Micromeryx? Eiselei—A new moschid species from Steinheim am Albuch, Germany, and the first comprehensive description of moschid cranial material from the Miocene of Central Europe

Abstract

Moschids are enigmatic pecoran ruminants whose phylogeny is still not fully understood. So far we know only little of the family’s early evolutionary history and the origin of the modern genus, Moschus. Here we present a comprehensive description of cranial material, including the ear region and the dentition, of fossil moschid material from the Middle Miocene locality Steinheim am Albuch (13.5 Ma; Germany). This study provides the first exhaustive dataset for the cranial osteology of Micromeryx flourensianus, the most likely oldest true moschid. It furthermore reveals the presence of a second, so far undescribed moschid species, we here name Micromeryx? eiselei, in the abundant material from the locality. The two taxa can be clearly distinguished by characters of the skull, the ear region, the dentition, as well as by size. This evidences the sympatric occurrence of two moschid species in the locality Steinheim am Albuch.