biostratigraphy Biostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy which focuses on correlating and assigning relative ages of rock strata by using the fossil assemblages contained within them.Hine, Robert. "Biostratigraphy." ''Oxford Reference: Dictionary of Biology ...

, MN 5 is one of the MN zones used to characterize the

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

mammal faunas of the

Neogene The Neogene ( ,) is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period million years ago. It is the second period of th ...

of Europe. It is preceded by MN 4 and followed by MN 6 and is part of the

Orleanian The Orleanian age is a period of geologic time ( MN 3–5, (mya)), within the Miocene and used more specifically with European Land Mammal Ages. It precedes the Astaracian age and follows the Agenian age. ; Agenian-Early Orleanian migration ...

age of the

middle Miocene The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), epoch made up of two Stage (stratigraphy), stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0. ...

. MN 5 starts within magnetostratigraphic

chron Chron may refer to: Science * Chronozone or chron, a term used for a time interval in chronostratigraphy * Polarity chron or chron, in magnetostratigraphy, the time interval between polarity reversals of the Earth's magnetic field Other * ...

C5Cr, at 17.0 million years ago, and ends at the start of chron C5Bn.1r, at 15.0 million years ago, although some different correlations have been proposed.Steininger, 1999, pp. 16–17 The reference locality used to correlate faunas with this zone is Pontlevoy-Thenay in France; other localities include La Retama in Spain, Castelnau-d'Arbieu in France, and Sandelzhausen in Germany.Mein, 1999, p. 28 In this zone, the

muroid The Muroidea are a large superfamily of rodents, including mice, rats, voles, hamsters, lemmings, gerbils, and many other relatives. Although the Muroidea originated in Eurasia, they occupy a vast variety of habitats on every continent except ...

rodent '' Cricetodon'' first appears in western Europe, as do the poorly known '' Lartetomys'' and '' Mixocricetodon''.Mein, 1999, p. 29 In the extinct

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

family

Eomyidae Eomyidae is a family of extinct rodents from North America and Eurasia related to modern day pocket gophers and kangaroo rats. They are known from the Middle Eocene to the Late Miocene in North America and from the Late Eocene to the Pleistocene ...

, the genus '' Ligerimys'' last appears during MN 5, but '' Keramidomys'' and '' Eomyops'' appear as immigrants.Mein, 1999, p. 28 The last European

marsupial Marsupials are a diverse group of mammals belonging to the infraclass Marsupialia. They are natively found in Australasia, Wallacea, and the Americas. One of marsupials' unique features is their reproductive strategy: the young are born in a r ...

, '' Amphiperatherium'', last appears in France and Spain during MN 5, but persists into MN 6 in Germany. The primate ''

Pliopithecus ''Pliopithecus'' (meaning "more ape") is a genus of extinct primates of the Miocene. It was discovered in 1837 by Édouard Lartet (1801–1871) in France, with fossils subsequently discovered in Switzerland, Slovakia and Spain. ''Pliopithecus' ...

'' first appears during MN 5. The rhinoceroses '' Prosantorhinus'', ''

Plesiaceratherium ''Plesiaceratherium'' is an extinct genus of rhinocerotids. It includes two species: ''P. gracile'' from China and ''P. mirallesi'' from France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overse ...

'', ''

Hispanotherium ''Hispanotherium'' is an extinct genus of rhinocerotid of the tribe Elasmotheriini endemic to Europe and Asia during the Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma) ...

'', and ''

Gaindatherium ''Gaindatherium'' is an extinct genus of rhinocerotid that lived in Asia during the Miocene. It is mainly known from the Siwalik Hills in Pakistan, though its fossils have been found as far west as the Negev desert. Description ''Gaindatherium' ...

'' make their last appearance, but ''

Ancylotherium ''Ancylotherium'' (from Greek, meaning "hooked beast") is an extinct genus of the family Chalicotheriidae, subfamily Schizotheriinae, endemic to Europe, Asia, and Africa during the Late Miocene-Early Pleistocene (11.6—1.8 mya), existing for ...

'' and '' Hoploaceratherium'' first appear during MN 5. ''

Chalicotherium ''Chalicotherium'', from Ancient Greek (''khálix''), meaning "gravel", and (''theríon''), meaning "beast", is a genus of extinct odd-toed ungulates of the order Perissodactyla and family Chalicotheriidae. The genus is known from Europe and A ...

'', a member of the related extinct family

Chalicotheriidae Chalicotheriidae (from Ancient Greek ''khálix'', "gravel", and ''theríon'', "beast") is an extinct family of herbivorous, odd-toed ungulate (perissodactyl) mammals that lived in North America, Eurasia, and Africa from the Middle Eocene to the ...

, also appears for the first time. Several

artiodactyl Artiodactyls are placental mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla ( , ). Typically, they are ungulates which bear weight equally on two (an even number) of their five toes (the third and fourth, often in the form of a hoof). The other t ...

s, such as the pig '' Conohyus'', the deer '' Heteroprox'' and ''

Dicrocerus ''Dicrocerus'' ''elegans'' is an extinct species of deer found in France, Europe. ''Dicrocerus'' probably came from Asia, from the region where true deer are believed to have originated and evolved. It inhabited forests in the temperate belt and ...

'', and the

musk deer Musk deer can refer to any one, or all eight, of the species that make up ''Moschus'', the only extant genus of the family (biology), family Moschidae. Despite being commonly called deer, they are not true deer belonging to the family Cervidae, b ...

Micromeryx ''Micromeryx'' is an extinct genus of musk deer that lived during the Miocene epoch (about 16-8 million years ago). Fossil remains were found in Europe and Asia. The earliest record ( MN4) of the genus comes from the Sibnica 4 paleontological sit ...

'' first appear, and the pigs ''

Bunolistriodon ''Bunolistriodon'' is an extinct genus of pig-like animals from Eurasia and Africa during the Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by ...

'' and ''

Aureliachoerus ''Aureliachoerus'' was an extinct genus of suids that existed during the Miocene in Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the no ...

'' and the

ruminant Ruminants are herbivorous grazing or browsing artiodactyls belonging to the suborder Ruminantia that are able to acquire nutrients from plant-based food by fermenting it in a specialized stomach prior to digestion, principally through microb ...

s '' Amphimoschus'' and '' Lagomeryx'' last appear in MN 5. Two artiodactyl genera, '' Triceromeryx'' and '' Pseudoeotragus'', occur only during MN 5. The primitive artiodactyl '' Cainotherium'' last appears in France and Spain, but persists into MN 6 in Germany.

References

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Literature cited

*Mein, P. 1999. European Miocene mammal biochronology. Pp. 25–38 in Rössner, G.E. and Heissig, K. (eds.). The Miocene Land Mammals of Europe. Munich: Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, 515 pp. *Steininger, F. 1999.

Chronostratigraphy Chronostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy that studies the ages of rock strata in relation to time. The ultimate aim of chronostratigraphy is to arrange the sequence of deposition and the time of deposition of all rocks within a geological ...

, geochronology and biochronology of the Miocene "European Land Mammal Mega-Zones (ELMMZ)" and the Miocene "Mammal Zones (MN-Zones)". Pp. 9–24 in Rössner, G.E. and Heissig, K. (eds.). The Miocene Land Mammals of Europe. Munich: Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, 515 pp. Miocene Regional geologic time scales