 ); (ii) strong cranio-facial flexion;

iii) strongly elevated, thick and pneumatised frontals; (iv) an extremely shortened opisthocranium; (v) a reduced parietal forming an obtuse angle with the occipital plane; (vi) an enlarged and thickened occipital with large occipital condyles and a dorsally-facing occiput; (vii) a thickened basioccipital with strong and completely fused posterior tuberosities, thus forming an additional, oval facet for the atlas ( Fig. 13C ); and viii) thick, short, and moderately homonymously twisted and grooved horn cores, originating very close from each other and—in juveniles—bearing wide and well-defined lateral depressions ( Fig. 13A, B ).

Remarks.— Urmiatherium rugosifrons is the only representative of its genus from Asia Minor. Besides Şerefköy-2, the species is only known from the neighbouring site of Salihpaşalar ( Kaya et al. 2012) and the Turolian of Samos e.g., Solounias 1981; Kostopoulos 2009a, 2014; Jafarzadeh et al. 2011; Table 5 ). Other possible occurrences of the genus at Garkın, Kınık (Afyon) and Kayadibi (Konya) in mid-western Anatolia ( Alan 1997; Saraç 2003) still need to be confirmed.

Stratigraphic and geographic range.—Upper Miocene; Asia Minor.

Figures

Fig. 13. The bovid artiodactyl Urmiatherium rugosifrons (Sickenberg, 1932) from Şerefköy-2 (Turkey), Late Turolian (Late Miocene). A. Juvenile frontlet (MYŞE PV-2504) in anterior view. B. Frontlet (MYŞE PV-2503) in anterior view. C. Opisthocranium (MYŞE PV-1182) in ventral view. D. Axis + 3rd cervical vertebra (MYŞE PV-2599) in dorsal view.