Université de Fribourg

A new alligatoroid from the Eocene of Vietnam highlights an extinct Asian clade independent from extant Alligator sinensis

Massonne, Tobias ; Vasilyan, Davit ; Rabi, Márton ; Böhme, Madelaine

In: PeerJ, 2019, vol. 7, p. e7562

During systematic paleontological surveys in the Na Duong Basin in North Vietnam between 2009 and 2012, well-preserved fossilized cranial and postcranial remains belonging to at least 29 individuals of a middle to late Eocene (late Bartonian to Priabonian age (39–35 Ma)) alligatoroid were collected. Comparative anatomical study of the material warrants the diagnosis of a new taxon,...

Université de Fribourg

Possible species-flock scenario for the evolution of the cyprinid genus Capoeta (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) within late Neogene lake systems of the Armenian Highland

Ayvazyan, Anna ; Vasilyan, Davit ; Böhme, Madelaine

In: PLOS ONE, 2019, vol. 14, no. 5, p. e0215543

We studied 4 Ma old isolated pharyngeal teeth from lake sediments of Çevirme (Tekman Palaeolake, Erzurum Province). Based on shape characters defined for 3D models of modern species, we found that the Pliocene lake constitutes sympatric occurrence of four Capoeta species (C. cf. umbla, C. cf. baliki, C. cf. sieboldi and C. sp. sevangi/capoeta), whose modern relatives belong to a monophyletic...

Université de Fribourg

A new testudinoid turtle from the middle to late Eocene of Vietnam

Garbin, Rafaella C. ; Böhme, Madelaine ; Joyce, Walter G.

In: PeerJ, 2019, vol. 7, p. e6280

Testudinoidea is a major clade of turtles that has colonized different ecological environments across the globe throughout the Tertiary. Aquatic testudinoids have a particularly rich fossil record in the Tertiary of the northern hemisphere, but little is known about the evolutionary history of the group, as the phylogenetic relationships of most fossils have not been established with...

Université de Fribourg

3D morphology of pharyngeal dentition of the genus Capoeta (Cyprinidae): Implications for taxonomy and phylogeny

Ayvazyan, Anna ; Vasilyan, Davit ; Böhme, Madelaine

In: Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research, 2019, vol. 57, no. 1, p. 179–190

Capoeta is a herbivorous cyprinid fish genus, widely distributed in water bodies of Western Asia. Recent species show a distinct biogeographic pattern with endemic distribution in large fluvial drainage basins. As other cyprinids, the species of this genus are characterized by the presence of the pharyngeal bone with pharyngeal teeth. Despite this, the detailed morphology of the pharyngeal...

Université de Fribourg

Biochronological and palaeobiogeographical significance of the earliest Miocene mammal fauna from Northern Vietnam

Antoine, Pierre-Olivier ; Made, Jan van der ; Métais, Grégoire ; Phuc, Laq The ; Quan, Quý Tr??ng ; Schneider, Simon ; Tran, Dang Ngoc ; Vasilyan, Davit ; Viet, Luong The ; Böhme, Madelaine

In: Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 2018, vol. 98, no. 2, p. 287–313

Current scientific knowledge of Tertiary fossils from south of the Ailao Shan-Red River shear zone is extremely poor, in sharp contrast with the situation nowadays, as the area of Laos and Vietnam is regarded as a global hotspot of biodiversity. In this context, the few localities that yielded fossil assemblages are of first importance for the understanding of Cenozoic palaeobiogeography and...

Université de Fribourg

Early Miocene gastropod and ectothermic vertebrate remains from the Lesvos Petrified Forest (Greece)

Vasileiadou, Katerina ; Böhme, Madelaine ; Neubauer, Thomas A. ; Georgalis, Georgios L. ; Syrides, George E. ; Papadopoulou, Lambrini ; Zouros, Nickolas

In: PalZ, 2017, vol. 91, no. 4, p. 541–564

The Lesvos Petrified Forest (western Lesvos, Greece) has long been famous for its plant fossils. Recently, one proboscidean (from the Gavathas locality) and seven micromammalian species (from the Lapsarna locality) were described; these were the first animals to be found in the Early Miocene subtropical forest. For the first time, a fauna of gastropods and ectothermic vertebrates from the...

Université de Fribourg

Neogene amphibians and reptiles (Caudata, Anura, Gekkota, Lacertilia, and Testudines) from the south of Western Siberia, Russia, and Northeastern Kazakhstan

Vasilyan​, Davit ; Zazhigin, Vladimir S. ; Böhme, Madelaine

In: PeerJ, 2017, vol. 5, p. e3025

The present-day amphibian and reptile fauna of Western Siberia are the least diverse of the Palaearctic Realm, as a consequence of the unfavourable climatic conditions that predominate in this region. The origin and emergence of these herpetofaunal groups are poorly understood. Aside from the better-explored European Neogene localities yielding amphibian and reptile fossil remains, the...

Université de Fribourg

A new Late Agenian (MN2a, Early Miocene) fossil assemblage from Wallenried (Molasse Basin, Canton Fribourg, Switzerland)

Mennecart, Bastien ; Yerly, Bertrand ; Mojon, Pierre-Olivier ; Angelone, Chiara ; Maridet, Olivier ; Böhme, Madelaine ; Pirkenseer, Claudius

In: Paläontologische Zeitschrift, 2016, vol. 90, p. 101-123

Excavations of two fossiliferous layers in the Wallenried sand- and marl pit produced a very diversified vertebrate fauna. New material allows the reassessment of the taxonomic position of the ruminant taxa Andegameryx andegaviensis and endemic Friburgomeryx wallenriedensis. An emended diagnosis for the second species is provided and additional material of large and small mammals, as well as...

Université de Fribourg

Allaeochelys libyca, a new carettochelyine turtle from the middle miocene (Langhian) of Libya

Havlik, Philipe E. ; Joyce, Walter G. ; Böhme, Madelaine

In: Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, 2014, vol. 55, no. 2, p. 201–214

Fossil carettochelyine turtles are well known from the Paleogene of Europe (Allaeochelys), North America and Asia (Anosteira); however, the previously known Neogene fossil record is highly fragmentary and was therefore unsuitable for taxonomic analysis. In this work, we present a new carettochelyine taxon, Allaeochelys libyca, from the Middle Miocene (Langhian) of Gebel Zelten (Libya) based on an...