| Bubalus murrensis Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Bovidae |
| Subfamily: | Bovinae |
| Genus: | Bubalus |
| Species: | †B. murrensis
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| Binomial name | |
| †Bubalus murrensis Berckhemer 1927
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Bubalus murrensis, also known as European water buffalo, is an extinct buffalo species native to Europe during the Pleistocene epoch.
Description
Only skulls have been attributed to the species, as no complete skeletons have been found and it is difficult to distinguish postcranial bones between different bovine species. The occipital region of the skull as well as the horn cores protrude backwards. Unlike modern water buffalo, but similar to extinct Chinese Pleistocene species of Bubalus like Bubalus wansjocki, the horn cores have a triangular rather than rounded cross section, with the upper surface of the horn cores typically forming a flat plain that is continuous with the skull surface.[1] A skull found in Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany) had a width of 107 cm.[2]
Distribution and habitat
Fossils of Bubalus murrensis are known from the late Middle Pleistocene (from around 400,000 years ago) onwards, typically during interglacial periods.[3]
The European water buffalo occurred in river valleys. Remains are very rare. The majority of finds have come from along the Rhine, Elbe and Murr in Germany and the Netherlands. Isolated specimens have also been found between the Atlantic coast of France in the west and the central part of the East European Plain in the east.[1][4] It lived in muddy and swampy terrain.[5][6] Bubalus murrensis could not tolerate long-lasting episodes of frost and was therefore absent in Central Europe during the glacial periods. During the interglacial periods like the Eemian it occurred together with other species of the interglacial faunal assemblage, including the straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus), Merck's rhinoceros (Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis), fallow deer (Dama dama), aurochs (Bos primigenius) and the hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius),[7][8][9] though other authors have argued that there is no unambiguous evidence for B. murrensis in Europe during the Eemian.[1]
The latest record of the species is a well preserved skull found in near Kolomna in Moscow Oblast, Russia, which dates to around 12,761 years Before Present, during the Bølling–Allerød interstadial.[10][3] This is over 100,000 years after the next youngest record of the species. It has been argued that B. murrensis may have persisted on the Pontic-Caspian Steppe region during cold periods.[3]
See also
References
- ^ a b c v. Koenigswald, Wighart; Schwermann, Achim H.; Keiter, Mark; Menger, Frank (2019). "First evidence of Pleistocene Bubalus murrensis in France and the stratigraphic occurrences of Bubalus in Europe". Quaternary International. 522: 85–93. Bibcode:2019QuInt.522...85K. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2019.06.019. ISSN 1040-6182. S2CID 197559857.
- ^ Naturhistorisches Museum Mainz/Landessammlung für Naturkunde Rheinland-Pfalz (2009): Jahresbericht des Museums und der Landessammlung 2008. Wissenschaftliche Sammlungen.. Mitteilungen der Rheinischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft 30: 52-54. Mainz. (german)
- ^ a b c Vislobokova, Innessa A.; Lopatin, Alexey V.; Tarasenko, Konstantin K.; Ziegler, Reinhard (10 February 2021). "An unexpected record of an extinct water buffalo Bubalus murrensis (Berckhemer, 1927) in the Last Glacial in Europe and its implication for dispersal pattern of this species". Quaternary International. 574: 127–136. Bibcode:2021QuInt.574..127V. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2020.12.020. ISSN 1040-6182. S2CID 230559949.
- ^ Vislobokova, I. A.; Tarasenko, K. K; Lopatin, A. V. (2020). "The first discovery of european water buffalo Bubalus murrensis in the late Pleistocene of the Russian Plain". Proceedings of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Life Sciences. 491: 125-129 (in Russian).
- ^ Wighart von Koenigswald: Exoten in der Großtierfauna des letzten Interglazials von Mitteleuropa. Eiszeitalter und Gegenwart 41, 1991, S. 70–84
- ^ Van Dam, I. (1997). "De eerste vondst van de Europese waterbuffel, Bubalus murrensis (Berckhemer, 1927) in Nederland". Cranium. 14: 49–54.
- ^ Pushkina, Diana (2007). "The Pleistocene easternmost distribution in Eurasia of the species associated with the Eemian Palaeoloxodon antiquus assemblage" (PDF). Mammal Review. 37 (3): 224–245. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2907.2007.00109.x.
- ^ Kolfschoten, Th. van (May 2000). "The Eemian mammal fauna of central Europe" (PDF). Netherlands Journal of Geosciences. 79 (2–3): 269–281. doi:10.1017/S0016774600021752.
- ^ Baumgart, B. (1997). "Vor- und nacheiszeitliche Großtiere in Mitteleuropa und ihre Einpassung in das Ökosystem - Stand der Projektentwicklung zum Großtierschutzgebiet Teltow-Fläming". Brandenburgische Umweltberichte: 118–129.
- ^ Vislobokova, I. A.; Tarasenko, K. K.; Lopatin, A. V. (1 June 2020). "First Discovery of the European Buffalo Bubalus murrensis (Artiodactyla, Bovidae) from the Pleistocene of the Russian Plain". Doklady Biological Sciences. 491 (1): 31–34. doi:10.1134/S001249662002012X. ISSN 0012-4966.
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This page was last edited on 1 April 2024, at 17:16