Hallebune
| Hallebune | ||||||||||||
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Middle Eocene | ||||||||||||
| 46.3 to 44.7 million years | ||||||||||||
| Locations | ||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Hallebune | ||||||||||||
| Erfurt & Sudre , 1995 | ||||||||||||
Hallebune is a now extinct representative of the artifacts and livedin what is now Europeduring the Middle Eocene around 45 million years ago. It is proven by a few remains of teeth that come from the Geiseltal in Saxony-Anhalt. He was a member of the now extinct family of the Choeropotamidae and therefore belongs to a closer relationship to today's hippos . In its habitus , Hallebune was very small compared to other early even-toed ungulates.
features
Hallebune represents a primitive and small representative of the artifacts , which is only known about a few remains of teeth. These include the posterior teeth of both the upper and lower jaw. The premolars and molars had a low crown ( brachyodont ) and had a bumpy chewing surface with characteristic tooth enamel humps ( bunodont ). The triangular to square premolars each had one or two humps, and the last premolar was extremely elongated. The molars were rectangular in shape and had five cusps in the upper jaw and four cusps in the lower jaw, which puts Hallebune close to Masillabune and Haplobunodon . The size of the molars varied from 4.2 mm in the first to 5.2 mm in the last.
Fossil record
Hallebune is a very rare fauna element that has so far only been found in the Upper Middle Coal of the Geiseltal in Saxony-Anhalt. A total of seven fragments of the upper and lower jaw are known, including some milk teeth from the Cecilie and Leo opencast mines . Due to their location in the Upper Middle Coal, the finds date to the Middle Eocene and are around 45 million years old.
Systematics
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Internal systematics of the fossil family Choeropotamidae according to Hooker et al. 2001
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Hallebune is a genus from the extinct family of the Choeropotamidae , close relatives of the hippopotamus within the order of the artifacts and the superfamily Hippopotamoidea (originally also Anthracotherioidea). The Choeropotamidae are characterized by bunoselenodonte molars and a gap between the first two premolars. It turns Hallebune a very primitive and small representatives of Choeropotamidae represents. The nearest relatives are Rhagatherium and amphirhagatherium and Masillabune , the last two are also evidenced by fossil finds from the Geisel. Originally, Hallebune was assigned to the Haplobunodontidae due to the five-humped upper jaw molars, but more recent studies combine these with the Choeropotamidae.
Only one species is known: H. krumbiegeli . The genus was given in 1995 by Jörg Erfurt and Jean Sudre based on the Geiseltaler finds its first description . The holotype (copy number GMH Ce IV-3925) represents an upper jaw fragment with attached molars and the rearmost premolars. This is part of the Geiseltalsammlung of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg . The generic name Hallebune is made up of the name of the city of Halle , in which the Geiseltalsammlung is located, and the Greek word βουνόν ( bounon "hill"). The latter relates to the typical design of the molar surfaces. The species name krumbiegeli honors Günter Krumbiegel , who was in charge of the collection as head of the Geiseltalmuseum until 1989.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Jörg Erfurt, Jean Sudre: Un Haplobunodontidae nouveau, Hallebune krumbiegeli nov. gen. nov. sp. (Artiodactyla, Mammalia) in L'Eocene Moyen du Geiseltal pres Halle (Saxony-Anhalt, Allemagne). In: Palaeovertebrata. 24 (1-2), 1995, pp. 84-99.
- ↑ a b c Jessica M. Theodor, Jörg Erfurt, Grégoire Métais: The earliest Artiodactyls. In: Donald R. Prothero, Scott E. Foss (Eds.): The Evolution of Artiodactyls. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore 2007, pp. 32-58.
- ↑ Jerry J. Hooker, Katherine M. Thomas: New species of Amphirhagatherium (Choeropotamidae, Artiodactyla, Mammalia) from the late Eocene Headon Hill Formation of Southern England and phylogeny of endemic European Anthracotheroids. In: Palaeontology. 44, (5), 2001, pp. 827-853.
- ^ Jean Renaud Boisserie: Family Hippopotamidae. In: Donald R. Prothero and Scott E. Foss (Eds.): The Evolution of Artiodactyls. Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 2007, pp. 106-119
- ↑ Jörg Erfurt: Taxonomy of the Eocene Artiodactyla (Mammalia) of the Geiseltal with special consideration of the genus Rhagatherium. In: Hallesches Jahrbuch für Geoswissenschaften. B 17, 1995, pp. 47-58.