RHINOLOPHUS MEHELYI SCYTHOTAURICUS  SUBSP. NOV. (RHINOLOPHIDAE, CHIROPTERA) FROM THE LOWER PLEISTOCENE OF THE TAURIDA CAVE IN CRIMEA

A. V. Lopatin; Лопатин А. В.

doi:10.31857/S2686738922600947

RHINOLOPHUS MEHELYI SCYTHOTAURICUS SUBSP. NOV. (RHINOLOPHIDAE, CHIROPTERA) FROM THE LOWER PLEISTOCENE OF THE TAURIDA CAVE IN CRIMEA

Authors: Lopatin A.V.¹
Affiliations:
1. Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences
Issue: Vol 509, No 1 (2023)
Pages: 109-114
Section: Articles
URL: https://vestnik.nvsu.ru/2686-7389/article/view/651119
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31857/S2686738922600947
EDN: https://elibrary.ru/NAQJQC
ID: 651119

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Abstract

A new extinct subspecies of the Mehely’s horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus mehelyi scythotauricus subsp. nov., is described on the base of an incomplete skull from the Lower Pleistocene deposits of the Taurida cave in the central Crimea. It is the largest member of the R. euryale group. In terms of the evolutionary level, it is intermediate between Plio-Pleistocene R. mehelyi birzebbugensis Storch, 1974 and recent members of the species, but its large size and relatively narrow upper molars may indicate belonging to a separate phylogenetic lineage within R. mehelyi Matschie, 1901. R. mehelyi scythotauricus subsp. nov. is the first fossil record of the species in the Crimea; it is also one of the northernmost finds of R. mehelyi.

Keywords

Rhinolophus mehelyi, Rhinolophidae, Chiroptera, Early Pleistocene, Taurida cave, Crimea, skull, nasal turbinals

About the authors

A. V. Lopatin

Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences

Author for correspondence.
Email: alopat@paleo.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

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