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4 March 2012 Taxonomic Re-Assessment and Phylogenetic Relationships of Miocene Homonymously Spiral-Horned Antelopes
Dimitris S. Kostopoulos
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Abstract

A morphological reappraisal of Middle Miocene and Early Pliocene antelopes with homonymously twisted horncores (i.e., with the left horncore twisted clockwise from the base up) and an additional re-description of some critical Greek specimens allows a revision of the current taxonomy at the species and genus level. A parsimony analysis recognizes Hispanodorcas, Oioceros, Samodorcas, Samotragus, Paraoioceros, and Urmiatherium as distinct lineages of the subtribe Oiocerina. The latter emerged during the Astaracian (ca. 14–11.5 Ma), and radiated in Eurasia during the mid—late Vallesian (ca. 10–9 Ma), resulting in a great variety of genera with unique combinations of morpho-ecological adaptations. The suprageneric relationships of Oiocerina are poorly understood, but their closest ancestors possibly lie within or close to the Middle Miocene “hypsodontines”, and inside Antilopinae.

© 2014 D.S. Kostopoulos. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Dimitris S. Kostopoulos "Taxonomic Re-Assessment and Phylogenetic Relationships of Miocene Homonymously Spiral-Horned Antelopes," Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 59(1), 9-29, (4 March 2012). https://doi.org/10.4202/app.2011.0013
Received: 24 February 2011; Accepted: 23 April 2012; Published: 4 March 2012
KEYWORDS
bovidae
ecology
Greece
Mammalia
Miocene
Oiocerina
phylogeny
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