| Bubalus murrensis Temporal range: Middle Pleistocene-Late Pleistocene | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Bovidae |
| Subfamily: | Bovinae |
| Genus: | Bubalus |
| Species: | †B. murrensis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Bubalus murrensis Berckhemer 1927 | |
Bubalus murrensis, also known as European water buffalo, is an extinct water buffalo species native to Europe during the Pleistocene epoch, possibly persisting into the Holocene.
Only skulls have been unambiguously attributed to the species, as no complete skeletons have been found and it is difficult to distinguish postcranial bones between different bovine species. The occipital region of the skull as well as the horn cores protrude backwards. Unlike modern water buffalo, but similar to extinct Chinese Pleistocene species of Bubalus like Bubalus wansjocki, the horn cores have a triangular rather than rounded cross section, with the upper surface of the horn cores typically forming a flat plain that is continuous with the skull surface. [1] A skull found in Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany) had a width of 107 cm. [2]
Fossils of Bubalus murrensis are known from the late Middle Pleistocene (from around 400,000 years ago) onwards, typically during interglacial periods. [3]
The European water buffalo occurred in river valleys. Remains are very rare. The majority of finds have come from along the Rhine, Elbe and Murr in Germany and the Netherlands. Isolated specimens have also been found between the Atlantic coast of France in the west and the central part of the East European Plain in the east. [1] [4] It lived in muddy and swampy terrain. [5] [6] Bubalus murrensis could not tolerate long-lasting episodes of frost and was therefore absent in Central Europe during the glacial periods. During the interglacial periods like the Eemian it occurred together with other species of the interglacial faunal assemblage, including the straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus), Merck's rhinoceros ( Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis ), fallow deer ( Dama dama ), aurochs (Bos primigenius) and the hippopotamus ( Hippopotamus amphibius ), [7] [8] [9] though other authors have argued that there is no unambiguous evidence for B. murrensis in Europe during the Eemian, [1] and the species is known to have disappeared from Italy by this interglacial. [10] It has been argued that the Pontic-Caspian Steppe represented a center of B. murrensis' distribution in Europe, where the species may have survived during the cold periods and spread from there to the rest of Europe during the interglacial periods. [3]
Previously, the latest finds of Bubalus murrensis were dated to the last interglacial (known as MIS 5 or Eemian) of Central Europe, and it was therefore assumed to have become extinct sometime during the subsequent last Ice Age, similar to other representatives of the interglacial Palaeoloxodon fauna (such as the straight-tusked elephant, Merck's rhinoceros, the narrow-nosed rhinoceros ( Stephanorhinus hemitoechus ) and the hippopotamus). However, due to the general dearth of remains of the species, this assumption was purely speculative. In 2020, a well preserved skull was described from the East European Plain near Kolomna in Moscow Oblast, Russia, attesting to its presence in this region around 12,761 years Before Present. This is over 100,000 years after the next youngest record of the species and moves its suggested date of extinction to the Bølling–Allerød interstadial or younger, around the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary. [11] [3]
Some researchers believe that the species may have also persisted in southern Europe, possibly even into the Neolithic period. A relief from the Fourneau du Diable, Bourdeilles, Dordogne, France, has been interpreted by some authors as a depiction of water buffalo due to the combination of backward-facing horns, a pronounced dewlap and a characteristic dorsal line and dated to around 16,000 years Before Present. [12] Bones tentatively identified as belonging to water buffalo and dated to the earliest Neolithic have been found in the Pannonian basin. However, their identification is uncertain as postcrania of bubaline and cattle, fragmentary ones in particular, are not easily distinguishable and neither horns nor crania have been found. [13] A 2021 study suggested that traditional European water buffalo breeds such as the Italian Mediterranean buffalo and the Romanian buffalo had unique DNA sequences that could indicate that wild water buffalo from Europe were involved in breed formation, which would also point to late survival. [14] The earliest widely accepted evidence for domestic water buffalo in Europe is during the Middle Ages after 500 AD. [15]
The extinction of B. murrensis, was probably caused either by the rapid cooling of the Younger Dryas, causing aridification, or by human hunting, or by a combination of both factors. [3]
Bubalus is a genus of Asiatic bovines that was proposed by Charles Hamilton Smith in 1827. Bubalus and Syncerus form the subtribe Bubalina, the true buffaloes.
Bilzingsleben is a former stone quarry in Thuringia, Germany, notable for its wealth of palaeolithic human fossils and artifacts.
The woolly rhinoceros is an extinct species of rhinoceros that inhabited northern Eurasia during the Pleistocene epoch. The woolly rhinoceros was a member of the Pleistocene megafauna. The woolly rhinoceros was covered with long, thick hair that allowed it to survive in the extremely cold, harsh mammoth steppe. It had a massive hump reaching from its shoulder and fed mainly on herbaceous plants that grew in the steppe. Mummified carcasses preserved in permafrost and many bone remains of woolly rhinoceroses have been found. Images of woolly rhinoceroses are found among cave paintings in Europe and Asia. The range of the woolly rhinoceros contracted towards Siberia beginning around 17,000 years ago, with the youngest known records being around 14,000 years old in northeast Siberia, coinciding with the Bølling–Allerød warming, which likely disrupted its habitat, with environmental DNA records possibly extending the range of the species around 9,800 years ago. Its closest living relative is the Sumatran rhinoceros.
The Last Interglacial, also known as the Eemian, was the interglacial period which began about 130,000 years ago at the end of the Penultimate Glacial Period and ended about 115,000 years ago at the beginning of the Last Glacial Period. It corresponds to Marine Isotope Stage 5e. It was the second-to-latest interglacial period of the current Ice Age, the most recent being the Holocene which extends to the present day. During the Last Interglacial, the proportion of CO2 in the atmosphere was about 280 parts per million. The Last Interglacial was one of the warmest periods of the last 800,000 years, with temperatures comparable to and at times warmer than the contemporary Holocene interglacial, with the maximum sea level being up to 6 to 9 metres higher than at present, with global ice volume likely also being smaller than the Holocene interglacial.
The straight-tusked elephant is an extinct species of elephant that inhabited Europe and Western Asia during the Middle and Late Pleistocene. One of the largest known elephant species, mature fully grown bulls on average had a shoulder height of 4 metres (13 ft) and a weight of 13 tonnes (29,000 lb). Straight-tusked elephants likely lived very similarly to modern elephants, with herds of adult females and juveniles and solitary adult males. The species was primarily associated with temperate and Mediterranean woodland and forest habitats, flourishing during interglacial periods, when its range would extend across Europe as far north as Great Britain and eastwards into Russia, while persisting in southern Europe during glacial periods. Skeletons found in association with stone tools and wooden spears suggest they were scavenged and hunted by early humans, including Homo heidelbergensis and their Neanderthal successors.
Palaeoloxodon namadicus is an extinct species of prehistoric elephant known from the Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene of the Indian subcontinent, and possibly also elsewhere in Asia. The species grew larger than any living elephant, and some authors have suggested it to have been the largest known land mammal based on extrapolation from fragmentary remains, though these estimates are speculative.
The island of Great Britain, along with the rest of the archipelago known as the British Isles, has a largely temperate climate. It contains a relatively small fraction of the world's wildlife. The biota was severely diminished in the last ice age, and shortly thereafter was separated from the continent by the English Channel's formation. Since then, humans have hunted the most dangerous forms to extinction, though domesticated forms such as the dog and the pig remain. The wild boar has subsequently been reintroduced as a meat animal.
Palaeoloxodon cypriotes is an extinct species of dwarf elephant that inhabited the island of Cyprus during the Late Pleistocene. A probable descendant of the large straight-tusked elephant of mainland Europe and West Asia, the species is among the smallest known dwarf elephants, with fully grown individuals having an estimated shoulder height of only 1 metre (3.3 ft). It represented only one of two large animal species on the island alongside the Cypriot pygmy hippopotamus. The species became extinct around 12,000 years ago, around the time humans first colonised Cyprus, and potential evidence of human hunting has been found.
Swanscombe Skull Site or Swanscombe Heritage Park is a 3.9-hectare (9.6-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Swanscombe, north-west Kent, England. It contains two Geological Conservation Review sites and a National Nature Reserve. The park lies in a former gravel quarry, Barnfield Pit, which is the most important site in the Swanscombe complex, alongside several other nearby pits.
The Late Pleistocene to the beginning of the Holocene saw the extinction of the majority of the world's megafauna, which resulted in a collapse in faunal density and diversity across the globe. The extinctions during the Late Pleistocene are differentiated from previous extinctions by its extreme size bias towards large animals, and widespread absence of ecological succession to replace these extinct megafaunal species, and the regime shift of previously established faunal relationships and habitats as a consequence. The timing and severity of the extinctions varied by region and are thought to have been driven by varying combinations of human and climatic factors. Human impact on megafauna populations is thought to have been driven by hunting ("overkill"), as well as possibly environmental alteration. The relative importance of human vs climatic factors in the extinctions has been the subject of long-running controversy.
Stephanorhinus is an extinct genus of two-horned rhinoceros native to Eurasia and North Africa that lived during the Late Pliocene to Late Pleistocene. Species of Stephanorhinus were the predominant and often only species of rhinoceros in much of temperate Eurasia, especially Europe, for most of the Pleistocene. The last two species of Stephanorhinus – Merck's rhinoceros and the narrow-nosed rhinoceros – went extinct during the last glacial period.
The Allenton Hippo is a hippopotamus skeleton that was found in Allenton, Derby, England, in 1895. The skeleton is exhibited in Derby Museum and Art Gallery and is 3 metres (9.8 ft) in length. It is celebrated today in a sculpture near to where the skeleton was discovered.
Syncerus antiquus is an extinct species of buffalo from the Late Pleistocene and Holocene of Africa. It was one of the largest species in its family, potentially weighing up to 2,000 kilograms (4,400 lb). Due to this fact, it is sometimes known as the African giant buffalo. The time of its extinction is of debate; Syncerus antiquus either became extinct at the end of the Late Pleistocene about 12,000 years ago or during the Holocene, some 4,000 years ago.
The narrow-nosed rhinoceros, also known as the steppe rhinoceros is an extinct species of rhinoceros belonging to the genus Stephanorhinus that lived in western Eurasia, including Europe, as well as North Africa during the Pleistocene. It first appeared in Europe around 500,000 years ago during the Middle Pleistocene and survived there until at least 34,000 years Before Present. It was native to temperate and Mediterranean environments, where it fed on low growing plants and to a lesser extent woody plants. Evidence has been found that it was exploited for food by archaic humans, including Neanderthals.
Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis, also known as Merck's rhinoceros is an extinct species of rhinoceros belonging to the genus Stephanorhinus from the Early-Middle to Late Pleistocene of Eurasia. Its range spanned from Western Europe to Eastern Asia. Among the last members of the genus, it co-existed alongside Stephanorhinus hemitoechus in the western part of its range.
Bubalus fudi is an extinct relative of water buffalo, which survived in the late Pleistocene.
The wood-pasture hypothesis is a scientific hypothesis positing that open and semi-open pastures and wood-pastures formed the predominant type of landscape in post-glacial temperate Europe, rather than the common belief of primeval forests. The hypothesis proposes that such a landscape would be formed and maintained by large wild herbivores. Although others, including landscape ecologist Oliver Rackham, had previously expressed similar ideas, it was the Dutch researcher Frans Vera, who, in his 2000 book Grazing Ecology and Forest History, first developed a comprehensive framework for such ideas and formulated them into a theorem. Vera's proposals, although highly controversial, came at a time when the role grazers played in woodlands was increasingly being reconsidered, and are credited for ushering in a period of increased reassessment and interdisciplinary research in European conservation theory and practice. Although Vera largely focused his research on the European situation, his findings could also be applied to other temperate ecological regions worldwide, especially the broadleaved ones.
Bubalus wansijocki, often spelled Bubalus wansjocki is an extinct species of water buffalo known from northern China during the Late Pleistocene.
Dihoplus is an extinct genus of rhinoceros that lived in Eurasia from the Late Miocene to Pliocene.
Bubalus teilhardi is an extinct species of water buffalo that existed during the Middle to Late Pleistocene in North China, East China, and the Penghu Channel of Taiwan. It is included in the Penghu fauna.