A new lynx mandible from the Early Pleistocene of Spain (La Puebla de Valverde, Teruel) and a taxonomical multivariate approach of medium-sized felids

Abstract

The fossil record of lynxes provides clear evidence of a large range across the North Hemisphere during the Pliocene and Pleistocene. However, their origin, systematics and evolutionary relationships are still fraught with difficulties and controversy. Here we report a complete hemimandible of a medium-sized felid from the Early Pleistocene (MN17, middle Villafranchian, 2.05 Ma) site of La Puebla de Valverde (Teruel, Spain). Based on comparative and multivariate analyses of the lower dentition of 458 individuals of medium-sized Lynx, Caracal and Leptailurus, we confidently ascribe the remains to Lynx aff. issiodorensis. Although the dental proportions are somewhat different from those of the Eurasian L. issiodorensis (smaller canines and more elongated p4/m1), Lynx aff. issiodorensis shows affinities with the Issoire lynx from the contemporaneous site of Saint Vallier (France), sharing a similar morphology of the mandible, reduced canines, and long m1. We further test the hypothesis that examines the presence of the African/Asian Caracal in the European Plio/Pleistocene for C. depereti and C. issiodorensis, and discard the attribution of L. issiodorensis into Caracal. This mandible extends the record of the genus and contributes to update our understanding of the Lynx lineage and its variability within the European fossil record.

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