MAMMUTHUS MERIDIONALIS REMAINS FROM PERETU (TELEORMAN COUNTY, SOUTHERN ROMANIA) – A NEW VERTEBRATE FOSSIL SITE IN THE VEDEA VALLEY
MAMMUTHUS MERIDIONALIS REMAINS FROM PERETU (TELEORMAN COUNTY, SOUTHERN ROMANIA) – A NEW VERTEBRATE FOSSIL SITE IN THE VEDEA VALLEY

Summary/Abstract: Large mammal fossil remains recently discovered in Quaternary fluvial deposits at Peretu, Teleorman County, are here described and assigned to the early Pleistocene elephantid species Mammuthus meridionalis. The fossil assemblage includes jaw fragments, dental remains (both upper and lower molars, one premolar, tusk fragments), but also postcranial elements, such as complete and fragmentary tibias, one vertebra, and smaller fragments of various limb bones. Dental morphometric analysis suggests two evolutionary stages of M. meridionalis are present at Peretu. Further chronostratigraphic analyses of the Pleistocene deposits that crop out in this area, as well as the synthetic study of the mammoth remains are needed in order to better understand the evolution of meridionaloid mammoths in the area now crossed by the Vedea River.

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