PBDB Collection

Copăceni (Pleistocene of Romania)

Where: Ilfov, Romania (44.3° N, 26.1° E: paleocoordinates 44.3° N, 25.9° E)

• coordinate estimated from map

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Early/Lower Pleistocene (2.6 - 0.8 Ma)

• Since the small mammal assemblage used to estimate the age of the “Copăceni beds” does not change from the bottom of the succession to the top, we consider the entire succession to have accumulated during the Early Pleistocene (around 1.1–1.0 Ma before present).

Environment/lithology: terrestrial; mudstone

• from base to top, 20–30 cm from the top of a silty mudstone rich in carbonate concretions (hence called the concretionary layer), a 15–20 cm thick layer of fine sand rich in mollusc shells (hence called the lower coquina), a 150–180 thick layer of silty mudstones (called the intermediate mudstones), and a 15–30 cm thick layer of fine sand rich in mollusc shells (hence called the upper coquina). The layers mentioned above are not separated by any obvious stratigraphic discontinuities, and show good lateral continuity, remaining largely horizontal for a few kilometres.

Size class: macrofossils

Collection methods: The specimens described in this paper were found by screen-washing around 1,500 kg of sediment, evenly sampled from the lower coquina, intermediate mudstone, and upper coquina, using a set of two sieves, with 0.75 and 2 mm mesh sizes.

Primary reference: S. Vasile, M. Venczel, and A. Petculescu. 2021. Early Pleistocene amphibians and squamates from Copăceni (Dacian Basin, southern Romania). Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 101:967-983 [J. Head/G. Varnham]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 230700: authorized by Jason Head, entered by Grace Varnham on 13.07.2023

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names

Reptilia
Squamata - Anguidae	Pseudopus sp. Pseudopus sp. Merrem 1820 legless lizard L2: one osteoderm (ISER Co-P 131).
Squamata - Lacertidae	Lacertidae indet. Lacertidae indet. Bonaparte 1831 squamates IM: one vertebra (ISER Co-P 124); L1: one maxilla fragment (ISER Co-P 125).
Squamata - Colubridae	Zamenis longissimus, Coronella austriaca Zamenis longissimus colubrid snake L2: one trunk vertebra (ISER Co-P 128). Coronella austriaca Laurenti 1768 smooth snake L2: one vertebra (ISER Co-P 129).
Squamata - Natricidae	Natrix natrix Natrix natrix Linnaeus 1758 water snake IM: eight trunk vertebrae (ISER Co-P 121a-h); L1: four fragmentary vertebrae (ISER Co-P 130).
Amphibia
Caudata - Urodela	Lissotriton vulgaris, Triturus sp. Lissotriton vulgaris newt L1: one atlas (ISER Co-P 106), two trunk vertebrae (ISER Co-P 114, ISER Co-P 118), two trunk vertebra frag- ments (ISER Co-P 115, and ISER Co-P 122); L2: two trunk vertebra fragments (ISER Co-P 120a-b), one caudal vertebra (ISER Co-P 111). Triturus sp. Rafinesque 1815 newt L1: one trunk vertebra (ISER Co-P 113); IM: one sacral vertebra (ISER Co-P 117).
Salientia - Bombinatoridae	Bombina sp. Bombina sp. Oken 1816 fire-bellied toad IM: one ilium (ISER Co-P 91); L2: one ilium (ISER Co-P 95), one presacral vertebra (ISER Co-P 116).
Salientia - Bufonidae	Bufo bufo Bufo bufo Linnaeus 1758 toad IM: one sacral vertebra (ISER Co-P 104).
Salientia - Hylidae	Hyla aff. arborea Hyla aff. arborea Linnaeus 1758 tree frog L2: one ilium (ISER Co-P 92).
Salientia - Ranidae	Ranidae indet., Rana sp., Rana ? temporaria, Pelophylax sp. Ranidae indet. Rafinesque 1814 frog L2: one ilium (ISER Co-P 97), two maxillae (ISER Co-P 109, ISER Co-P 110); L1: one ilium (ISER Co-P 99), one maxilla (ISER Co-P 108). Rana sp. Linnaeus 1758 frog IM: one scapula (ISER Co-P 102). Rana ? temporaria Linnaeus 1758 common frog L1: three ilia (ISER Co-P 93; ISER Co-P 94; ISER Co-P 100); IM: one humerus (ISER Co-P 101). Pelophylax sp. Fitzinger 1843 frog L1: one ilium (ISER Co-P 98); L2: one ilium (ISER Co-P 96).
Salientia - Pelobatidae	Pelobates syriacus Pelobates syriacus Boettger 1889 Syrian spadefoot toad L1: one frontoparietal (ISER Co-P 105); IM: one ilium (ISER Co-P 90)