Fossils reveal diversity of animal life roaming Europemillion years
ago
Revival of research at significant paleontological site in Eastern Europe includes focus on when humans migrated to Eurasia from Africa

Date:
August 24, 2020
Source:
University of Arkansas
Summary:
A re-analysis of fossils from one of Europe's most significant
paleontological sites reveals a wide diversity of animal species,
including a large terrestrial monkey, short-necked giraffe, rhinos
and saber-toothed cats. These and other species roamed the open
grasslands of Eastern Europe approximately 2 million years ago.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A re-analysis of fossils from one of Europe's most significant
paleontological sites reveals a wide diversity of animal species,
including a large terrestrial monkey, short-necked giraffe, rhinos and saber-toothed cats.


========================================================================== These and other species roamed the open grasslands of Eastern
Europe during the early Pleistocene, approximately 2 million years
ago. Ultimately, the researchers hope the fossils will provide clues about
how and when early humans migrated to Eurasia from Africa. Reconstructions
of past environments like this also could help researchers better
understand future climate change.

"My colleagues and I are excited to draw attention back to the fossil site
of Grăunceanu and the fossil potential of the Olteţ River Valley
of Romania," said Claire Terhune, associate professor of anthropology at
the University of Arkansas. "It's such a diverse faunal community. We
found multiple animals that hadn't been clearly identified in the area
before, and many that are no longer found in Europe at all. Of course, we
think these findings alone are interesting, but they also have important implications for early humans moving into the continent at that time."
About 124 miles west of the Romanian capital of Bucharest, the Olteţ
River Valley, including the the important site of Grăunceanu,
is one of Eastern Europe's richest fossil deposits. Many Olteţ
Valley fossil sites, including Grăunceanu, were discovered in the
1960s after landslides caused in part by deforestation due to increased agricultural activity in the area.

Archeologists and paleontologists from the Emil Racoviţă
Institute of Speleology in Bucharest excavated the sites soon after they
were discovered.

Fossils were recovered and stored at the institute, and scholarly
publications about the sites flourished in the 1970s and 1980s. But
interest in these fossils and sites waned over the past 20 to 30 years,
in part because many records of the excavations and fossils were lost.

Since 2012, the international team, including Terhune and researchers
from Romania, the United States, Sweden and France, has focused on this important fossil region. Their work has included extensive identification
of fossils at the institute and additional field work.

In addition to the species mentioned above, the researchers identified
fossil remains of animals similar to modern-day moose, bison, deer, horse, ostrich, pig and many others. They also identified a fossil species
of pangolin, which were thought to have existed in Europe during the
early Pleistocene but had not been solidly confirmed until now. Today, pangolins, which look like the combination of an armadillo and anteater
and are among the most trafficked animals in the world, are found only
in Asia and Africa.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Arkansas. Original
written by Matt McGowan.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Claire E. Terhune, Sabrina Curran, Roman Croitor, Virgil
Drăgușin, Timothy Gaudin, Alexandru Petculescu, Chris
Robinson, Marius Robu, Lars Werdelin. Early Pleistocene fauna
of the Olteţ River Valley of Romania: Biochronological and
biogeographic implications.

Quaternary International, 2020; DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2020.06.020 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200824165608.htm

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