Middle miocene Plesiodimylus from the Devínska Nová Ves-Fissures site (western Slovakia)

Abstract

Two Middle Miocene forms of Plesiodimylus are described from the Devínska Nová Ves-Fissures site (the Middle Badenian, MN 6). Whereas the smaller form represents the typical individuals of P. chantrei, the larger one represents a different new species (P. similis sp. nov.) with an affinity to P. crassidens from the Anatolian Middle Miocene (MN 7/8). A phylogenetic relationship to P. johanni from the Swiss Late Miocene or to the finds of large m2s from the Polish site of Bełchatow A (Plesiodimylus sp., MN 9) is also not excluded. The process of parallelism, caused by both climatic and ecological factors, could play an important role too. The taphonomic origin of both found taxa of Plesiodimylus within the taphocoenosis of the Devínska Nová Ves-Fissures site is also considered.