During his nearly 50-year long career Louis de Bonis has positively and markedly influenced many generations of paleontologists. In this introduction to the volume celebrating the 75th birthday of this French outstanding scientist, we present and discuss the significance of his many contributions to the study of mammalian evolution, focusing especially on his works on primate and carnivoran systematics and evolution, and on his involvement in field excavations in northern Greece Ouranopithecus-bearing sites.

A new species of canid (Eucyon debonisi n. sp.) is described from the late Miocene of Venta del Moro (Valencia, Spain). The new species is smaller than all the other Eucyon species, excepting E. intrepidus from the late Miocene of Lukeino (Kenya). Eucyon debonisi n. sp. is characterized by the greater size of the M2 in relation with the M1, showing comparable morphology with E. monticinensis, but this new species has a stronger parastyle, a less developed lingual cingulum and a more closed valley in the talon of the M1. Besides, it has a more slender dentition and mandible than E. monticinensis and possesses a diastema between p1 and p2 and between p2 and p3. Excepting the problematic Cants cipio from the middle Turolian locality of Concud (Spain), E. debonisi n. sp. represents the first modern canid that reached western Europe.

The occurrence of the Tribe Canini (subfamily Caninae) in the Hemphillian (Mio-Pliocene) of North America has been long known without finding contemporary relatives in the Old World. Although scanty and sometimes problematic, the remains of rare dogs in the Old World fossil record are important because they attest to the occurrence of a more diverse taxonomy within the tribe Canini in the late Miocene and Pliocene of Eurasia and Africa. The occurrence of North American Eucyon from eastern Asia to western Europe has been securely documented and finally in the very recent years, multiple new findings in eastern Africa of this same genus attest undoubtedly to its occurrence in the fossil record of this continent. The late Miocene expansion of the genus Eucyon from America to Eurasia and Africa is a synchronous event with global significance for the Old World continental carnivore guild composition and turnover. Although the Eucyon documentation remains quite fragmentary, the general pattern of the dispersal westwards through the Holarctic from North America to the Old World (Asia, Europe, and Africa) is defined. The important fossil documentation at some sites across these continents allowed the recognition of different Eucyon species, although deeper analyses are still needed to understand the full pattern of Eucyon relationships and its evolutionary history across North America and the Old World.

The Tunggur Formation in Inner Mongolia has produced a well-known middle Miocene Platybelodon fauna; this fauna has provided some evidence of intercontinental exchanges of carnivoran taxa during that time. Here we describe a new immigrant mustelid from the Tunggur Formation. The new material, composed of two partial dentaries, belongs to the genus Sthenictis. A new species, S. neimengguensis n. sp., is named after the dentaries which represent the first occurrence of this genus outside North America. Sthenictis neimengguensis n. sp. is closest in size and morphology to the North American S. dolichops, but the former has a more slender dentition and mandible. In terms of carnassial morphology, the less trenchant ml talonid and a well-developed ml metaconid in S. neimengguensis n. sp. are plesiomorphic characters of the Mustelinae. The relatively elongated tooth row and simple premolar morphology, however, unites it with other species of Sthenictis. This combination of characters excludes Sthenictis from both the highly hypercarnivorous Hoplictis-Ischyrictis-Eomellivora group and Iberictis-Plesiogulo group, and seems to represent that of a basal lineage with intermediate morphology.

Phoberogale Ginsburg & Morales, 1995, is a primitive ursid named to separate hypercarnivorous species from a rather heterogeneous group formerly included in the genus Cephalogale Jourdan, 1862. The presence of Cephalogale (s.l.) in the Great Plains of the United States has been documented since the late 1980s, often in the context of immigrant taxa and Neogene biochronology. However, no formal description or illustration of the respective specimens was published. Recently, an associated skull and left dentary were recovered from an early Miocene terrestrial deposit in southern California. We take this opportunity to describe the California specimen, which represents a new species, Phoberogale shareri n. sp. This new species belongs to the Phoberogale-Phoberocyon lineage and is distinguished from species of Cephalogale (s.s.) by its larger size, less-reduced pre-carnassial premolars, and less-elongated M2. Within the genus Phoberogale, P. shareri n. sp. is more derived than Europeans species (P. bonali, P. depereti, P. ginesticus) as indicated by its larger size and more differentially enlarged p4 compared to the p3. It differs from Pakistani P. bugtiensis in having a less prominent notch between the anterior base of the P4 paracone and protocone, a more distinct anterior ridge on the P4 paracone, and more mediolaterally shortened M1–2. Phoberogale shareri n. sp. represents the first known Pacific Coast occurrence of this lineage and has important Zoogeographic and biochronologic implications.

Amphicyonidae are a common element of carnivoran faunas in the early and middle Miocene of Eurasia and North America, but by the Messinian they had become extinct there, except possibly on the Indian subcontinent. In Africa, amphicyonids are poorly known from a scattering of records from the late Oligocene to the late Miocene. In this paper, we describe the last-surviving amphicyonid in Africa, from Messinian-age sediments (dated c. 6.5–5.3 Ma) of Ethiopia (Gona) and Kenya (Lothagam and possibly Lemudong'o). This new taxon shows unique adaptations to hypercarnivory in the lower molars and was small for an amphicyonid, dentally about the size of a coyote, Canis latrans.

Darwin famously opined that the most likely place of origin of the common ancestor of African apes and humans is Africa, given the distribution of its living descendents. But it is infrequently recalled that immediately afterwards, Darwin, in his typically thorough and cautious style, noted that a fossil ape from Europe, Dryopithecus, may instead represent the ancestors of African apes, which dispersed into Africa from Europe. Louis de Bonis and his collaborators were the first researchers in the modem era to echo Darwin's suggestion about apes from Europe. Resulting from their spectacular discoveries in Greece over several decades, de Bonis and colleagues have shown convincingly that African ape and human clade members (hominines) lived in Europe at least 9.5 million years ago. Here I review the fossil record of hominoids in Europe as it relates to the origins of the hominines. While I differ in some details with Louis, we are in complete agreement on the importance of Europe in determining the fate of the African ape and human clade. There is no doubt that Louis de Bonis is a pioneer in advancing our understanding of this fascinating time in our evolutionary history.

The presence of the cercopithecids in the Neogene of Greece is known since the beginning of the 19th century. The excavations of the last 20 years increase their number in Greece. The main taxon of the cercopithecids is Mesopithecus Wagner, 1839 found originally in the middle Turolian (MN 12) locality of Pikermi, near Athens. The Pikermi Mesopithecus sample is rich and belongs to a medium-sized form, M. pentelicus Wagner, 1839. Besides the well-known M. pentelicus, two other species were recognized. The new species M. delsoni Bonis, Bouvrain, Geraads & Koufos, 1990, a large-sized form found in the early Turolian (MN 11) locality Ravin des Zouaves-5 of Axios Valley (Macedonia, Greece) has several differences from the type species. In the middle Turolian (MN 12) localities of Vathylakkos (Axios Valley) and Perivolaki (Thessaly) a large to medium-sized Mesopithecus form with “delsoni” and “pentelicus” characters was found and is referred to as M. delsonil pentelicus. A small-sized form named M. cf. monspessulanus was recognized by a mandibular fragment in the late Turolian (MN 13) locality Dytiko-2 of Axios Valley and indicates the early appearance of the taxon at the end of Miocene. The rest of the material found in the late Turolian localities of Dytiko has some differences from the typical M. pentelicus. Moreover, Mesopithecus was traced in several late Miocene localities, indicating its wide distribution in Greece. Two other cercopithecids were also found in the Pliocene of Greece. Dolichopithecus ruscinensis Depéret, 1889 was recognized in the locality of Megalon Emvolon and in Ptolemais Basin (Macedonia, Greece); both are dated to late Ruscinian (MN 15). The second Pliocene cercopithecid is Paradolichopithecus arvernensis (Depéret, 1929), found in the locality of Vatera (Lesvos Island) and dated to late Pliocene. The stratigraphic distribution and the palaeoenvironment of these cercopithecids are also discussed.

Dental enamel thickness is commonly listed among the diagnostic features for taxonomic assessment and phylogenetic reconstruction in the study of fossil hominids, and is widely used as an indicator of dietary habits and palaeoenvironmental conditions. However, little quantitative information is currently available on its topographic variation in deciduous crowns of fossil primates. By means of high-resolution microtomography, we investigated the inner structural morphology of the mixed lower dentition of Ouranopithecus macedoniensis, a late Miocene large-bodied ape from Macedonia, Greece. With respect to the extant African apes and Homo, O. macedoniensis shows a significant difference in occlusal enamel thickness between the relatively thin deciduous second molar and the absolutely thick-enamelled permanent first molar.

This study aims to characterize the feeding habits of the first European colobines, Mesopithecus (late Miocene), through the analysis of its molar microwear pattern. Fifty-seven adult individuals of Mesopithecus (from Greece and Bulgaria) are compared to 162 wild-shot specimens representing nine modern species of African and Asian cercopithecids. Through the combination of a principal component analysis and analyses of variances, Mesopithecus displays significant differences with its extant colobine relatives. Actually, there is no significant difference between the Mesopithecus samples and Chlorocebus aethiops and Papio hamadryas. An intra-specific test dedicated to Mesopithecus pentelicus reveals no difference between the Bulgarian and the Greek samples. To sum up, the species of Mesopithecus were not leaf eaters like their present-day colobine relatives. Considering its wide paleogeographic range, its post-cranial anatomy, the paleoenvironmental data, and the present dietary reconstruction as a whole, the species of Mesopithecus can be depicted as semi-terrestrial monkeys opportunists in term of feeding preferences.

The Vallesian heteronymous spiral-horned antelope Prostrepsiceros vallesiensis is revised according to some new specimens from the type locality, Ravin de la Pluie, Northern Greece. The new frontlet and isolated horn-core are larger, display weaker horn-core compression, and looser spiralling than in the holotype specimen of P. vallesiensis. These morphological differences are interpreted as representing sexual dimorphism, with the holotype being a female individual of the species. Morphological comparisons and a cladistic analysis of several late Miocene spiral horned antelopes allow for recognizing P. vallesiensis as the most likely ancestor of P. vinayaki, P. libycus and Dytikodorcas, while the P. houtumschindleri lineage probably originated from a pre- P. vallesiensis stock.

Giraffidae (Mammalia) from the late Neogene of the Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

Excavations undertaken in several sites of the Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) during the last decades have yielded rich mammalian faunas, including some significant giraffid specimens. An almost complete and uncrushed skull from the upper Miocene of Kirokuçuk is the best known specimen of Bohlinia attica; it confirms that this taxon is closely related to Giraffa, even though it is more primitive than the African forms of the latter genus. Helladotherium is represented by cranial and limb-bone remains. The association of these two genera is also found in Bulgaria and at Pikermi in Greece. Cranial elements, including most of a posterior horn, are assigned to a new species of Sivatherium, probably of Pliocene age, and characterized by its huge posterior horns. Its presence implies faunal connections between Southern Europe, Southern Asia and Africa at that time.

Diversity, datation and paleoenvironment of the Oligocene Mammalian fauna from Cavalé (Quercy, SW France): the contribution of morphometrics analyses of the Theridomyinae (Mammalia, Rodentia).

The locality Cavalé (Quercy, France) has yielded a rich fossil mammalian fauna, in which Theridomyidae (Rodentia) and Cainotheriidae (Artiodactyla) are the most abundant. Thirty five mammal species are documented, with eight rodent species (Blainvillimys gregarius, Atavocricetodon aff. nanus, Sciuromys cayluxi, Pseudoltimys major, Issiodoromys medius, Gliravus tenuis, Paleosciurus goti and Lophallomys atavus n. comb.). The study of two rodent families is particularly developed. First are the Theridomyidae, of which the abundance allows a subtle analysis of their evolutionary modes. On the contrary, the Aplodontidae are documented by a unique upper molar, but it allows to define a new genus for the species atavus. The analysis of the theridomyine Blainvillimys gregarius Schlosser, 1884 population, compared to that of other lower Oligocene localities (Mas de Got and La Plante 2, for MP22, and Pech Crabit for MP23, Quercy) lead to a revised systematics of this lineage, with a better definition of its evolutionary characters. The whole evolutionary changes within the lineage, and not only the increase of hypsodonty, are morpho-functionally interpreted as an adaptation to a more abrasive diet, related to the relatively arid environments of the early Oligocene. The arguments provided by the occurrence of Blainvillimys gregarius and other mammal species allow to assess the datation of the locality close to the mammal Paleogene standard level MP22, in the lower Oligocene.

Paul Gervais (1816–1879) developed an obvious interest for paleohistological researches during the latest phase of his career at the National Museum of Natural History, in Paris (Laboratory of Comparative Anatomy) and produced a collection of thin sections of extant and fossil eggshells, teeth and bone, although he did not published much on the subject. Current curatorial efforts have unveiled remains of this collection which is presented and assessed herewith.

Paleogene faunas from Southeast Asia are rare and mainly represented by those from Krabi (late Eocene, Thailand) and Pondaung (middle Eocene, Myanmar). The late Oligocene locality of Nong Ya Plong (Thailand) was discovered recently and has so far yielded mammalian remains representing the orders Carnivora, Dermoptera, Rodentia, and Perissodactyla. A new genus and species from this locality (Siamosorex debonisi n. gen., n. sp.) of the soricoid family Plesiosoricidae is described. The material consists of lower dentitions only. The species differs from other plesiosoricids in being larger to much larger (except compared to some species of Plesiosorex) and in having a shallow masseteric fossa; i2 enlarged, not procumbent but upright and caniniform, with a deep mesiolingual groove; elongated, double-rooted p3 and p4, similar in length but p3 with simple crown and p4 semimolariform with a reduced paraconid, a high, distinct metaconid, and a short talonid; lower molars decrease in size strongly from m1 to m3; elongated molars with the talonid markedly narrower and shorter than the trigonid, tall and open trigonid, especially in m1, entoconid and hypoconid not individualized, entocristid lower than the oblique cristid, and metaconid taller than paraconid in m1, subequal to the paraconid in m2. Siamosorex debonisi n. gen., n. sp. was approximately the same size as small species of Mustela (Carnivora) and probably preyed on small vertebrates and arthropods. There is some support for the presence of a venom delivery apparatus in S. debonisi n. gen., n. sp. The origin of Siamosorex n. gen. is unknown, although this genus may have some relationships with the genus Butselia from the early Oligocene of western Europe.

Mammuthus (Mammalia, Proboscidea) at the crossroads in Beringia, with a digression on mammals.

The latest DNA analyses of woolly mammoths confirm the antiquity of the differentiation of the species Mammuthus primigenius, c. 600 000-800 000 years ago. They renew also the study of the “transition” between Mammuthus trogontherii and Mammuthus primigenius. The different ways of practicing multiple approaches in evolutionary biology are evoked, with the examples of the woolly mammoth and of the interrelationships of Mammalia.