Carolinea 78

Carolinea 78 (2020): 5-13, 3 Abb.; Karlsruhe, 29.01.2021 5 Fossil remains of Macaca sylvanus (Mammalia, Cercopithecidae) from the early Middle Pleistocene locality of Mauer (SW Germany) H. D ieter S chreiber Abstract The Grafenrain sand pit to the North of Mauer near Heidelberg (SW Germany) became famous for the discovery of the lower jaw of Homo heidelbergensis in October 1907 ( S choetensack 1908). Until the termi- nation of the extractions in 1962 the sand pit yielded a rich and diverse mammalian faunal assemblage. In 2007 and the following years new preparation activi- ties connected to the celebrations of the centenary of the hominid lower jaw discovery of H. heidelbergensis produced samples of sediment (medium gravel to fine pebble) in which at least two isolated lower cheek teeth of macaques have been found. The finds demonstrate the presence of Macaca sylvanus in the Mauer faunal assemblage and represent the occurrence of a second primate species in this Pleistocene hominid site. Kurzfassung Fossilien von Macaca sylvanus (Mammalia, Cercopithecidae) aus dem Mittelpleistozän von Mauer bei Heidelberg (SW Deutschland) Die Sandgrube Grafenrain nördlich von Mauer wurde mit dem Fund des Unterkiefers von Homo heidelber- gensis im Oktober 1907 ( S choetensack 1908) weltbe- kannt. Bis zum Ende des Sandabbaus 1962 hat die Sandgrube eine umfangreiche und vielfältige Säuge- tierfauna geliefert. Im Rahmen der Vorbereitungs- und Folgearbeiten am Profil in der Sandgrube Grafenrain anlässlich der 100-Jahr-Feier des Fundes von H. hei- delbergensis konnten aus der Mittelkiesfraktion von Proben der Unteren Mauerer Sande bisher zwei iso- lierte Unterkiefermolare von Makaken geborgen wer- den. Diese Funde belegen die Präsenz von Macaca sylvanus in der Faunenassoziation der Lokalität Mauer und damit die Anwesenheit eines zweiten Primaten in der frühmittelpleistozänen Hominiden-Fundstelle Mau- er. Autor H. D ieter S chreiber , State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe, Erbprinzenstrasse 13, D-76133 Karlsruhe, Germany; E-mail: dieter.schreiber@gmx.de Introduction Shortly after the publication of the first find of a macaque molar ( S chreiber & L öscher 2011), the finder, M. L öscher (Sandhausen), inventoried a second molar of Macaca from a sample taken in 2010. This molar was first mentioned and il- lustrated in publications by L öscher & L öscher (2012), S chreiber (2012), and S chreiber et al. (2018) but without a sufficiently detailed descrip- tion. Because of its relevance as supporting evi- dence for the occurrence of the macaques as a new faunal element in the early Middle Pleis- tocene locality of Mauer and its contribution to morphometrical features in the dentition of the macaques, it is necessary to introduce this sec- ond find to the scientific community. Besides the Hominidae (humans, apes), the Cer- copithecidae (Old World monkeys), in particular the macaques, are a regular element in the fau- nal assemblages from the Neogene and Pleis- tocene of Europe and North Africa, especially in the periphery of the Mediterranean Sea. In Eu- rope the Cercopithecidae are mainly represented by isolated teeth, fragments of upper and lower jaws, but also by cranial [e.g. Sénèze, France ( D epéret 1929), and Is Oreris, Sardinia, Italy ( Z oboli et al. 2016)] and postcranial skeletal ele- ments [e.g. Voigtstedt, Germany ( K ahlke 1961), Villafranca d’Asti, Italy (R ook et al. 2001), and Quibas, Spain ( A lba et al. 2011)]. Table 1 shows the stratigraphical distribution of localities bear- ing fossils of Macaca in Europe. Especially in the Western Mediterranean region Macaca is com- mon, known since the late Miocene (Moncucco Torinese), and early Pliocene (Montpellier), but more frequent within the late Pliocene. In the Lower and Middle Pleistocene Macaca became much more common and widespread across Eu- rope. The occurrence of Macaca in Upper Pleis- tocene localities of Italy (Grotta degli Orsi Volanti), Spain (Cova Negra and Solana del Zamborino), and the Netherlands (North Sea) shows a con- tinuous presence in Europe up until the recent restriction to northwest Africa ( Macaca sylvanus ) and Southeast Asia ( M. silenus , M. mulata , etc.).