Dolichopithecus balcanicus SPASSOV et GERAADS, 2007

cf. Dolichopithecus balcanicus SPASSOV et GERAADS, 2007

Text-fig. 7

L o c a l i t y. Promachonas.

M a t e r i a l. i2 right PRC 104, p4 left PRC 103, p4 frag. right PRC 106, m1 ant. frag. left PRC 102, m2 left PRC 101, m2 right PRC 100, m3 frag. left PRC 105. The tooth material is probably from one mandible.

D e s c r i p t i o n. The lower second incisor is well-preserved ( Text-fig. 7d, Tab. 3), slightly worn, with about half its single root length. The bicuspid fourth lower premolar PRC 103 ( Text-fig. 7c) is complete with two roots: the mesial one is approximately 9 mm long, while the distal one is broken. The PRC 106 fragment ( Text-fig. 7g) retains the anterior half of the tooth with the talonid missing. The metaconid and the protolophid are well developed in both teeth ( Tab. 3). The lingual cuspid is larger than the labial. The trigonid basin is well distinct and relatively deep, whereas the talonid basin is broad. The first lower molar fragment PRC 102 ( Text-fig. 7e) is slightly worn and preserves only the anterior lobe with well-developed metaconid ( Tab. 3). The second lower molars PRC 101 ( Text-fig. 7a) and PRC 100 ( Text-fig. 7b) are bilophodont and slightly worn. The metaconid is distinctively higher than the hypoconid ( Tab. 3). The hypo-, para- and metacristae are intense. There is an anterior cingulum. The former also preserves both roots, whereas the latter is about half length of the two roots. The transverse crests are well developed. The third lower molar fragment PRC 105 preserves only the talonid (Bm3 tld = 4.83 mm) with the well-developed hypoconulid (H = 4.5 mm) ( Text-fig. 7f), half hypoconid and the well-developed entoconid (H = 5.9 mm). According to the description above, the teeth could belong to the same individual, therefore the MNI seems to be 1 .

D i s c u s s i o n. The primate material from Promachonas ( PRC) consists of isolated, complete, or partial teeth. In the broader area of Serres, in Maramena of biozone MN 13/14, south of PRC, the cercopithecid Mesopithecus pentelicus was initially identified through teeth ( Küllmer and Doukas 1995), which was later attributed to Mesopithecus sp. ( Koufos 2009b). There is a marked difference in the heights of the labial and lingual cuspids of the lower molars between Mesopithecus (KRY) and Dolichopithecus (Megalo Emvolo MEV and PRC), with the lingual being more pointed and higher than the buccal in the latter specimens. The most significant remains of the PRC monkey are the two second lower molars. Their proportions are typical of lower molars. They are slightly larger than those of Mesopithecus delsoni from Hadjidimovo (late MN 11), Bulgaria (Bogdanova et al. 2023); even one of the three male individuals from Hadjidimovo sample practically reaches their size (see Koufos et al. 2003). At the same time, the cuspids of the PRC specimen seem to be more similar to those of Dolichopithecus : more pointed (higher and mesio-distally narrower) than those of Mesopithecus , and their notches are deeper. In terms of size, they differ slightly from the m2 of the type specimen of Dolichopithecus balcanicus from Tenevo. The cuspids of the m2 from PRC do not appear to be as elongated as in the latter specimen, but this is possibly due to some extent to the greater individual age of the individual. The PRC teeth are slightly smaller and shorter than those of MEV, whose cuspids are also more pointed. Compared to the tooth dimensions of Dolichopithecus from the Pliocene of Pridnestrovie ( Mashchenko and Marareskul 2011), Megalo Emvolo ( Koufos et al. 1991) and Tenevo, as well as to the morphology of the Tenevo Dolichopithecus ( Spassov and Geraads 2007) , the PRC is tentatively attributed to D. balcanicus from the Latest Pliocene of Bulgaria, which is distinguished from the common European species, D. ruscinensis by its smaller size, much shallower mandibular corpus and marked congestion of the premolars ( Spassov and Geraads 2007).

In Greece, Pliocene cercopithecids are mainly reported from cranial material of the middle Villafranchian, biozone MN 17, from Vatera, Lesvos Island [ Paradolichopithecus arvernensis (DEPÉRET, 1929) ] ( De Vos et al. 2002, van der Geer and Sondaar 2002, Lyras and van der Geer 2007), Karnezeika, Peloponnese (cf. Paradolichopithecus sp. ) ( Sianis et al. 2022), and Dafnero, Kozani ( P. aff. arvernensis ) ( Kostopoulos et al. 2018). Earlier cercopithecids are reported from the Ruscinian biozone MN 14–15 in the Ptolemais basin ( Dolichopithecus ruscinensis ) ( Doukas and De Bruijn 2002) and Megalo Emvolo ( Koufos et al. 1991), the latter tentatively included in D. balcanicus ( Spassov and Geraads 2007) . The find from Promachonas represents possibly the same geologically younger Balkan Dolichopithecus species, which is distinguished from the common European species, D. ruscinensis by its smaller size, much shallower mandibular corpus and congestion of the premolars ( Spassov and Geraads 2007).