Somssich Hill no. 2 (Pleistocene of Hungary)

Also known as Somssichhegy 2

Where: Barany, Hungary (45.9° N, 18.5° E: paleocoordinates 45.8° N, 18.4° E)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

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

• Late Lower Pleistocene, Biharian.

Environment/lithology:

• 'the site was made up of a hollow filling left by quarrying of Malm (Oxfordian) limestone.'
• 'In contrast with similar localities in the Villany mountains, this loessy sediment was definitely light yellow in colour.'

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Collection methods: bulk,

• Excavated in 'layers in a 1 by 2m portion of the sediment in 1975. In the course of yearly excavations we reached a depth of 6m in 1981.'

•'to a depth of about 5m the homogeneous loess did not change its colour, although from about 2m, compact freshwater limestone (calcite) deposits impeded the work. Around a depth of 6m the sediment started changing colour to brownish-red. All the 20-30cm thick layers removed contained small vertebrate remains in statistically analysable quantities. Preliminary analysis of this material showed that the relative abundance of Pitymys arvalidens decreased from 65-75% in the upper layer to 4% in the lower layers, while that of Lagurus increased to 65%. Further down the relative abundance of the two species became equal. Layer no. 29, slightly more reddish in colour, contained the only primate specimen (Macaca sp.) whereas layer no. 30, similar in colour and consistency, contained the only tooth remain of the lemming (Lemmus sp.).'

Primary reference: D. Janossy. 1986. Pleistocene vertebrate faunas of Hungary. Developments in Palaeontology and Stratigraphy, 8. Elsevier, Amsterdam 1-208 [A. Turner/H. O'Regan/H. O'Regan]more details

Purpose of describing collection: biostratigraphic analysis

PaleoDB collection 35457: authorized by Alan Turner, entered by Hannah O'Regan on 16.12.2003

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• This is a preliminary list, disregarding stratification and based on several thousand finds.
unclassified
  -
Angiospermae
 Rosales - Ulmaceae
Celtis sp. Linnaeus 1753 hackberry
Gastropoda
  -
Gastropoda indet. Cuvier 1795 snail
Bivalvia
  -
Bivalvia indet. Linnaeus 1758 clam
Gnathostomata
  -
Amphibia
 Salientia -
Mammalia
 Rodentia - Gliridae
Dryomimus eliomyoides Kretzoi 1959 dormouse
Glis sackdillingensis Heller 1930 dormouse
 Rodentia - Sciuridae
"Citellus primigenius" = Spermophilus
"Citellus primigenius" = Spermophilus ground squirrel
 Rodentia - Castoridae
Trogontherium sp. Fischer von Waldheim 1809 beaver
 Rodentia - Zapodidae
Sicista praeloriger Kormos 1930 birch mouse
 Rodentia - Muridae
"Apodemus sylvaticus" = Mus sylvaticus
"Apodemus sylvaticus" = Mus sylvaticus Linnaeus 1758 wood mouse
 Rodentia - Cricetidae
Pliomys episcopalis, Cricetulus sp., Cricetus cricetus, Lagurus arankae, "Microtus arvalinus" = Microtus, "Microtus gregalis" = Microtus, "Microtus ratticepoides" = Microtus, "Pitymys arvalidens" = Microtus, "Pitymys gregaloides" = Microtus, Mimomys savini, Mimomys sp., "Clethrionomys sp." = Myodes, Lemmus sp., Allocricetus sp.
Cricetulus sp. Milne-Edwards 1867 mouse
Cricetus cricetus Linnaeus 1758 European hamster
C. C. runtonensis
Lagurus arankae mouse
Lemmus arankae-pannonicus group
"Microtus arvalinus" = Microtus vole
"Microtus gregalis" = Microtus vole
"Microtus ratticepoides" = Microtus vole
"Pitymys arvalidens" = Microtus vole
"Pitymys gregaloides" = Microtus vole
Mimomys sp. Forsyth-Major 1902 vole
small species
"Clethrionomys sp." = Myodes Pallas 1811 vole
Lemmus sp. Link 1795 vole
Allocricetus sp. Schaub 1930 mouse
 Lagomorpha - Leporidae
 Lagomorpha - Ochotonidae
Ochotona sp. Link 1795 pika
 Primates - Cercopithecidae
Macaca sp. Lacépède 1799 macaque
 Theriamorpha - Erinaceidae
Erinaceus cf. praeglacialis Brunner 1933 hedgehog
 Theriamorpha - Soricidae
Beremendia fissidens Petényi 1864 shrew
Sorex minutus Linnaeus 1766 Eurasian pygmy shrew
Sorex runtonensis Hinton 1911 long-tailed shrew
Episoriculus sp. Ellerman and Morrison-Scott 1951 red-toothed shrew
Crocidura obtusa white-toothed shrew
 Theriamorpha - Talpidae
Desmana thermalis Kormos 1930 Russian desman
Talpa fossilis Petenyi 1864 mole
 Placentalia -
Chiroptera indet. Blumenbach 1779 bat
 Perissodactyla - Rhinocerotidae
aff. Stephanorhinus etruscus Falconer 1868 rhinoceros
 Perissodactyla - Equidae
"Asinus sp." = Equus
"Asinus sp." = Equus Linnaeus 1758 horse
 Artiodactyla - Cervidae
 Carnivora - Felidae
Panthera gombaszoegensis Kretzoi 1938 cat
Felis cf. lunensis Martelli 1906 cat
 Carnivora - Mustelidae
Lutra sp. Brisson 1762 otter
Meles atavus badger
 Carnivora - Canidae
Canis mosbachensis Soergel 1925 canine
Vulpes sp. Frisch 1775 fox
Reptilia
 Testudines - Emydidae
Emys orbicularis Linnaeus 1758 European pond turtle
 Ophidia -
 Squamata - Anguidae
Ophisaurus sp. Daudin 1803 glass lizard
Aves
 Falconiformes - Falconidae
Falco cf. vespertinus Linnaeus 1766 Red-footed falcon
Falco tinnunculus Linnaeus 1758 Common kestrel
F. tinnunculus atavus
 Passeriformes -
Passeriformes indet. Linnaeus 1758 perching bird
 Passeriformes - Hirundinidae
Hirundo cf. rustica Linnaeus 1758 barn swallow
 Passeriformes - Alaudidae
Galerida cf. cristata Linnaeus 1758 crested lark
 Piciformes - Picidae
Picus cf. viridis Linnaeus 1758 Eurasian green woodpecker
 Strigiformes - Strigidae
Athene noctua Scopoli 1769 little owl
A. noctua cf. lunellensis
Surnia robusta Jánossy 1977 northern hawk owl
 Anseriformes - Anatidae
Anatidae indet. Vigors 1825 waterfowl
 Galliformes - Phasianidae
Coturnix cf. coturnix Linnaeus 1758 common quail
Lyrurus partium Kretzoi 1962 pheasant