New proboscidean specimens from the Late Miocene of Romania: the huge-sized deinothere Deinotherium proavum, the rare “Mammut” cf. obliquelophus and the first description of the shovel-tusker Konobelodon from the country

Abstract

AbstractIn this article, we describe so far unpublished proboscidean specimens from several Late Miocene localities of Romania. A partial mandible and the complete upper/lower cheek tooth rows of a deinothere individual from the site of Gherghești 1 belong to Deinotherium proavum and comprise one of the few examples of entire cheek tooth rows of the same individual of this species. Gherghești 1 is geographically close to Mânzaţi from where the celebrated skeleton of “Deinotherium gigantissimum” was discovered at the end of the nineteenth century, and thus further highlights the importance of Romania in the study of this emblematic deinothere. Deinotherium proavum represents the last deinothere species in Europe and corresponds to the terminal stage of the size increase characterizing the evolution of European deinotheres. Two zygodont molars are attributed to the rare “Mammut” cf. obliquelophus and add to the scarce record of “Mammut” in the Miocene of Eurasia. They document the secure presence of “Mammut” in the Miocene of Romania. The small size of the studied molars compared to known specimens of the Pliocene “Mammut” borsoni and the weak development of the distal cingulum in the lower third molars may have taxonomic and biostratigraphic importance. Furthermore, the presence of an amebelodontid is documented by a large-sized and dorsoventrally flattened lower tusk fragment that shows tubular dentine in its inner part and is attributed to the tetralophodont shovel-tusker Konobelodon. This specimen marks the first record of the genus in Romania. Finally, the biostratigraphic distribution of the taxa is discussed.