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Lagomorpha (Mammalia) from the Pliocene-Pleistocene locality of Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco

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Abstract

The exceptionally rich vertebrate locality of Ahl al Oughlam near Casablanca (Morocco) yielded abundant remains of Lagomorpha, composed of cranial and postcranial bones and many isolated teeth. They represent a new species of Prolagidae, Prolagus migrans n. sp., and two new Leporidae, Trischizolagus meridionalis n. sp. and Afrolagus pomeli n. g., n. sp. The main characters of the new Prolagus species are the large and anteriorly curved mesial hyperloph on P2, the lack of crochet, and the protoconulid isolated in most p3s. Trischizolagus meridionalis n. sp. is smaller than the common European species T. dumitrescuae, and differs in having in most p3 a massive outlined trigonid, mesofossetid and paraflexid. The second leporid Afrolagus pomeli n. g., n. sp. displays a unique p3 pattern not seen in the Old World leporids with the hypoflexid penetrating more than two thirds of the total width; it is probably formed by the fusion of hypoflexid and mesofosssetid, but leaves a wide lingual connection between the trigonid and talonid. Its upper molariform teeth have strongly wrinkled enamel along the edges of the hypoflexus. Despite these differences, it also shares several dental features with both the African genus Serengetilagus and the European genus Oryctolagus, to which it is compared. Prolagus and Trichizolagus are both well-known European genera. Their occurrence in the Plio-Pleistocene of Morocco is certainly due to a dispersal event thanks to terrestrial connection between the Iberian Peninsula and the Moghreb. In the light of recent faunal, biogeographic and chronological data, the beginning of mammalian exchanges in both directions dates from about 6.2 Ma. The locality of Ahl al Oughlam, although much younger, with an age estimated to 3.0-2.5 Ma, retains taxa resulting from this dispersal event, including the lagomorphs described here.

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Acknowledgements

This study was done in the CR2P using equipment and comparative materials of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN). It is part of the Franco-Moroccan Casablanca Research program jointly conducted and supported by the Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine (INSAP) of Morocco, the Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires Étrangères of France, and the LabEx Archimede (ANR-11-LABX-0032-01). The program is also funded by the Aquitaine Region through the Origines project, the Collège de France, and the University of Bordeaux (France). We are grateful to C. Callou (MNHN) for providing access to modern collections. We are indebted to the reviewers Chiara Angelone and Lawrence J. Flynn for their constructive critisizm that greatly improved this study. The authors greatly appreciated the contribution of the editors Sinje Weber and Peter Königshof.

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    Sevket Sen & Denis Geraads

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Sen, S., Geraads, D. Lagomorpha (Mammalia) from the Pliocene-Pleistocene locality of Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco. Palaeobio Palaeoenv 103, 633–661 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-022-00569-5

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