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10 Carolinea 78 (2020) 2001, A lba et al. 2008, 2011, 2016). But neither S zalay and D elson , nor later authors mentioned any diagnostic morphological character for the assignments. The proportional differences given to distinguish them by A lba et al. ( 2011 , 2016) fall within the range of variation of MDL and MB, as illustrated in the bivariate plot in figure 3, which shows the close length-breadth relations across the tooth positions in the Macaca dentition. In the current paper, these proposed subspe- cies are not accepted, because the diagnoses are still inadequate. The presence of two distinct cusps at the tuberculum sextum (Fig. 1, b) on the distal extension of the m3 from Mauer could be a possible distinctive morphological feature for a separation of fossil Macaca specimens on the species level. It distinguishes the Mauer speci- men from the holotype (the lower jaw IGF10034), found in the Lower Pleistocene Upper Valdarno Basin (Le Forre), with one cusp at the tubercu- lum sextum on the left and right m3 (see R ook et al. 2013: 112, Fig. 12), originally described as “ Aulaxinuus florentinus ” by C occhi (1872). Fu- ture investigations on the phylogenetic history of the genus Macaca in the Plio-Pleistocene of Europe may include this feature. For example, the different morphology of the m3 may separate the Middle Pleistocene Macaca from the Lower Pleistocene ones at the species level. In summary the second specimen (m3) from the Grafenrain sand pit from the Mauer locality is as- signed to the species Macaca sylvanus ( L innae - us , 1758). Ecological evidence The recent geographical distribution of the genus Macaca in Northwest Africa and Southeast Asia suggests that the fossil populations of macaques similarly may have preferred subtropical and tro- pical climate zones. With regard to the environment of H. heidelber- gensis, Macaca might suggest a different climate signal than recently proposed (see below). In fact recent macaques live in many different kinds of habitats, which show their variability and wide range of ecological requirements. They appear in tropical rain forests, monsoon- and mangrove forests, in forests of high mountains, humid fo- rests of highlands, and also in open grass- and scrublands. Their mode of life varies from arbore- Figure 3. Bivariate plot of meso- distal length (MDL) and the mesial breadth (MB) for Macaca from the Mio-, Plio- and Pleistocene of Eu- rope. Plotted are the length and breadth of the lower molars m2 (SMNK-PAL 6602), m3 (SMNK- PAL 6630) from Mauer, of the first, second, and third lower mo- lars (m1, m2, m3) by S chreuder (1945), F ranzen (1973), M ar - tin P enela (1983), K öhler et. al. (2000), R ook et al. (2001), Z apfe (2001), M azza et al. (2005), A lba et al. (2008, 2011, 2014), B ona et al. (2016), R eumer et al. (2018), in comparison to the variation range (values for the mean, minimum, and maximum) of the first, sec- ond, and third upper molars (M1, M2, M3) by A dam (1975), S inger et al. (1982), M artin P enela (1983), R ook et al. (2001), and A lba et al. (2008, 2011, 2016), B ona et al. (2016). The plot shows the dif- ferent proportions of the slender lower cheek teeth in comparison to the relatively wider upper cheek teeth, and the increasing in size from the first to the third molars. BM [mm] 13 11 9 7 5 6 8 10 12 14 M1 M2 M3 m1 m2 m3 Mauer m2 Mauer m3 BM MDL MDL [mm]