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18 June 2020 New fossils of Amphicyonidae (Carnivora) from the middle Miocene (MN6) site of Carpetana (Madrid, Spain)
Gema Siliceo, Jorge Morales, Mauricio Antón, Manuel J. Salesa
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Abstract

Herein, we present a study of an interesting sample of fossils of the giant amphicyonid Megamphicyon giganteus (Schinz, 1825) from the Spanish middle Miocene (MN6) site of Carpetana (Madrid city), obtained during public works for the Madrid underground in 2008. Although the dentition of this species is known from other sites, the postcranial bones are very poorly known, and the new material provides new data on the locomotor adaptations of this spectacular predator, and allows an estimation of its body mass, which would be around 600 kg. Surprisingly, despite this giant size, the morphology of both femur and tibia shows that this animal exhibited higher cursorial capacity than large extant carnivorans, such as bears, which together with a high degree of pronation/supination movement of the forearm, reveals adaptations of M. giganteus to occupy the niche of active top predator in middle Miocene ecosystems.

© Publications scientifiques du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris.
Gema Siliceo, Jorge Morales, Mauricio Antón, and Manuel J. Salesa "New fossils of Amphicyonidae (Carnivora) from the middle Miocene (MN6) site of Carpetana (Madrid, Spain)," Geodiversitas 42(15), 223-238, (18 June 2020). https://doi.org/10.5252/geodiversitas2020v42a15
Received: 31 January 2019; Accepted: 19 November 2019; Published: 18 June 2020
JOURNAL ARTICLE
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KEYWORDS
Carnivora
Locomotor adaptations
Megamphicyon
middle Miocene
Spain
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