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A new late Miocene ailuropodine (Giant Panda) from Rudabánya (North-central Hungary)

Abstract:

The rich fossiliferous locality of Rudabánya (Hungary) is dated to the Vallesian (late Miocene, MN 9). It contains several taxa of the order Carnivora. The aim of the present paper is to describe remains belonging to a new genus and species of Ursidae, Miomaci panonnicum. It is represented by upper and lower teeth which are compared to other Miocene ursids. Miomaci nov. gen. is most similar to Indarctos and is attributed to the tribe Indarctini within the sub-family of the Giant Panda, Ailuropodinae. Study of the dental micro-wear, despite the small sample size, shows that its diet was composed by tough food with shearing and less crushing mastication, indicating ecological similarities with the Giant Panda. Its habitat was probably a lakeshore with abundant herbaceous monocots.