Mont-Helene (Pliocene of France)

Also known as Mt. Helene

Where: Roussillon, France (42.7° N, 2.9° E: paleocoordinates 42.8° N, 2.5° E)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

When: Ruscinian (5.3 - 3.2 Ma)

• MN14, Tabianien-Plaisancien (3.3-3.9Ma), Pliocene.

Environment/lithology: fissure fill

Size class: mesofossils

Collection methods: bulk,

• Found in 1981.

Primary reference: J.-P. Aguilar, M. Calvert, and J. Michaux. 1986. Description des rongeurs Pliocenes de la faune du Mont-Helene (Pyrenees-Orientales, France), nouveau jalon entre les faunes de Perpignan (Serrat-d'en-Vacquer) et de Sete. Palaeovertebrata 16(3):127-144 [A. Turner/H. O'Regan/H. O'Regan]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 35064: authorized by Alan Turner, entered by Hannah O'Regan on 29.10.2003, edited by Lars van den Hoek Ostende

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• 'The diversity of murids gives evidence of a subtropical climate and of a diversified environment which may be linked to the spreading of the coastal plain following the filling up of the Roussillon Neogene basin.'
Mammalia
 Rodentia - Gliridae
Eliomys intermedius Priant 1953 dormouse
Glis sackdillingensis Heller 1930 dormouse
Muscardinus sp. Kaup 1829 dormouse
 Rodentia - Muridae
Apodemus cf. jeanteti Eurasian field mouse
Apodemus dominans Eurasian field mouse
Castillomys crusafonti Michaux 1969 mouse
Castillomys crusafonti gracilis
Occitanomys montheleni n. sp. Aguilar et al. 1986 mouse
 Rodentia - Cricetidae
"Cricetus cf. angustidens" = Apocricetus angustidens Depéret 1890 mouse
Trilophomys pyrenaicus Depéret 1890 mouse
 Theriamorpha - Erinaceidae
"Galerix depereti n. sp." = Parasorex depereti
"Galerix depereti n. sp." = Parasorex depereti Crochet 1986 hedgehog
 Theriamorpha - Soricidae
Episoriculus gibberodon Petenyi 1864 red-toothed shrew
Paenelimnoecus pannonicus red-toothed shrew
 Theriamorpha - Talpidae
Talpa fossilis Petenyi 1864 mole