Postcranial remains of Indarctos atticus (Ursidae, Mammalia) from the classical locality of Pikermi (Attica, Greece), with a description of the front limb

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Author	Lethaea, Scnckenbergiana
Copyright Year	2007
Abstract	Thc front limb of 1ndurcto.r atticu.~ has many characters in common with U~.SLLS ar(.tos both in proportions and morphology. The hrachial index and the length proportions between the metacarpals and the radius or the humerus are similar with those of U. arctos. Only the first metacarpal of I. atticus seems slightly shortened and the distal part of the humerus less developed compared with those of U. u i ~ t o s . The bones of I. atticu.~ show grcat morphological similarities with those of U arctos, while it seems that there is no close resemblance with Ailui-o~~oda except for the presence of an entepicondylar foramen. Compared to specimens of I. utticus from Concud present fmdings show interesting differences that arc discussed. 81 K e y w o r d s : Carnivora, Ursidae, Indar-ctos, Latc Miocene, Pikermi, Greece. K u r z f a s s u n g (2) [Postcraniale Reste von 1ndarcto.c atticus (Ursidae, Mammalia) von der klassischen Lokalitat Pikermi (Attica, Griechenland), mit einer Beschreibung des Vorderbeins.] Die Vorderextremitat von 1ndurcto.s utticu.~ hat mit Ursus urcto.r viele gemeinsame Merkmale, sowohl in den Proportionen als auch in der Morphologic. Dcr Brachial-Indcx und dic Proportionen der Lange zwischen den Metacarpalia und dcm Radius oder dem Humerus s ~ n d ahnlich mit denjenigen von U ul-ctos. Nur das erste Metacarpalc von I. atticus sieht ein b ikhen kleiner aus vergl~chen mit dcnjenigen von U ui-ctos. Der distale Teil des Humerus ist auch weniger breit. Die Knochen von I. utticus zeigen groRe rnorphologische ~hnlichkei ten init denen von U ui-ctos, hingegen scheint es, da8 es keine besonderen Ahnlichke~ten mit Ailuropoda auBer der Anwesenheit von einem Foramen entepicondyloideum gibt. Im Vergleich mit I. atticus aus Concud weisen unsere Funde interessante Unterschiede aus, die bcsprochen werden. lntroduction 347 -358 Indurctos atticus ( W E I T H O ~ R 1888 ex DAMES MS) first became known from Pikermi and is one of the rarest and least well known carnivores of the Pikermi fauna. The first remain of this species was a mandibular fragment described (but not figured) by DAMES (1883) as Hyaenarctos sp. That specimen contained M,, M? and the alveolus of M,, and it was restudied and figured by WEITHOFER (1888: PI. 12 figs 1-2) as Hjaena r m s utticiis. According to the comments of WEITHOFER (1888: 233), DAMES had told him that this specimen was a new species. That specimen was labelled as Hvaenarctos atticus, which led WEITHOFER to apply that name to it, and it is now considered a species of Indarctos. HELBING (1932) was the first to mention the occurrence of lndarctos in Samos. HELBING thought the Pikermi specimen was too fragmentary and did not identify it, but named the Samos specimen Indarctos sp. In the meantime PILGRIM (193 1 : 23-29, text-figs 4-5) 9 Tabs, 3 Pls Address of the author: Dr. SOCRATES J. ROUSSIAKIS, University of Athens, Subfaculty of Geology, Department of Historical Geology and Palaeontology; GR157 84, Athens, Greece. E-mail: srousiak(~geol.uoa.gr Frankfurt am Mam, 28 12 2001 348 ROL~S\IAKIS: Postcranial remains of Inticrr-ctos urticris (Ursidae. Mammalia) from ... P~kerrni (Attica, Grccce) described somc bone remains (an associated lcft r a d i ~ ~ s and ulna) from Pikermi as 1nrlurc~to.s (?) cf. utticxs. He had knowledge of the Samos specimens and noted the possibility of their belonging to I. utticirs, but lcft H ~ L I ~ I N C ; to make the final decision. VIRE-I (1939: 23) mentioned the similarities between the Samos specimens and I. utticws, and E R D B R I ~ K (1953: 576-578) considcred that they should be named so. Other specimens of I . utticlcs from Samos are also cited by THENIUS ( 1949. 1959). Fossils attributed to I. uff iclr.~ are known from Spain. France. Germany, Hungary, Libya, Iran (Maragha) and China, in addition to Pikermi and Samos. II~ac~iiu,rto.\ vitrtughrr~~tc.~ Mr;c QULNELI 1925, from Maragha has been considered by FRICK ( 1926, in VIRLT 1939: 23) a large individual of "H." uttic~r.~ and this view is followed by most authors, s ~ ~ c h as E R D B K I ~ K (1953: 5XO), T H ~ N I L ' S (1959: 285), HtNDrY ( 1980: I0 l ) and WCRUELIN (1996: 280). Other authors however as B ~ R N O R et al. (1996: 145) rccognize I. nitcl-uglzanus as a distinct species. ZDANSKY (I 924) described two species of Ir~durctos from China. I. lal-gelii and I. sitzensis, but EIWBIUNK ( 1953: 580581) regarded the validity of the latter one as doubtful. T I IFUI L J S (1959: 270, tab. 1) also considered the two Chincsc forms identical, accepting only the first name (having page priority) as a subspecies of I. uftic.~r.s, and is followed by ERDBRINK (1968: 23). Indrrl-ctos . s u l i ? ~ o ~ ~ t a n ~ ~ s P I L G R I M 1913, (genotype of Indrrrctos) from the Siwaliks. is thought by MATTIIFK (1929: 479) to be identical with 1nu'clrcto.s punjubiensi.~ (LYD~.KKFR 1884) from the samc locality. ERDBRINK (1953: 569) followed that opinion, while TI I~ .NI I !S (1959: 270. tab. l ) considered I. punjuhicr~sis (= I. sr~l t~~ontanus) a ubspecies of I. utticws. According to T H E N I L S (1959) I. utticxs contains three subspecies: I . u t t ic~r .~ attic~rs (DAM~.s 1883) known from Hungary (Baltavar). Greece (Pikermi, Samos). Iran (Maragha): I. attiells lurqylii (ZI)ANSKY 1924) (= I. .shemix ZLMNSKY 1924) from Shansi (China); I. utricxs p~r~Ijuhien,si.s (LYDEKKER 1884) = (l. ,strlr~rorzrurz~r.s PIL(;RI\I 19 13) from Siwaliks. I. urtims is also reported from the Late Vallesian (MN 10) of Terrasa (ALCALA & M O N T C ~ A 19891990) in Spain, from the Early Turolian ( M N 1 I ) of Crevillente 2 and Puente Minero (ALCALA & MC)NTC)YA 1989-1990: FRAILI: et al. 1997; A L ~ A L ~ , 1994) in Spain and Dorn-Diirkheim 1 (ROTH & Morc~o 1997) in Germany, the Middle Turolian (MN 12) of Concud, Los Mansuetos, Valdecebro 5 and Cerro de la Garita ( M O R A L ~ . ~ & SORIA 1979: FRNLF et al. 1997; AL(.ALA 1994) in Spain and Aubignas (ALANIA et al. 1993) in France. It is also known from Baltavar in Hungary ( P E T ~ R & T I I O M A S 1986; Kor~r & MORLO 1997) and Sahabi ( P L T T ~ R & THOMAS 1986) in Libya. Var io~~s species of Int/ur~cros are also known from the New World but their relationships to European or Asiatic forms remain obscurc. Most important for the present study is the postcranial material found in Oregon and described first as Inducl-tos (? ) or-egonensi.~ by M E R I ~ I A M , STCICK &
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