Publication details
The first record of the giant tortoise from the middle Miocene of the Czech Republic
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| Year of publication | 2018 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | “Kostelní zmola” (Brno-Královo Pole district) locality, situated in the northern part of Brno city, represents a set of the lost sand-pits excavated in the middle Miocene deposits of equal age (Lower Badenian, MN 5). These deposits are developed in so called “Brno sands” which are typical by the cross-bedded sands and gravels corresponding to the fluviatile environment preceding the Early Badenian marine transgression. As regards fossil vertebrates, this area is currently known only by the presence of selachids and teleostean fish fauna recovered from the marine clays (known as “Tegel”) deposited during the Early Badenian transgression. We present the tortoise remains uncovered from one of the former “Kostelní zmola” sand-pits. These remains are tentatively ascribed to one taxon stored at Moravian Museum collections. This large tortoise individual, formed by a partial shell and associated bones, is attributed to Titanochelon sp. which represent the first record of the genus Titanochelon s.s. in Czech Republic. Despite the remains fit well with the species Titanochelon vitodurana (MN6) only reported from Switzerland, the preservation state of the studied specimen prevents a precise species attribution. The presence of this giant thermophilic taxon indicates a dry environment with open steppe vegetation in Central Paratethys during the upper part of the MN5 Zone. The occurrence of Titanochelon sp. expands our poor knowledge on the Central European turtle assemblages during the middle Miocene. |