Presenter(s): Julien Royer − Anthropology
Faculty Mentor(s): Win McLaughlin, Samantha Hopkins
Poster 8
Research Area: Paleontology
Kyrgyzstan has a scarce paleontological history with most of the previous and current studies focusing on the Miocene- Pliocene. However, Russian geologists in 2012 mapped regional faults and reconstructed uplift rates in the Tien Shan mountains, where the material present in this study was recovered from the Kochkor basin and classified as Meles leucurus from the Pleistocene-Holocene. The fossil record present in Kyrgyzstan reflects mostly large ungulates from the Miocene- Pliocene. This specimen is the first described carnivore from the Late Pleistocene-Holocene from Kyrgyzstan. The carnivoran fossil was recovered from the QIII abandoned river terrace (the regional convention for naming uplifted terraces) with an approximate age of 5,000-20,000 years old through carbon dating of other QIII river terraces. In addition, an associated snail shell and vertebra, rib, tibia from the specimen were used for radio carbon dating material. Moreover, a CT scan of the encapsulated m1 is used for positive morphological diagnosis. A domestic dog skeleton, being a carnivoran sharing similar anatomical shapes with the studied material, is used for morphological comparisons. The tribosphenic shape of the single deciduous tooth, its sharp cusps, and high protocone leaves us to believe this fossil to be a carnivoran burrowing mammal. The specimen diagnosis is Meles leucurus through the average size of the bones and robustness of the long bones and ankle bones needed to burrow. The fossil is a juvenile, resulting from an encased adult m1 in the lower right jaw, a single deciduous tooth, and unfused epiphyseal plates. Considering the location of the origin of genus Meles in the Pliocene, ‘’the out of Tibet hypothesis’’ supports a migration pattern from the Tibetan Plateau to Kyrkygzstan through antecedent species of badgers. Although we believe the fossil to be a part of species leucurus, it is cautious for us to suppose the specimen might belong to another species or sub-species because of a sympatric zone shared by Japanese, European, and Eurasian badgers occurring in the West of the Tien Shan during Pleistocene-Holocene.