On some Mustelinae from the Pliocene bone breccia of Węże

A C T A P A L A E O N T O L O G I C A P O L O N I C 4

I 9 5 9

JAN STACH

No. :!

, O N SOME MUST ELIN AE F ROM TH E PLIOCENE BONE BRECCIA OF WE;ZE

St udy on the T e r ti ar y bon e br ecc ia fa una from Wc::ze ne ar Dzia loszyn in P oland

PART X·

Abst r act. - This pape r describes the rema in s of skulls an d mand ib les of three

·s pecies, namely Mustela pli ocaen ica n. sp., Mustela plioerminea n. sp. an d Martes wenzensis n. sp. By their characteristic featu res all the three described specie s com e

ve r y near to thei r Pleistoc en e repres entatives as well as to the living forms.

IN T R O D U CTION

Several interesting large r carnivores

¹

have, so far , been described fro m the P liocene bone breccia in Wf;ze n ear Dzi al oszyn (provinc e of Lo dz). The writer has now iden tifi ed fro m t he sa me b reccia the re mains

· of their sm all er relatives fr om t he mustelid grou p . They are : Mustel a pliocaenica n. sp. and Must el a plioermin ea n. sp . from t he su bfam ily of

.Must elinae Gill, also Mart es wenzensis n. sp . fr om the su bfa m ily Ma r tinae

Burmeis te r .

• Par ts I- V - see Acta Geol , Pol., vol. II-V/1952-55 ; parts VI- IX - Act a Palaeont. Pol. , vol. I- I II, 1956-58.

1 Arctomel es pliocaen icu s n. gen. & n. sp. from the Me lin ae su bfa mily. Act a Ceo !. Po!., vol. 11/19511. - Ursus wenze nsis, new speci es of a small Pliocene bea r.

Ibid., vol. 111/195.- Nyc t ereutes (Canidae) in the Pliocene of Poland. Ib id.,vol. IV, 1954. - Agri otherillm in te r med i um n. sp . from the Pliocene bon e breccia of Weze, Acta Palaeont . Pol ., vol. 11/1957.

Acta Pala eon t ologlca Polo n lca - vol. IVj2 7

'102 JAN STACH

DESCRIP T IO N

Must ela pliocaen ica n . sp.

(pI. I, fig. 1- 5 ; text-fig. 1)

The m a terial on which this species has been es ta bli shed con sists of a sk ull lacking the mandible , a nd of fou r mandibula r fra gm en ts bel on ging:

to var ious individuals.

Th e sk ull is wi th the occipital part damaged and the zygom atic arches:

mi ssing ; the upper ca rnassia l

(pI,)

and t he first mol ar (Ml) represent the r ig ht side den ti ti on , w hile the left side is represen te d b y a fr ag m en tary premolar

(pI,)

an d a well preserved first molar (M!).

Of t he four detach ed ma n dibles, the first is a f rag me ntary left r amus:

(pl. I , fig . 2) in which t he inciso rs and the ca nine are mi ssing from t he a n te r ior portion , while M

2

and all the processes are ab sent from the

poster ior part. .

The second sp ecimen is likewise a fragmen tary mandibular ram us w it h the a n terio r and posteri or e nds damaged , and

p;\

as well as M

₂

ab sent.

The thi rd s pecimen represents the righ t mandibular r am us with t he lower carnassial ; t he fourth one is a fr ag me n t ar y left ramus of the an terior part of the mandible, wi th only th e second premolar

(P2)

an d a small portion of the canine present .

F ossil finds of small size d w easels from Pliocen e and Plei stocene beds have frequently been re po rted. On the close resemblance of th e discovered fragments to an alo gou s skele tal el ements in the living weasel , Mustela nivalis L. , the y have , in m ost ca se s , been assigned to that speci es:

(Boule, 1910 ; Stehlin , 1923 ; Osborn, 1927 ; Heller, 1930 ; Pasa, 1947 , et alii) . A detailed description of fossil mustelid remains collected in 1934 , in Hungary was undertaken by Kormos . He had the op por tu nity to s t ud y adequatel y five fossil mandibles belonging to a sm all sized weasel which had been recovered from the hill of Nagyharsany near Villany (province Baranyi in Hungary), al so a m andible from t he Sackdilling cave in the- Frankonian Jurassic. The must elid r emains recovered from the latter locality had previously been s tu die d b y Fl. Heller in 1930. He identified

it as Must ela v u lgaris Briss. (= Must ela nivalis L.) .

When comparing the mandibles of fos sil weasel s with that of the living Must ela ni valis, Kormos e m ph as ized se veral st ruct u r al differences on which he establis hed a new species, i. e. Mustela praenivali s Kormos , t o accomo date the Pleist ocen e weasel.

According to t hat au thor , the d ifferences between Mustela praenivalis Kormos and M. nivalis L. are as follo ws :

1. The posterior boundary of t he ma sseteric foss a in Must ela praeni-

v alis K ormos is more ro u n de d and n ot so fa r an te rio rly push ed as in

ON SO M E MU STEL I N AE FROM THE PLIOCENE 103

Mustela ni valis L. , where it oft en ex ten ds below the talonid of M

1,

te r- minating in an acute angle .

2. Below t he pr otoconid of M[ (low er carnassial) a circular depression o ccu rs labiall y ; in Must ela ni valis L. this is eit her absent o r very faintl y indicated.

3 . A very ch ara cteristic feature of Must ela pra en ivalis Kormos is the mandibular bod y , cons t a n tly g ro w ing -st ou ter , higher and thicker . Lingually it di splays r idge -like t h icken ings along a number of teeth , while elongate depressions occu r below i t . In Mustela nivalis L. the surface of t h e man- dibular body is as a rule quite uniform lingually.

4 . The hei ght of the mandibular body measured lingually below the first molar is 2.5 mm in the Sackdilling s p ecim en against 2.65-3.0 mm in the Nagyharsany specimens, with thickness 1.5 to 1.8 mm. In specimens o f M. nivalis L. the height thus measured ranges from 1.85 to 2.6 mm, the

thickness is 1.15 to 1.6 mm (see Table 1).

5. The lower carnassial (Mj) is slightly larger in the fossil weasel than in Mustela nivalis L. where it very rarely attains the length figure noted in the fossil form (see Table 1).

Moreo ve r , Kormos r e p orts differences in mandibles of these mustelid s pe cies . In Mustela praenivalis Kormos the articular process is longer, the a t t a ch m en t of the external pterygoidal muscle more distinctly indicated.

Upon closer investigation of the mandibular features in Mustela praenivalis Korm., as spec ified by Kormos, and their comparison with the corresponding characters .of

W~ze

mandibles and those of Mustela nivalis L ., the following observations have been made:

Ad 1. The m asseteric f ossa in the

W~ze

mandibles is anteriorly ro u n de d , centrally d eep . Anteriorly it r eaches to a vertical line, drawn downwards from t he point of contact between the protoconid and t h e t a lon id in M [; thus in all of the

W~ze

spe ci men s it is seen to be pushed farther anteriorly than in Mustela pra en ivalis Kormos.

In specimen s of Mu st ela ni valis L. fr om the vicinity of Krak ow (south Poland) and t h e province of P ol esie (White Russia) , the anterior en d of t h e massete ri c f ossa st re tch es equ a lly far, i. e. t o a v ertical line , drawn - d ow nw a r ds f rom the p oint of contac t be tw een the protoconid and the t alon id in M

1;

it is als o sim ilarly rou n de d, but n ever a ttains t he width o f tha t ele men t n oted in th e

W~ze

weasel.

Ad 2. A depr es sion occ urs b el ow the protoconid of M[ on the mandible s

of the

W~Z'E'

specimens , w h ic h is n either d e ep nor s h a r ply delimited from '

t he remaining surface of the mandibular bod y , bu t somewhat ex p an de d

a n te r iorl y an d post eri orl y . In sha pe it d oes not differ from the d epression

readily here di sc ernible in specimens of the living weasel from t he vicinit y

o f Krakow and P ol esie , which have been studied by the writer .

104 JAN STACH

Ad 3. The lingual thickening of the mandibular body below a row- of teeth , and the underlying depression , are faintly indicated in the

W~ze

specim ens . They are likewisely indistinct in specimens of Musteta nivalis L. studied by the writer.

Ad 4. In all the

W~ze

specimens the mandibular body is strong, high and thick. The height and thickness dimensions here exceed those asserted by Kormos f or M usiela praenivalis Kormos , also those of the living Mu- stel a nivalis L. (see Table 1).

Ad 5. The length of the first mol ar (Md is greater than tha t in Ivl.u»

st e la praenivalis K ormos, being 4.8 to 5.5 mm against 3.0-4.1 mm in the la t te r form.

The length , width and height fig ures of

P~

and P ; l a re higher f or the

W~ze

weas el (see Table 1).

Amon g the less significan t details, we may note in th e W eze s peci mens t hat , of th e two u sually presen t m en tal fo r amens, the ant erior one is di stinctly larger and occas ion ally su bdivide d into two sm all er on es , so t h at thr ee mental foramen s are anteri orly obser vable in t he mandible .

Neither H eller nor Ko rmos have h ad the opportunity t o ex am ine the sk ull of Mustela praenivalis Ko rm . The sk ull of a small weas el has , how- eve r, b een disc ov ered in the

W~ze

breccia . Althou gh it s mandible is mi ssing, y et the dimen si on s of the four above described mandibular frag ments from t h e sa me breccia suggest t hat th ey be long to wea sel s of sim ilarly small size (se e T able 2).

In section this sk ull slo pes ge n tly an teriorly fr om t he f ro ntals, while- post eri orl y it rises ge n tly t oo, di splaying a very slight depr ession at midlen gth . V iewed fro m above the sk ull tapers t ow ards t he front fr om t he pa pilla r proc esses , he nce the br ain case is ovat e, elongate d . Abov e the canines the skull is a nteriorly so mewhat narrower t han in the po s t- or bital are a . In the mast oid al area cranial w idth is less than the di stance fro m t he posterior margin of the occipital foramen to the in t ernal nares . All the cres ts are clearly indicated on the sk ull su rface: t he ex t ern al frontal , t he sag itt al and th e lambd oid of the occipit al bone . The audi tor y bullae mod erately inflated and almost of uniform height and width th ro ug hou t thei r length . This is nearly double the width: 1.8: 1.0.

An teriorly the auditory bullae are bluntly t rans versely t r u ncated and separ ated fr om the pter ygoidal processes (hamuli) by a r elatively broad fre e space . Posteriorly they are rounded. The orientati on of the auditory bullae is mutually parallel so that t heir anterior distance is t he sam e as the po sterior. The oss eous su r f ace between the auditory bullae is nearly fl a t , with onl y a slight lon gitudinal median elevation.

On t he whole , the sh ape of th e skull and of its divers e e le m en ts

closel y resem bles that observed in the living weasel Must ela nivalis L.

ON SOME MU S T ELI N AE FROM THE PLIOCENE

T a b I e I

Mea surem ents of teeth and mandibles (in mm)

105

Mustela pliocaenican.sp .. Weze, Pol a nd

Speci mens-i-s

PI longitude

lat itude

altitude

II

0.80 0.87

0.60 0.60

III IV

M. praenivalisKorm.

0.75 0.85

M. nivalis L.

0.50 0.80

0.67 0.70 - - -- - - - -- -1- - -- - - -- -- --- - -- - -- - - --

P2longi tud e 2.00 2.00 2.20 1.60

1.70 1.40 1.75

latitude 1.13 1.00 1.30 0.80

0.85 0.73 0.90

alt itud o 1.50 1.20 1.30 1.00 0.80

- - - -- -1-- - -- - - -- -- - - - --- - -- -

P-, longit ude 2.80 1.85

2.15 2.10 2.20

lat itude 1.08 0.95

1.10 1.06 1.00

alti tudo 1.90 1.60 1.70

- - - -- -- - - -- - - -- - - -

MI longitud e (carn.)

5.50 4.80 5.10 3.40

4.00 3.90 4.00

3.60

4.10 4.33 4.30 4.60

lat itudo 1.80 1.60 1.60 1.05

1.20

1.00

1.30 1.13 ^1.30 1.60

altitude 2.30 2.10 2.10 1.93 2.00

2.40 - - - - -- - - + -- - - - -- - - -- -- - - --'-- - - - -- -

PI- M2lo ngitu de 13.00 11.40 8.50 8.80 10.20

10.40 - - - - -- - - - -- - - -- - - - - -- - - -- - - - -' -- - - - -

Altitudo mandibulae 4.30 3.80 3.70 4.20 2.50

3.00 2.50 2.70 1.85 3.16 3.20

Latitudo mandibu lae 2.30 2.00 1.90 2.10 1.50

1.80 1.40 1.15 2.00

I

^2.20

106 ^{JAN STACH}

T a b l e 2

Measurements of skull? (in rnm)

Mustela M. nivalis

pliocaenica M. nivalis L. M. nivalis L. boccamela

Specirnens-i-s Wr;ze Poland central Bechst.

Poland Europe* Italy,

southFrance*

Longitud o condylobasal is a -a· · 47.0

\

1930.0- 36.4 934.2- 36.6 34.8-41.8 636.2---42.0 637.4-46.6

Longitudo basalis b- b 41.0 31.0- 38.2 - -

Long. bullae tympanicae 14.5 11.25-13.0 - -

Lat it. ma xim. bull. tym pan. 8.2 6.5-7.9

,

^-

I

-

Long. paJati part isd- d 14.7 9.0- 11.0 -

I

-

Latit. palati inter Ml- MI e-e 5.0 4.5- 6.2 - -

Lon g. dent ium Il- MI c- c 15.0 11.0-12.0 - -

Longitudo P~ (carnas.) 5.0 4.0---4.4 - -

Longitudo MI 3.4 3.0-3 .2

I

^-

^I

^{I -}

Lat it. posterior. partis MI 2.0

I

^{1.45- 1.9}

I

^-

I

^-

• According to MIller (1912).

.. For pa rticula r indices- see fig. Ion p,10 7.

The only notable diff erence co nsi sts in greater cra nial length of the foss il form , due to greater elongation of muzzle . This is clearly s hown by t he length ratio of that part of the p al a te which is enclose d by the hind walls of the incis ors and a straight horizontal line drawn from th e post erior margin of the molars to the di st ance between the lingual ends of these teeth (fig . 1 d-d , e-e) . In the Wc;:ze skull this ratio is 14.7 : 5.0 , i. e . nearly three to one , while in skulls of Mustela ni valis L. ex am ine d by the w ri ter t he res pective f igures are 9- 11 : 4.5- 6.2, i. e . 1.6 to 2.0 (se e T able 2).

The con dylo-basal length in the skull of t h e Wf:ze weasel" is 47 mm.

T his exceeds Miller's f igure ascertained for Eu rop ean spe cimens of Must ela nivalis L ., an d for its larger so uthern races : Mus te la n iv alis bocc am ela Bechstein and the Spanis h Mustela ni valis ib erica Ba rrot-Hamilton .

A notewor thy th ou gh not high ly important differ ence li es in that the

first upper m olar of the Wc;:ze specimen is di ff erently placed in relati on

to the carnassial P". In the Wf:ze weasel it is distinctly obli que, in t h e

living Mustela nivalis L. almost vertical. Hence resu lts the nearly ri ght

ang le betw ee n P" and lVI ' in the Wf:ze wea sel and t he str ong ly acu te an gle

in t he livi ng for m .

ON SOME MUSTE L INAE FROM THE PLI OC ENE 107

exam ination of weasel, it may

Fig. 1. Measu rements of skull of Muste l a a-a basio ccipit al len gt h. b-b basal len gth. c-e lengt h of tooth -row. d-d length of anterior part of palate. e-e distance between the in n er

ends of MI .

The broad li ng ual por ti on of t he above mo lar also h as a sligh tly di fferent appearance . In the Wr,:ze weasel it bea r s dist in ct minute cus ps on the tooth cing ulum with rays radiating from the p r ot ocon e towards these ti n y cus ps .

In view of all t he evidence provided b y a thoroug h t he described frag mentary sk ulls belongin g to t he W r,:ze reas onab ly be inferred t hat sim i-

larities betw een that fossil weasel an d the living Mus t ela niv alis L . are only moderate. It is not impos- si ble t hat, in t he absence of more diagnostic differences in other skeletal elements of these weasels an d p r ovided their occurrence is not se parated by long spa ns of ge olog ica l ti me, they may be i de n- ti fie d as subs pecies of M. nivalis L.

Diff er ences observe d b etwe en t he Wr,:ze weasel an d Must ela pra e- nivalis K orm ., a Plei st ocen e form from Hungar y and Germany st u- di ed by Heller a nd K ormos , are likewise of minor significan ce .

The living weasel is se parat- ed from t he Pleistoc en e form and fro m the Pliocen e W r,:ze s pe cime n, if not by geogra phica l dist ance , in any cas e by great spa n of t ime . This w ill be most con ve n ie n tly stressed b y giving t he oldest for m of these three , here disc ribed , t he name of Mustela pliocaen ica n . sp.

Muste la plioerm ine a n . sp.

(pl. I, fig. 6)

A n a dditional sk ull w ithout the mandible , referable to another sm all

mustelid s pecies, has been recove red fro m t he Wr,:ze bone br eccia . It lacks

the zygomatic arches, w hi le t he pr otruding en ds of bon es are worn or

da maged. Den ti tion : incisors mi ssing, cro wns of canines brok en off at t he

base; in the left half pr em olar s have been pr eser ved as we ll as rem nants

of the first upper molar; in the right half rem nants of pr emolars and

a complete mo lar.

108 ^{JA N STACH}

The sk ull is elongate , grad ually ta pering an t eriorly fr om t he m a- stoidal processes. In section the highest e levation occurs nea r t he occi pit al bones , very gen tly sloping an teriorly towar ds t he muzzle, po st eriorly somewhat more stee ply . The slight dom ing of t he fro ntal bone , not ed in t he skull of the living M . ermine a L. is her e unknown. Ante riorl y , in t he area ov erlying t he canines , the sk ull is nearly as br oad as in the postor- bi tal ar ea. The cranial width in t he masto idal area is di stinctly smaller t han the d ist an ce of t he post erior m argin of t he occipit al f oramen f rom t he in ternal nar es. The cr anial crests are wor n . The aud itory bullae moder at el y in fla t ed, mor e or less bean-shaped owing to the slight ex- pansion di rectly behind t he auditory forame n , i. e. ap proximately at midlen gth , sim ilarly as i n Mustela ermine a L . The length ratio of the au ditory bulla to its max imum width is 1.5 to 1.0. The auditory bullae are anteriorly very bluntl y tru ncated , post er iorly ro u n de d . They are mu tually di vergen t so that t he 4.5 m m dist an ce se parating t heir anterior en ds is' har dl y one half that b etw een t heir post eri or en ds (9.2 mm) . The osseo us surface enclosed by the auditory bullae is ce ntrally so mewhat ele va ted, particularly so p ost eriorly .

The ge neral ap pearance an d dimensi on s of the sk ull and its several ele ments rese m bles t hose characterizing t he sk ull of t he livin g Mu st ela erminea L. (see Table 3). The co n dylo- basal len gth is , how ever , greater in t he Wf;ze weasel. In t he vario us Eur op ean M. erminea L . races the con dyle-basal len gth ranges from 40 to 48 mm, t he len gt h of 52.4 mm being attaine d only ver y exce pt ionally by a male individual of the British Mustela erminea stabil is Bar ret & Hamilton. The leng tl: of t he sk ull near t he muzzle is greater in t he Wf:ze weasel t han in P oli sh s pecimens of the M . erminea examined by the p resen t writer , as is also the leng th of several teeth, hence of the w ho le tooth-row. As has been afore said, t here also occurs a nota bl e difference between t he anterior and the post eri or diver- ge nce rat io of the au ditory bullae in t he Wf:ze w easel as co m pared wi th the livin g M. erminea L .

The fossil remains of a weasel of the ty pe of t he living M. ermine a L.

are fre q uently encountered in deposits of early an d la te r Pleist ocen e age.

In 1864, on evidence of si m ilar fossils , i . e. a fragme ntary mand ible r ecovered fro m the Pleistocene str ata of Beremend in Hunga r y , P etenyi establis he d a new foss il species of weasels: Foetorius palermineus P et eny i.

In 1930 , Heller referred to t he same spec ies Mustela paler minea (P e-

tenyi) , a mandibular fragment collected fro m t he Sackdilling cave of the

F r ankon ian Jurassic, and again, subseq uently, in 1958, fro m Erpfi ngen

(Schwabische Alb ) w hich may be dat ed al most analogously as the Hun-

garia n species .

ON SOME MUSTELINAE FROM THE PLIOCENE

Table 3

Measurements of skulls (in mm)

109

Mustela

Mustela Mustela erminea L.

Specimens~> plioerminea erminea (according to Miller) Wr;ze

Poland Poland

Q

I

^{d .}

Longitudo condylobasali s a- a* 52.5 43.4-47.0 41.6-45.0 41.6-51.2

Longitudo basalis b- b 49.3 39.2-42.0 ^- -

Long. bullae tympanicae 15.7 13.7-14.0 - -

La tit. max. bullae tyrnpani cae 9.6 8.2-8.9 ^- -

Long. palati parti s d- d 16.0

.

12.5-13.2 - ^-

Latit. pal ati inter MI-M I e-e 6.8 6.5-7.2 - -

Lon g. dentium ILM I c- c 18.0 14.5-16.5 10.8-12.0 12.2-13.8

pi long itudo 2.3 1.0-1.5 - -

latitudo 1.5 1.0 - -

altitudo 1.5 1.0-2.0 - -

p2long itud o 3.0 2.2-2.6 - -

latitudo 1.8 1.0-1.3 - -

altitudo 2.0 2.0 - ^-

p3(carn.) lon gitudo 5.8 4.8-4.9 ^- -

(front.) latitu do 3.0 2.5 - -

altitudo 3.5 2.5-3.0 - -

MI long itud o 4.5 4.0 - -

latitudo 3.0 2.0-2.2 ^- -

* For particular indices - seef'ig , 1on p.107.

In 1934, Kormos had t he oppo rtu nity to, tho roug hly exam ine a great number of mandibles bel on ging to the same spe cies , collected fro m b ed s of Nagyharsany , Csarnota an d Piliss zanto in Hungar y. On this mate r ia l h e demonstrated ce r t ain diff er ences i n sha pe and siz e of m andibular teet h belonging to Mustela palerminea (P etenyi) and its su bspe cies Mu- st ela palerminea pra egla cialis (K ormos), as com pa red with M. erm inea L.

mandibles , abundan t in later Pleistocene strat a of Hunga r y .

Moreover t his sp eci es is r eported by Kretzoi (1938) f ro m other lo- cali ties of Hungary. Brunner (1952) r ep orts them fr om t he Pottenstein cave (Oberfranken) in stra t a assigne d by him to the close of the Mindel glaciation or to the beginning of the Ri ss.

Mandibular fragments belonging solely to the above con sidered species

were availa ble to all these palaeontologists. Lack of the lower jaw in the

sk ull of the Wgze weasel do es not, unfortunately , permit a comparison

110 ^{JAN STACH}

of t hat weasel wi th t he Plei st oce ne Must ela palerminea (P etenyi) . W e m ay only venture the sugges t ion tha t cer ta in differ ences exist ed between the Pliocene M. pli oerminea n. sp. fro m W f{l.e and the Plei st ocene M . pal ermi- n ea (Per en yi) , sim ilarly as be tween th e w ea sel M. pli ocaen ica n . sp. and t he Pleistocene M. pra en ivalis Kormos . The name of M. plio ermin ea n . sp . is, t he r efo re, analogou sl y pr oposed by t he pr esen t w riter for the Plio cen e , pseudo- ermine form fr om Wf;ze . This name would sugges t that in ap pea r ance the sk u ll of this Pliocene f orm comes near t o the t ype of the living M. erm inea L . thoug h they are se parated by a lon g sp an of geolo - gical tim e.

Martes w enzen sis n . sp.

(pI. II, fig. 1- 4)

In addition to sm all mustelid r emains, the Wr;:ze breccia has al so yielded some skele tal fragments bel on ging to larger sized species from the group Martinae Burm. Thes e fossils consi st of a relatively well pre- served skull (pl . II , fig. 4) together with a clo sel y adjoining mandible.

The zygomatic arches are missing, as w ell as the upper mandibular branches ; the osseous cover and the dentition are partly damaged. For the purpose of description the lack of some parts of dentition in this skull may be su pplem en te d by data provided by the ex am ina t ion of the anteri or po rtion of skull b elonging t o another s pe ci m en , al so the fragmentar y mandible of a t hird individual.

The s ha pe of sku ll differs so me w hat from the cranial ty pe noted in

the living Martes martes L . In t he living Martes the apical point of th e

cranial ele vat ion occurs on t he occipital bon es , approximately coinciding

with the vertical line drawn into the au ditory foramen area ; from ther e

the r oof of the skull gently descends to the nasal foramen , depressing in

its course only where the ce rebral area pa sse s into the facial. In the W r;:ze

sk ull , t he apex of t he cr an ial elevation occurs abo ut midlength. F r om

that point it descends in an arch, uni f ormly domed both tow ar ds t he

nasal foramen and to the r ear of sk u ll. Vi ewed from ab ov e the cr anial

width is see n to de crea se an te riorly from its ma ximum about the auditor y

bullae . Measured above the canines the w idth is less t h an half that

measur ed near the auditor y bullae . Near t he muzzle crani al width is

di stinctly smaller than in the po storbi tal a rea. The postorbital processes

are short , the sem icircular lines of t he fr on tal bones radiat ing from them

conve rge far post eriorly at an acu t e a ngle, and unit e with the sag ittal crest

of mode rate hei ght . The su p r a-occi pital crests are dev el op ed similarly as

in t he living Mart es. In s ha pe the auditor y bullae rese mble those in the

ON SOM E MUSTELINAE FROM TH E PLI OC E NE 111

living f orm , i. e. they are relativel y broad, mode ra tel y inflated , with a sligh t dep ress ion stre tching approximatel y in t he ce n tre al on g the entire length, so a s to se parate the swollen in ternal par t f rom t he extern al which is flatter. The len gth/width ratio in the auditory bullae is close to t h at noted in the living Martes, the figures being 1.5 and 1.32-1.38 r espect ively.

The audit or y bullae are mutually placed so tha t t he ir post erior dive r- gence is sligh tly gre ater than in the li ving Marte s. A con spicu ous cen tral e le vatio n occurs on the su rf ace of t he ba si-occ ipital pa r t . The palate is moderat el y bro ad , it s

d-d

to e- e len gth ra tio , i. e . co verin g the distance between the molars, is 3 : 1 ( see fi g. 1).

Dentition. Strongly damaged an terio r portion of both jaws do no t permit a description of the incisors and canines . Both , the mandibular and t he maxillary first molar are missing, but their al veole s sug ges t tha t the y were ex tre me ly sm al l, one-rooted , tightly sq uee zed in between the canine and the second premolar. The shape of the remaining premolars and of the maxill ary molar resembles that typical of the living Martes, except that in t he W£:ze mar ten, all t he teethare distinctly longer at the ba se , and stou te r . p 2 is shape d like a nearl y regular high-topped triangle. p 3 is slig h tly mor e elongate posteriorly where it s sharp edge descends from the apex downwards . The upper carnassial is much longer and stouter than that in the living Martes . It has a low protocone, a high strong para- cone with a s ha r p cutting edge extending to the metacone . The molar is longer too , with a part of the ex te rnal tu bercles r elat ively high , descending to t he ex pan de d lingual portion of the crown .

The mandible is stout, 2.5 mm hi gher than in the living Martes, in sha pe of teeth res embling the living form. The pre served alveole of the fi rst premola r indicate s that it was s m all, one-rooted , tightly squeezed in between t he ca nine a nd t he second premolar. P

2

is po st eriorly elonga te.

A slight t u bercle-li ke doming is presen t in p ; \ on t he posterior m argin de scending fr om t he to p of the tooth. In

PI,

t h is doming grows into ,a distinct cus p, pushed o ut to w ards the ch eek. The lower carnassial is stou t , wi th a high prot ocon id , a re latively l ow paraconid , strong m et a- conid , and a low , r ather fla t talonid . Th e comple te length of th at t ooth- - r ow is greater t ha n the corresponding ele men t in t he mandible of the livin g Mar t es.

A summar y of the a bove mentioned observa tions concerning the fossil

r emains of t he W£:ze mar ten and the ir com parison wi th t he cor responding

ske le t al par ts in the living Martes indica te th at the fu nda men tal dif-

f erences betw een t hese for ms con sist solely in the grea ter dimensi on s of

the complete s k ull and of its particular ele me n ts in the fos sil species ,

though these tw o for ms are se par a te d by a long span of geological time.

112 JAN STACH

F ossil rem ains of martens belonging to those r em ote periods are fre - quently encou n te red beginning with Miocene beds. However , a great number of their species have been cr ea ted on very fragmentar y material, no t diagn ostic en oug h .

Sufficiently copious mat erial w as, howev er , a va il able to Zdansky , fo r Must ela pala eosinen sis Zdansky , 1924 . The re m ains of that marten had been discov er ed amon g a foss il fau na of carnivores from t he territory of t he pre sent pr ovince of Schan-shi in nor th-east ern China , which h e w as t he n investigating. The m aj ority of material ex am ined b y Zd ansk y w as collected from strata containing a well preserved Hi p parion-Iau na , so me of it, however , tho ug h fou n d i n China , is stated to be of " u nbekan nt er Herk unft u nd unbekann te r Alters" .

The sk u lls of Mus te la palaeosinensis, ex am ine d by Zdansky , diff ered in certain det ails of sh ape an d size . Tak in g , howev er , into ac cou nt the possibility of str ong vari ations of t his fos sil m ar ten , they wer e all r egarded by that a uthor as cons pecific .

T he foss il re mains of the Wf;ze ma r ten display clo se sim ilar ities w it h t he Chi nese Mart es pala eosin en sis (Zd ansk y) . Diff e ren ces in the size and sha pe of te eth ar e un important, the ave r age figures in M. palaeosi nensis being only sligh tly higher , as is show n in a di m en si on chart given i n t a bles 4 and 5.

Some di ff eren ces , how ever, may be noted here , too . In all t he ex am ined Wf;ze specime ns the first premo lar was fu nctional in both jaws , w hi le i n M. palaeos ine nsis t his tooth is unk nown , with the ex ce ption of one mandib u lar spe ci me n on ly . No traces of cus p can be detected on t he posterior margin of the third mandibular premo lar in t he Ch inese speci- me ns . In

PI,

the cus p on the post er ior m a rgin is stronger in m ar tens fro m China t han in that fro m W f;ze, being at the sa me ti me pushed f ar t her towards the apex of the crown. I n the lower carnassial the pr ot oconid is rectilinearl y tria ng ular in the

W~ze

specimen , w hile in the Chin ese marten t he paraconid is h igher, ty pic ally carnassial. In M. palaeosine nsis the maxillar y first m ola r (M I) is shorter and more massive , in sect ion mor e br oadl y elli ptical.

Ot her fo ssil martens a re of sim ilar size as the

W~ze

specimen, e . g .

Mus t ela pentelici Gaud r y , 1861, so far known on one m andibular ram us

collected fro m Pikermi , also Martes woodwardi Pilgrim, 1931, a spec ies

est a blished on a sing le m andibular fragme nt , likewise r ecovered fro m

P ik errni , an d Must ela lep orinum Khom enko, 1914 , f rom T ar akl a in Ru-

m ania . T eeth , sim ilar in sh a pe, have also been encountered in marten s

of cons ide rably sm aller size , su ch as Mart es laeviden s Dehm, H}50, from

the Middle Mi ocen e (Bu rdigalian) i n Eichstatt (B avaria) , or Mustela

an de rss oni Schl osser , 1924, fr om the Hipp ari on-faun a of Mo ngolia , et c.

~;;

., .,

'1J 0;-ro o;'..

o5"

""

^c;-_O'

'1Jo 5"

'"

o ·

., '"

s

H

~

co

'Ta b 1e 4 - Measure ments of skuIls (in mm)

Martes MarIes pala e o sinensis (Zdansky) Martes maries L. Martes martes L.

Cra nium et wenz ensis Chi n a Poland (acco rding to Miller)

maxilla n.sp.

I

I II I I ^{II I}

^III

I ^IV I ^{V I VI I VII}

^I

I

^Il

I ^III I ^IV

⁹

^I

^0'

Long . cond ylo-

basalis ^- 91.0 ^{- - - -} - - ^--' 73.5 73.2 81.6 76.5 77.0-80.0 79.0-88.0

Long. bas al is - 85.5 - - - 70.3 68.2 75.0 71.7 ^- -

Latit, rnastoid ali s ^- 40.0 - ^{- - -} - - ^- 34.5 34.4 37.0 35.4 36.0-39.4 37.4-42.2

Latitudo

post orbitalis ^- 23.3 - - ^{- -} - ^{- -} 19.6 17.7 19.4 20.0 19. 6-21. 8 19.2-23.2

Latit.frontalis - - - ^- - - 15.5 14.5 16. 6 16.0 16.2-17.0 16.0- 18.8

Longitudo

palatini d- d 38.0 ^- - - - 30.0 28.5 32.5 30.5 ^- -

Latitud o e- e 13.0 ^{- - - -} - - - ^- 10.0 9.5 10.0 11.0 - -

Longitudo

bullae ossae - 21.0 - - - 12.3 18.0 18. 3 18.0 ^- -

Latitude

bullae ossae - 14.0 -- - ^- - - - - 13.0 13.0 13.3 13.7 - -

Latitudo

spat. frontal. ^- 11.0 - ^{- - -} - ^{- -} 8.0 7.5 8.5 9.7 - ^-

Latitudo

spa t. poster. - 17.0 - - - 11.5 11.0 12.0 12.0 - -

pi longitudo ^- - 2.1 2.0 2.2 2.2 1.8 2.1 - -

-

^{1.5 - - -}

latitudo - ^- 2.2 2.3 1.6 2.2 1.6 1.9 ^- - - 2.0 - - -

altitudo - - ^{- - -} - - - 3.0 - ^{- -}

p2longitudo 5.8 - 5.7 5.5 5.7 5. 1 4.2 4.5 ^- 4.1 3.8 4.1 4.0 - -

latitudo 3.0 - 2.4 2.5 2.4 2.4 2.3 1.9 - 2.1 2.1 3.0 3.0 - -

altitudo 3.6 - - - ^- - 3.5 3.1 3.5 3.0 - -

p:l longitudo 6.5 - 7.2 7.3 7.0 6.8 6.0 5.6 7.7 5.0 5.0 5.9 '5.0 - ^-

latitudo 3.0 - 3.5 3.7 3.3 3.4 2.8 2.6 3.7 2.9 2.5 3.0 2.3 - -

altitudo 4.2 ^- - - - ^- - - - 3.0 3.2 3.4 3.0 - ^-

P' longitudo 12.0 - 11.3 11.4 10.0 10.3 9.3 9.0 11.5 8.5 8.0 7.9 7.8 8.2-9.0 8.8-9.6

(carn.) latitudo 5.2 - 6.7 6.5 6.4 5.9 5.7 4.6 6.7 5.1 5.0 5.6 5.5 5.2-5.4 6.0-6.8

altitudo 6.0 - ^{- -} - ^{- co} - - ^- 4.9 4.0 4.9 3.0 - ^-

MI longitudo 10.5 - 10.7 10.7 10.5 10. 2 9.5 8.5 10.9 8.5 7.6 8.6 8.0 7.8-8.2 8.8-10.0

lat itudo 6.6 - 6.7 7.2 6.9 6.7 5.9 5.2 7.6 6.0 5.0 6.5 4.5 4.6-6.0 4.4-7.2

altitudo 2.0 - - - ^{- -} - ^{- -} 2.5 2.5 2.2 2.0 - -

Longitudo ^!

den t. I-M1 42.0

I

- - - ^-

-

^{- 32.0 31.4 36.0 32.8 27.2-29 .6 27.0-31.4}

o z

UJ

o

~l'J

~<:l UJ

...,

l'Jr-

51

:>-

l'J ';l ::0

~

...,

~l'J

r-'1J

<3 ol'J Z l'J

...

...

w

114 JAN STACH

T a b l e 5

Measur em ents of mandibles (in mm)

Mandibula

Maries wen- zensis n.sp,

- 1 -1-

11- - I

Manes palaeosinensis (Zda nsky)

China

I

^II

I

^III

I

^IV

Maries maries L.

Pol an d

I

I

^II

- -- - - - -- - - - --- - - - -- - -- - - - - --- - - - - - -- - PI longit udo

latit udo altitu de P2longitud o

latitudo altitude

5.0 2.5 3.0

5.0 2.3 4.0

1.6 1.6

5.8 2.7

5.5 2.7

4.9 2.5

4.5 2.0

6.0 5.0 3.3 4.0

2.7 3.0

4.0 2.8 - - -- - - - -- - - - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- -

- - -

^{- - -}- --3.0

- -- - - -

- --

^{-- - - - -}

- -- - - -

^{- - --- -}

- -- - --

^{- - --- -}

7.0 6.7 3.1 2.9

8.8 4.8-5.8 PJ longitudo

latitude alt itudo P,Ilongitud o

latitudo alt itudo

6.6 3.0 4.0 7.5 3.6 4.2

5.8 2.8 3.6 7.2 3.0 3.5

6.8 3.2

7.5 3.8

7.8 3.8

7.3 3.3

5.2 2.4

6.1 2.7

6.0

8.0

6.5 4.7 4.5

3.0 3.0 5.3 3.0 3.5

4.7 2.0 3.2 5.3 3.0 - - -- -- -- - -- - -- - - - --- - -- - -- - - - --- - -- - - --3.5

M¹longitudo (ca rn. )lat it udo

alt itudo

11.0 4.5 4.5

13.0 5.2

12.6 4.8

12.5 4.6

11.0 3.9

13.0 13.5 6.9-7.5 9.0 3.2 4.5

9.0 3.5 4.6

5.6

29.4 26.0 AltitudoOland.

Latitude mandibul ae Long. dent.

I-M2

11.2 10.0

5.0 -

- ^{-= I~ - ~ I~ -}

7.5 3.6

7.5 3.5

Th e present w ri ter beli eves tha t the

W~Y2

ma r ten ou ght to be placed in a distinct species , as MaTtes wenz ens is n. sp., stressing that , together with other better know n species, i t constitutes a group of marten s of the ty pe of Mertes palaeosinensis (Zdansky), which is that mos t adequately known . The mentioned grou p existed in Eu r asia during the Mioce ne / Pliocene boundary and al so du ring the early Pleistocene , among the more or less impoverished Hipparion-fauna.

The new gen us Pliomartes Kretzoi was in 1952 establis he d by Kre tzoi for Must ela palaeosin ensis Zdansk y , Mustela pentelici Gaudry and several ot hers. According to K r etzoi , the characteristics of t his gen us are t he pre- se nce of t he first premolar , premolars elongate but low , mandible m ostl y

ver y slende r , and a tendency for t he premolars to be broadl y s paced.

ON SOME MUSTELINAE FROM THE PLIOCENE 115

According, howev er , to Kretzoi (l. c., p. 15): " Mar tinen mit unredu- zierter Bezahnung, wi e wir sie heutzutage in Martes oder Lamprogale

VOl'

uns haben , s ind aus den Hipparion-Faunen gan z unbekannt. Siimtliche F ormen haben ein e gewisse Reduktion , be sonders was die P anbelangt, er li t te n " . Contrary to this , the first upper premolar was present in all t he spe cime ns of Mustela palaeosinensis Zdansky, in one specimen the firs t lower p remolar too, a nd the spe cies M. palaeosinensis Zdansky bel on gs to the Hipparion-fauna.

Zoological Inst i tut e

of the Polish Acad em y of Scien ces Cracow Branch

Krak6w, March1959

REFERENCES

BR UNN ER, G. 1952.Die Mark grabenhohle bei Pottenstein (Oberfranken).Eine Fauna des Altdiluviums mit Talpa episcopalis Kormos u. a. - N. Jb. Geol. Paliiont., 10, 457-471, Stuttgart.

DEHM, R. 1950. Die Raubti ere aus dem Mittel-Miociin (Burdigal ium) von Wintershof- -West be i Eichstatt in Ba yern. - Abh. Bayer. Akad. Wiss., Math.-naturw. Kl., N. F., 58, 3-141, Mi.inchen.

HELLER, F. 1930. Eine Forest-Bed-Fauna aus del' Sackdillin ger Hohle (Oberpfalz). - N. Jb. Min. etc ., Beil.-Bd. 63, B, 247-298 , Mi.inchen.

- 1958.Eine neu e alt q uartar e Wirbeltierfauna von Erpfingen (Schwabische Alb).- N. Jb. Geol. Paliiont., 107, 1-102, Stuttgart.

KHOMENKO, J. P. 1914. La faune meotiqu e du villa ge Tarakli a du district Ben- dery. - Trav. Soc. Nat. Bessarabia, 5, 1-55, KiSinev.

KORMOS,T. 1914. Drei neue Raubtiere aus den Pragl a zial-Schichten des Sornlyohegy bei Puspok fiir d o. - Mi t t. Jb. k. ungar. geol. Reichsanst., 22, 3, 225-247, Bu- dapest.

1934. Neue und wenig bek annte Musteliden aus dem ungariscben Obe r- pllozan. - Folia Zool. Hydro bioI., 5, 129-158, Riga.

KRETZOI, M. 1937- 38. Die Raubtiere von Gombaszog nebst einer Ubersicht del' Gesamtfaun a . - An n . Musei Nation . Hungar., 31, 88-1'57, Budapest.

1941. Die unterplei stozane Sau geti e rfauna von Betfi a bei Nagy v arad . - Foldt.

x sa..

^{71, 7/12}, 308-33 5, Budapest.

1952. Die Raubtie r e del' Hippari on faun a von Polgardl. - Ann. Inst. Geol . Publ. Hungar., 49, 3, 3-42, Budapest .

MI L L ER, G. S. 1912. Catal ogue of the Mammals of Wes tern Europ e. 1-1019, London . PETENYI, S. J. 1864. Hatr aha gy ott munk ai, Magyar Tudaman , Akad, I Fi.iz., 3-130,

44-47, Pest.

PILG R IM, G. E. 1931. Cata logu e of the Pontian Carni vora of Europe. 1-174. London. ZDANSK Y, O. 1924. Jun gt ertia r e Carn ivoren China s. - Palaeont. Sinica, C, 2, 1,

1-149, Pe k in g.

116 ^{JA N STACH}

JA N STACH

o

NIEKTORYCH LASI C OWATYCH Z PLIOCENSKIEJ BR EK CJ I KOSTNEJ Z wE;ZOW

St reszczen ie

Autor opisuje, na pod s ta w ie czas zek i szczek wypreparowa nych z pliocenskie]

brekcji kost nej, znalezio ne j w miej scow osci W~ze kolo Dzial oszy na, tr zy nowe ga - tunki z rod ziny Muste li dae, a mianowi ci e Mus te la pliocaeni ca, Mus te la plio el'min ea

Mart es wen zen si s.

Pier w szy z tych ga t u nkow - Mus te l a pliocaen i ca - naleza l do gru py las iczek o drobnych wymia rac h ciala, a pod wzgledern ogolnego ksztaltu czaszki i poszcze- golnyc h jej czesci zb liza l sie bard zo do dzisi e jsze j lasiczki Mus te l a niva lis L. Wy- razn iejsza roznica zaznacza sie w wiekszej dlugoscl czaszki lasi czk i z W~z6\V, spo- wodowa nej gl6wnie znacz niejszym wyd luze niem sie czesci pys zczkow e j tego zwie- rze cia. Nie w ie lkie te z rozrrice wystepu ja porn ie d zy ta plioceriska lasic zk a a Mus te la praenivalis Korm os, opisa na przez Hellera i Kormosa z ple js tocenu Niemiec i Wegt er.

Drugi gatu nek - Must ela pli oermin~a - wieksza od poprzed ri iej, typu dzis ie j- szego gro nos taja Mus te la er m i nea L., ma takze pokrew na sobie forme w plej st o- cenie Wegie r i Niemie c w postaci Muste l a palermi n ea (Pete nyi) , T'a kze pornie dzy tym i trzema gat u nkami nie zachodz ily wieksze rozn ice w bu dowie czesci czaszki.

Z trzeciego gat u n k u - Mar tes wenzensis - znalazla sie w brekcji czaszka nie- mal w cal osci zacho wa na (pI. II, fig. 4), nadto pr zedni a czesc czaszki dru gi ego osob- nika oraz pieknie zacho wany frag me nt zuc hwy , Kszt alte m i znacznieisza wielkoscia czaszka z W~z6w od b iega niec o od czaszk i dzisia j zyjacej kuny Martes mart es L.

Wieksza jest dlugosc poszczegolnych ze b ow i calego ich szeregu, znaczn iejsza tez wys okosc i tegosc zuch wy, na tomi ast zasad niczy kszta lt zebow jest u obu tych ga- tu n k6w ku n pod obn y. Rozmi a r am i czaszki i zebow zbliza sie kuna z Wezow do opi- san e j przez Zdan sk y'ego ku ny Ma ries pala eosinen si s (Zdansky) ze ztoz z fau na hippa r ion owa pln.-w sch odni ch Chin.

Roznice pomi edzy wszystki m i pow yze j wyrn ien ion ym i Iorrnarni. a od powiu da- ja cy rni im dzis iaj zyja cy rni gat u n ka m i sa ta k nie wi el kie, ze gdyby nie od dz ie la l ich od sie bi e ta k dlugi okres wyste powan la ich w przyrodzie. mozna by je uwazac za pod gatun ki zyjacych dzis ia j form .

Pod obieristwo ich ze soba wskazuje na bard zo wczesne, bo juz w mioceni e, us talenie pewn ego zasa dniczego typu w obrebie niekt6rych lasicowatych, tak trwale, ze typ ten nie ulegt wiekszyrn zmianom w przeciagu tak dlugi ego okresu czasu.

ON SOME MUSTELINAE FROM THE PLIOCENE

OBJA$NIENIA DO ILUSTRACJI Fig. 1 (p. 107)

117

Pomi ar y czaszk i Mu ste l a : a-a dlugosc podstawy potylicy, b-b dlugosc podsta- wow a czaszk i, c-c dlugosc sze regu zebo w, d-d dlugosc przedniej czesc i podniebienia, e-e od leglosc dojezykowych brzego w MI.

PI.

Mu stel a pliocaenica n. sp.

Fi g. 1. Czaszka, a z boku, b od dolu ; wielk. nat.

Fig . 2. Fr agment zu ch wy; X 2.

Fig. 3. Fr agment zu ch wy, od przodu ; X4.

Fig. 4. Fr agm ent zuchwy; X4.

Fi g. 5. Fr agment zuc hwy; X4.

Muste l a plioermin ea n. sp . Fi g. 6. Czaszk a, a z boku, b od dolu; wielk. nat.

PI. II

Ma r te s uienze ns ts n. sp .

Fig. 1. Zuchwa (a,b) od p rep arowan a od okazu fig . 4 na tej plan szy : wielk. nat.

Fig. 2. Fragm en t pol owy zuchwy; x 2.

Fig. 3. Fragment przodu czaszki ; wielk. nat.

Fig. 4. Czaszka wra z z zuch wa, z boku ; wielk. nat.

SlH CTflX

o

HEKOTOPbIX KYHbMX M3 I1JIMOIJ;EHOBOYr KOCTHOYr BPEKl..{MM B MECTHOCTM BEH:lKE

Pe310M e

Ha OCHOBaHl111 -rep enos 11 'leJIIOCTeH o'rnpenapnpoaaaasrx 113 nJII10l.\eHOBOii KOCTHOH 6peK'-II1I1, HaH,l\eHHOH B MeCTHOCTI1 Benxc e 6JIl13b )l;31IJIOlllI1Ha, aBTOp zraer on nc a a ne Tpex HOBbIX BI1,l\OB ceMeHCTBa Mustelidae, a I1MeHHO Mustela pliocaenica, Must el a plioerminea 11 Martes wenzen sis.

I1epBbIH 113 HI1X- Must ela pliocaenica - npl1Ha,l\JIe)lWJI K He6oJIbllll1M JIaCKaM

Vi 06I.I.\eH cPOPMOH -repen a 11 er o OT,l\eJIbHbIX '-IaCTeH O'-leHb 6JIl13Kl1H coapeaeanoa JIaCKe Mustela nivali s L. BOJIee OT'-IeTJIl1BOe pa3JIl1'-Il1e aasre-raerca B 60JIhllleH ,l\JIl1He xepe n a JIaCKl1 113 MeCTHOCTl1 Beusce B CB1I311 Cy,l\JIl1HeHl1eM MOP,l\bI. Taxne :IKe He- 60JIhllll1e pa3JIl1"'!I1H Me:IK,l\y rrJI11 0l.\eHOBOH JIaCKOH 11 I'll ustela praeniv al is Kormos, Orrl1CaHHOH reJIJIepOM 11 Kopnourex (Heller 11 Kormos) 113 nneacrouena repMaHl1l1

11 Benrpmr.

BTOPOH BI1,l\ - I'll ust ela plioerminea - 60JIhllle '-IeM rrpe,l\bI,l\yI.I.\I1H npanan- JIe)l{ I1T K Tl1ny coapea eanoro ropaocraa Mustela erminea L. PO,l\CTBeHHOH cPOpMOH .HEJIlIeTClI TO:IK e Mustela palerminea (Petenyi) 113 nJIeHCTOl.\eHa BeHrpl11111 repM aHl1l1.

118 ^{JAN STACH}

TaK)I{e 11 3Tl1 TpH BI1,gbI He OOHapY)l{HBaIOT KaKI1X Hl16y ,gb 60JIee 3Ha'{I1TeJIbHbI X paa- JiI1,{l1ti B CTPOeHl111 -repena.

e

^{OCTaTKOB TpeTbero BI1,ga -} Martes wenzensis - B 6pe K'{ HI1 uati,geH nO' ITII nOJIHbIii -rep err (nJI. II, qmr . 4), a xpoxre roro nep eztaaa '{aCTb xep en a npyron oc0611 II xopouro coxpannauraaca '{aCTb HH)I{Heti '{eJIIOCTH. <pop Moii 11 60JIbw eti BeJII1'U1Hoi"t xepen 3TOT OTJII1'{aeTCHHecKOJIbKOOT xepena coapexreaaon KYHI1l\b I Mart es martes L. HI1)1{HHH '{eJIIOCTb nsnue 11 60JIee ~IaCCI1BHa H, a 3y6bI II 3y6HOii paz;,gJII1Hee y I1CKO- naexroa KYHI1l\bI , HO I1X rpop n a B OCHOBHOM o,gI1HaKOBa y ofionx BH,gOB. BeJII1'{I1Hoti srep en a ^113y6oB npl16JIl1)1{aeTCH KYHlIl\a 113 MecTHOCTH BeH)I{e K Martes palaeosinen sis (Zdemsky) 113 OTJIO)l{eHl1ti ceBep O-BOCTO'{HoroKI1TaH Crl1nnap l10HOBOII ¢aYHoti.

Pa3JII1'{ I1H Me)l{,gy BCeMI1 nsnne ynoMHHyTbIM I1 ¢OpMa ~1l1 11 COOTBeTCTBYIOllll1MlI

11M COBpeMeUHbIMI1 TaK He6oJIbWl1e, '{TO ecJII1 6bI He pa3,geJIHI0I11l1ti I1X 3Ha'{I1TeJIb- HbIti npoxreacy-rox BpeMeHI1, MO)l{Ha 6bI I1X C'{I1TaTb no,gBI1,gaM I1 COBpeMeHHbIX ¢OpM.

3TO CXO,gCTBO YKa3bIBaeT na O'IeHb paanee YCTaHOBJIeHl1e cpenn KyHbl1X HeKO- Toporo OCHOBHoro rtrrta, KOT OPbIti ute nona ep r a n ca 113MeHeHl1IOB Te'{ eHI1I1 TaK rton ror o BpeMeHH.

EXPLANATIONS OF PLATES

PI. I

Must ela pliocaenica n. sp.

Fig. 1. Skull , a side view, b bott om view; nat. size.

Fig . 2. Fragment of mandible; X2.

Fi g. 3. Fr agm en t of mand ible. anteri or vie w; X 4.

Fig. 4. Fragment of mandible ; X4.

Fig. 5. Fragment of man d ible; X 4.

Mustela plioerminea n.sp. Fig. 6. Skull, a side view, b bottom view; nat. size.

PI. II

Martes u.enze usts n.sp.

Fi g. 1. Mandible (a, b) det ached from spe ci men fig. 4 of th is plate; na t. size.

Fig. 2. Fragment of half a mand ible; X 2.

Fig. 3. Fragment of skull, anteri or view; nat. si ze.

Fig. 4. Skull with mandible, si d e view ; nat. size.

ACTA-PALAEONTOLOGICA POLONICA,VO L.IV

1

⁰

J. STACH.PL._1

1 b

2

3 4

5

6 ^a

ACTA PALAEONTOLOGICA POLONICA. VO L. IV

f a

J.STAC H. PL. II

1 b

3

4.