Mammuthus rumanus
Temporal range: Late Pliocene, 3.2–2.6 Ma
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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Proboscidea
Family: Elephantidae
Genus: †Mammuthus
Species:
†M. rumanus
Binomial name
†Mammuthus rumanus
Ștefănescu, 1924

Mammuthus rumanus is a species of mammoth that lived during the Pliocene in Eurasia. It the oldest mammoth species known outside of Africa.[1]

Evolution

Mammuthus rumanus is suggested to have originated in Africa.[1] Material intermediate between African mammoths and Mammuthus rumanus has been reported from Bethlehem in the Levant, dating to sometime in the Late Pliocene, around 3-4 million years ago.[2] The oldest calibrated dates for Mammuthus rumanus and mammoths outside Africa are from Romania, dating to around 3.2 million years ago.[3] Remains have been reported spanning from Britain to China.[1] It is probably ancestral to Mammuthus meridionalis.[4]

Description

Mammuthus rumanus is only known from fragmentary remains, typically isolated teeth, with a mandible also known. The number of plates on the third molar teeth is around 8-10, consistently lower than is known in other non-African mammoth species, including M. meridionalis.[4]

Ecology

Studies of specimens from Britain found that they likely consumed browse and inhabited open environments.[5][6] In Europe, it coexisted alongside other proboscideans, including the mastodon species "Mammut" borsoni and the "tetralophodont gomphothere" Anancus arvernensis, likely niche partitioning with the latter by occupying different habitats.[5][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Markov, Georgi N. (25 October 2012). "Mammuthus rumanus, early mammoths, and migration out of Africa: Some interrelated problems". Quaternary International. 276–277: 23–26. Bibcode:2012QuInt.276...23M. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2011.05.041.
  2. ^ Rabinovich, Rivka; Lister, Adrian M. (July 2017). "The earliest elephants out of Africa: Taxonomy and taphonomy of proboscidean remains from Bethlehem". Quaternary International. 445: 23–42. Bibcode:2017QuInt.445...23R. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2016.07.010.
  3. ^ Iannucci, Alessio; Sardella, Raffaele (28 February 2023). "What Does the "Elephant-Equus" Event Mean Today? Reflections on Mammal Dispersal Events around the Pliocene-Pleistocene Boundary and the Flexible Ambiguity of Biochronology". Quaternary. 6 (1): 16. doi:10.3390/quat6010016. hdl:11573/1680082. ISSN 2571-550X.
  4. ^ a b A.M. Lister, H. van Essen Mammuthus rumanus (Stefanescu), the earliest mammoth in Europe A. Petculescu, E. Ştiucá (Eds.), Advances in Palaeontology ‘Hen to Panta’, Romanian Academy, ‘Emil Racovita’ Institut of Speleology, Bucharest (2003), pp. 47-52
  5. ^ a b Rivals, Florent; Mol, Dick; Lacombat, Frédéric; Lister, Adrian M.; Semprebon, Gina M. (August 2015). "Resource partitioning and niche separation between mammoths (Mammuthus rumanus and Mammuthus meridionalis) and gomphotheres (Anancus arvernensis) in the Early Pleistocene of Europe". Quaternary International. 379: 164–170. Bibcode:2015QuInt.379..164R. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2014.12.031.
  6. ^ a b Rivals, Florent; Semprebon, Gina M.; Lister, Adrian M. (September 2019). "Feeding traits and dietary variation in Pleistocene proboscideans: A tooth microwear review". Quaternary Science Reviews. 219: 145–153. Bibcode:2019QSRv..219..145R. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.06.027. S2CID 200073388.


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