Mammalian fossils of Samos and Pikermi. Part 1. The Turolian rodents and insectivores of Samos

Abstract

j Seven species of small mammals have been recovered from a Turolian locality in the Mytilinii Formation on Samos, Greece--the iesectivore Galerix atticus (Erinaceidae); and the rodents Spermophilinus cf. S. bredai (Sciuridae), Byzantinia hellenicus, Pseudomeriones pythagorasi, Pliospalax cf. P. sotirisi (Cricetidae), Occitanomysl provocator (Muridae), and Hystrix primigenia (Hystricidae). Only three of these species --the erinaceid, murid, and hystricid--occur at Pikermi. The Samos micromammalian locality I appears to represent a paleosoi; the microfaunal remains may have been deposited in I owl pellets. The rodents suggest a drier, more open habitat than that in which the j Pikermi small mammals lived.