Shkodova Gora (Miocene of Ukraine)

Where: Ukraine (46.5° N, 30.7° E: paleocoordinates 46.8° N, 30.1° E)

• coordinate estimated from map

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: MN13 mammal zone, Late/Upper Miocene (11.6 - 5.3 Ma)

Environment/lithology: fluvial-deltaic; lithology not reported

• Terrestrial landscapes in the deltaic area were probably represented by weakly humid open spaces (steppes or forest–steppes), as follows from the pres- ence of the antelope genus Palaeoryx (see also Korotkevich, 1988). Paleobotanic data (Molyavko, 1960; Syabryaj et al., 2007) also suggest that, in the northern Black Sea Region of that time, grassy associations were widespread, replacing in the Pontian the previously prevailing meadows rich in Chenopodiaceae. Although certain data suggest that, in the Pontian, valley forests were widespread (Syabryaj et al., 2007), the Shkodova Gora fauna lacks typical forest taxa.

Size class: macrofossils

Collection methods: National Museum of Natural History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NMNHU-P)

Primary reference: O.M. Kovalchuk, L.V. Gorobets, E.V. Syromyatnikova, I.G. Danilov, V.V. Titov, T.V. Krakhmalnaya, L.I. Rekovets and N. V. Zelenkov. 2017. Vertebrates from the Pontian of the Shkodova Gora Locality (Northwestern Black Sea Region, Upper Miocene). Paleontological Journal 51(4):414-429 [E. Vlachos/E. Vlachos/O. Alfaro]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 187783: authorized by Evangelos Vlachos, entered by Evangelos Vlachos on 12.08.2017

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

unclassified
  -
Osteichthyes
 Acipenseriformes - Acipenseridae
Mammalia
 Lagomorpha - Leporidae
cf. Trischizolagus dumitrescuae Radulesco and Samson 1967 rabbit
 Perissodactyla - Equidae
Hipparion cf. moldavicum hipparionine horse
 Artiodactyla - Bovidae
Palaeoryx cf. pallasi Wagner 1857 antelope
Reptilia
 Testudines - Chelydridae
Chelydropsis pontica Pidoplichko and Tarashchuk 1960 turtle
NMNHU-P, no. 42/1, partial skull
 Testudines - Testudinidae
Testudo sp. Linnaeus 1758 turtle
Remains of Testudo sp. (Testudinidae) from Shko- dova Gora were mentioned without data on the mate- rial; its depository is not known; therefore, their pres- ence in the assemblage of the locality requires confir- mation. Since some specimens from Neogene localities of Eastern Europe originally referred to the genus Testudo turned out to belong to Chelydropsis (see Joyce, 2016), it is not improbable that Testudo sp. from Shkodova Gora actually belongs to the latter genus
Aves
 Aves -
 Strigiformes - Strigidae
Strigidae indet. Vigors 1825 true owl
 Anseriformes - Anatidae
Anatidae indet. Vigors 1825 waterfowl
 Suliformes - Phalacrocoracidae
Phalacrocorax mongoliensis Kurochkin 1971 cormorant
Phalacrocorax longipes Tugarinov 1940 cormorant
 Pelecaniformes - Pelecanidae
Pelecanus odessanus Widhalm 1866 pelican
Actinopteri
 Perciformes - Percidae
"Perca lepidopoma" = Acerina lepidopoma
"Perca lepidopoma" = Acerina lepidopoma Schtylko 1934 perch
 Cypriniformes - Cyprinidae
Rutilus tungurukensis carp-like fish
Rutilus robustus carp-like fish
 Siluriformes - Siluridae