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| Morlo, M.; Semenov, Y. | |
| New dental remains of Machairodus KAUP 1833 (Felidae, Carnivora, Mammalia) from the Turolian of Ukraine: significance for the evolution of the genus | |
| 2004 Darmst„dtische Beitr„ge zur Naturgeschichte (13): 123-138 | |
New dental remains of Machairodus KAUP, 1833 from Turolian localities of Ukraine are described. While specimens from Novoukrainka 1 (late MN 11) are very derived and resemble later records from Beka (late MN 12) and Cherevichnoe (MN 13), the remains from Novaja Emetovka 2 (early MN 12) are more plesiomorphic. Previous taxonomy would place these latter specimens in _M. aphanistus_ (KAUP, 1832), a species formerly considered to be present from MN9-MN 11 only, while all other specimens would be assigned _to Amphimachairodus giganteus_ (WAGNER, 1848), formerly considered to be present in MN12-MN13 only. As confirmed by the present material, however, both taxa are not as stratigraphically distinct as previously thought. Moreover, the Ukrainian record provides new evidence for a gradual and mosaic morphological evolution from _M. aphanistus_ to _A.giganteus_ which is not strictly correlated to cheek tooth size. Consequently, we consider _Amphimachairodus_ to be a junior subjective synonym of _Machairodus_. For reasons of taxonomic stability we retain both species names even though they belong to a single evolutionary lineage |
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