Preliminary report of Quaternary vertebrates from alluvials of Shahre Kohneh, Quchan, northeast Iran
Authors
1
Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
2
Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran
3
Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Abstract
Quaternary vertebrate paleontology has gained momentum in recent years. This is of particular importance in understanding the distribution, migrations, and biogeography of vertebrates in recent geological time. In this paper, newly discovered vertebrate remains from the Quaternary alluvial deposits north of Shahr-e-Kohneh, Quchan, northeastern Iran are reviewed. This includes the report of the first Quaternary horse remains from this site, as well as the tibia and fibula of a small rodent. The morphology of the horse tooth, and particularly the upper surface of the tooth crown, suggests that it belongs to the lower jaw of the genus Equus. More fossil data are needed to identify this specimen more accurately, but comparing the horse tooth specimen with the existing remains in Zavieh and similar specimens from modern horses, zebras and fossils, it is observed that the studied specimen is in the size range of African zebras (E. grevyi) and modern wild zebras (E. hemionus), but is slightly smaller than them. Therefore, this specimen is smaller than modern horses and close to modern zebras such as Persian zebras (Persian onager, Equus hemionus onager), specially in terms of size. In general, the findings show that the Shahr-e-Kohne, Quchan region has the potential for further discoveries in the field of Quaternary vertebrate remains, and more paleontological investigations are needed for further studies and more accurate identification of the specimens.
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