Apidima Cave A: Middle Pleistocene - Late/Upper Pleistocene, Greece
List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Mammalia
- Carnivora
- Canidae
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Vulpes vulpes
(Linnaeus 1758)
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1 specimen | |||||||||
Mammalia
- Hippopotamidae
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Hippopotamus amphibius
Linnaeus 1758
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1 specimen | |||||||||
H. amphibius antiquus | ||||||||||
Mammalia
- Cervidae
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Dama dama
(Linnaeus 1758)
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4 specimens | |||||||||
Mammalia
- Bovidae
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Capra ibex
Linnaeus 1758
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8 specimens | |||||||||
Mammalia
- Primates
- Hominidae
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Homo sapiens
Linnaeus 1758
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2 specimens | |||||||||
= Homo neanderthalensis
King 1864
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Harvati et al. 2019 | |||||||||
Apidima 2 (also referred to as LAO 1/S2) | ||||||||||
see common names |
Geography
Country: | Greece | State/province: | Lakonia | County: | Mani Peninsula |
Coordinates: | 37.0° North, 22.6° East (view map) | ||||
Paleocoordinates: | 37.0° North, 22.6° East | ||||
Basis of coordinate: | based on nearby landmark |
Time
Period: | Quaternary | Epoch: | Pleistocene |
10 m.y. bin: | Cenozoic 6 | ||
*Period: | Middle Quaternary - Middle - Late/Upper Quaternary | *Epoch: | Middle Pleistocene - Middle - Late/Upper Pleistocene |
Key time interval: | Middle Pleistocene - Late/Upper Pleistocene | ||
Age range of interval: | 0.78100 - 0.01170 m.y. ago | ||
* legacy (obsolete) database fields |
Stratigraphy
Stratigraphy comments: The Apidima caves are karstic formations within the Middle Triassic-Late Eocene limestone (Plattenkalk) of depth 500m, from 4m to 24m above sea level, in a vertical zone of depth 20m. Very thick and cohesive breccia up to 23m above sea level.
Dated using ESR on travertine calcite and fossils - two samples with dates of 250-450,000 and 200-300,000BP. "As the Apidima fauna is stratigraphically mixed, careful interpretation is required" |
Lithology and environment
Lithology description: Quaternary terrestrial deposits are represented, in some places, by very cohesive cemented breccias, sometimes with fossils; and scree and talus cones compacted during the Mindel, Riss and Wurm. The Apidima caves are karstic formations within the Middle Triassic-Late Eocene limestone (Plattenhalk). | |
Environment: | cave |
Geology comments: temperate climate, with mixed and variable steppe like during sea regression, interrupted by forests (mainly of coniferous trees, wild olive trees, pistachio and other Mediterranean flora). |
Taphonomy
Size of fossils: | macrofossils,mesofossils |
Articulated whole bodies: | some |
Disassociated major elements: | many |
Disassociated minor elements: | many |
Encrustation: | occasional |
Feeding/predation traces: | tooth marks |
Temporal resolution: | time-averaged |
Collection methods and comments
Collection excludes: | some macrofossils |
Collection methods: | bulk,field collection |
Collection size: | 20000 specimens |
Reason for describing collection: | taxonomic analysis |
Collection method comments: Total of 20,000 specimens refers to all four cave sites. Material stored in the Museum of Anthropology, Athens University | |
Taxonomic list comments:rodent and bird remains are also mentioned |
Metadata
Database number: | 32059 | ||
Authorizer: | A. Behrensmeyer, E. Vlachos | Enterer: | H. O'Regan, D. Reed, E. Vlachos |
Modifier: | H. O'Regan | Research group: | PACED |
Created: | 2003-06-03 13:49:30 | Last modified: | 2003-08-12 07:03:06 |
Access level: | the public | Released: | 2003-06-03 13:49:30 |
Creative Commons license: | CC BY |
Reference information
Primary reference:
8611. | E. Tsoukala. 1999. Quaternary large mammals from the Apidima Caves (Lakonia, S. Peloponnese, Greece. Beitraege zur palaeontologie 24:207-229 [A. Behrensmeyer/H. O'Regan/H. O'Regan] |
Secondary references:
71674 | K. Harvati, C. Roding, A. M. Bosman, F. A. Karakostis, R. GrĂ¼n, C. Stringer, P. Karkanas, N. C. Thompson, V. Koutoulidis, L. A. Moulopoulos, V. G. Gorgoulis and M. Kouloukoussa. 2019. Apidima Cave fossils provide earliestevidence of Homo sapiens in Eurasia. Nature 571:500-504 [E. Vlachos/E. Vlachos] |