Crețești-1: Tortonian, Romania

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Amphibia - Temnospondyli - Urodela
Salamandridae indet. Gray 1825
Codrea et al. 2022
Amphibia - Temnospondyli - Pelobatidae
Pelobates sp. Wagler 1830
Amphibia - Temnospondyli - Bufonidae
Bufonidae indet. Gray 1825
Codrea et al. 2022
Reptilia - Anguidae
Ophisaurus sp. sensu lato Daudin 1803
Ophisaurus sp. Daudin 1803
Codrea et al. 2022
Reptilia - Crotalidae
Macrovipera sp. Reuss 1927
63 specimens
spelled with current rank as Vipera (Macrovipera)
"frequent". Mentioned in paper: CR.5573/1-3, CR.5574/1-2, cervical vertebrae; CR.5575/1-9, CR.5576/1-4, CR.5577, CR.5578, CR. 5579/1-22, CR. 5580/1-16, middle trunk vertebrae; CR.5581, posterior trunk vertebra; CR.5582, cloacal vertebra; CR.5583, isolated rib
Reptilia - Colubridae
Colubridae indet. Oppel 1811
Codrea et al. 2022
Coronella sp. Laurenti 1768
Coronella cf. miocaenica Venczel 1998
Codrea et al. 2022
Hierophis sp. Fitzinger 1843
Codrea et al. 2022
Reptilia - Lacertidae
Lacerta sp. Linnaeus 1758
Reptilia - Scincidae
Chalcides sp. Linnaeus 1758
Reptilia
Aves indet. Linnaeus 1758
Reptilia - Testudines - Testudinidae
"Protestudo" sp. Chkhikvadze 1970
"extremely frequent"
    = Testudo lohanica n. sp. Perez-Garcia et al. 2022
Perez-Garcia et al. 2022
Holotype VPMNS C5659, a partial skeleton including the shell (Figs 2F, 3F, 4U–X, 5), appendicular remains (Fig. 5), a partial skull (Figs 5–8), the right lower jaw (Figs 6, 9A–F) and a right hyoid branch (Fig. 6D–F). Paratype VPMNS C5661, a partial skeleton including the shell (Figs 2D, 3D, 4M–P), several vertebrae (Figs 10, 11A, B), appendicular elements (Fig. 11C–T), the skull (Figs 12–14, 15A–G) and a partial lower jaw (Fig. 9G–L). Referred specimens Specimens referable to the new taxon are very abundant at the type locality. Besides the holotype and the paratype, five other specimens are referred herein: the complete or almost-complete shells VPMNS C5656 (Figs 2A, 3A, 4A–D), VPMNS C5657 (Figs 2B, 3B, 4E–H), VPMNS C5660 (Figs 2C, 3C, 4I–L) and VPMNS C5658 (Figs 2E, 3E, 4Q–T), and VPMNS C5815, including a partial shell (the fourth to sixth left peripherals and the left hyoplastron and hypoplastron) and several appendicular bones (Fig. 11U–AK).
Mammalia - Proboscidea - Choerolophodontidae
Choerolophodon pentelici (Gaudry and Lartet 1856)
Mammalia - Rodentia - Sciuridae
Spermophilinus bredai (von Meyer 1848)
Mammalia - Lagomorpha - Ochotonidae
? Proochotona sp. Chomenko 1914
Mammalia - Erinaceidae
Schizogalerix sp. Engesser 1980
spelled "Schizogaleryx" in paper, but referred to Erinaceomorpha so presumably is a mispelling
Mammalia - Carnivora - Hyaenidae
Adcrocuta eximia Roth and Wagner 1854
Mammalia - Carnivora - Felidae
Metailurus sp. Zdansky 1924
Mammalia - Giraffidae
Palaeotragus sp. Gaudry 1861
mispelled as "Paleotragus" in paper
Mammalia - Bovidae
Miotragocerus leskewitschi (Borissiak 1914)
mispelled as "Miotragoceros" in paper
Mammalia - Suidae
Hippopotamodon sp. Lydekker 1877
Mammalia - Perissodactyla - Equidae
"Hipparion" sp. de Christol 1832
"very frequent"
Mammalia - Perissodactyla - Rhinocerotidae
Acerorhinus sp. Kretzoi 1942
Gastropoda - Heterostropha - Planorbidae
Planorbis sp. Muller 1774
see common names

Geography
Country:Romania State/province:Ilfov
Coordinates: 46.6° North, 28.0° East (view map)
Paleocoordinates:47.0° North, 27.2° East
Basis of coordinate:estimated from map
Time
Period:Neogene Epoch:Miocene
Stage:Tortonian 10 m.y. bin:Cenozoic 6
Key time interval:Tortonian Mammal zone: MN 12–11
Age range of interval:11.63000 - 7.24600 m.y. ago
Stratigraphy
Geological group:Moldavian Platform
Stratigraphy comments: The geological age of this locality was previously considered Vallesian, MN 9 (sensu Vangengeim & Tesakov 2013; Codrea et al. 2017). However, subsequent finds of some micromammals have cast doubt on this date. These concern the presence of a small-sized Lophocricetodon, and also of the pika Ochotona cf. eximia (Sen 2003; Čermák 2016; see Delinschi 2014, for a discussion about the unclear status of this genus) very similar to those reported from the Maeotian locality of Taraklia, in the Republic of Moldova (Tortonian, MN 12; Sevket Sen, pers. comm., 2021). Lungu et al. (2007) considered the late Miocene ‘Proochotona eximia Chom.’, where the vertebrate localities of the Republic of Moldova are located, as ‘early Maeotian–early Pontian’.
The Maeotian was recently reassessed. In recent stratigraphical charts (Raffi et al. 2020; Krézsek & Olariu 2021), the Maeotian in the Dacian Basin was restricted to 7.6–6.1 Ma, referring only to units MN12–MN 13 (Steininger 1999). In this context, the pika implies dating to either to Maeotian (MN 12) or Khersonian (MN 11).
As the correlations between the MN units from western and central Europe are being reconsidered (Vangengeim & Tesakov 2008, 2013), it is possible that some age boundaries will be re-assessed also, based on future advances in the knowledge of small mammals from this part of Europe and their evolutionary trends. Therefore, the geological age of Crețești 1 is re-interpreted as younger than previously presumed, being either Maeotian (MN 12), or late Khersonian (MN 11).
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology:green mudstone
Secondary lithology: silty sandstone
Lithology description: "almost horizontal sedimentary succession of about two metres depth of greenish mudstone interleaved with thin (few centimetres only) silty sand. These sediments are rich in vertebrate remains, but also in freshwater gastropods (e.g., Planorbis sp.)."
Environment:"floodplain"
Geology comments: "Based on the sedimentology, these rocks may correspond to an ancient floodplain where the sedimentation progressed during periodic floods by fallout from suspension. The bones were accumulated probably by torrents, but they were not carried on too long distances. The anatomical connections are rare and refer only to partial skeletons, excepting the turtles where the limb bones and skulls are often preserved. The large mammal remains occur together with small vertebrates, indicating that there was no grading process due to the water streams. Before the definitive burial, at least part of these bones and teeth were exposed to weathering long enough to suffer damages – the enamel fragments of numerous teeth in the maxillae and mandibles were detached
and buried at small distance from their initial origin."
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body
Size of fossils:macrofossils,mesofossils
Collection methods and comments
Collection excludes:some macrofossils
Collection methods:surface (in situ),sieve,field collection
Reason for describing collection:taxonomic analysis
Taxonomic list comments:Sediments are rich in vertebrate remains but also in freshwater gastropods (e.g. Planorbis)
Metadata
Also known as:CR-1; Cretesti-1
Database number:199755
Authorizer:T. Cleary, E. Vlachos, J. Head Enterer:T. Cleary, E. Vlachos, G. Varnham
Modifier:E. Vlachos
Created:2019-02-13 10:41:01 Last modified:2022-03-26 13:53:28
Access level:the public Released:2019-02-13 10:41:01
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:
67928. V. Codrea, M. Venczel, L. Ursachi and B. Răţoi. 2017. A large viper from the early Vallesian (MN 9) of Moldova (Eastern Romania) with notes on the palaeobiogeography of late Miocene ‘‘Oriental vipers". Geobios 50:401-411 [T. Cleary/T. Cleary]

Secondary references:

85134 V. A. Codrea, M. Bordeianu, and M. Venczel. 2022. Amphibians and squamate reptiles from the late Miocene of Fălciu (Eastern Romania). Palaeontologica Electronica 25(2):a19 [J. Head/G. Varnham]
80993 A. Perez-Garcia, M. Martín-Jiménez, E. Vlachos and V. Codrea. 2022. The most complete extinct species of Testudo (Testudines, Testudinidae) defined by several well-preserved skeletons from the late Miocene of Romania. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 1-35 [E. Vlachos/E. Vlachos]