Le genre Mesembriacerus (Bovidae, Artiodactyla, Mammalia) : un Oviboviné primitif du Vallésien (Miocène supérieur) de Macédoine (Grèce)

Geneviève Bouvrain and Louis de Bonis

The bovid Mesembriacerus melentisi, the numerous skulls, teeth and limb bones of which are described from the locality Ravin de la Pluie (Macedonia, Greece), bears some features which allow us to put it in the tribe ovibovini (Ovibovinae) with several other Miocene genera and the Recent one Ovibos. A cladogram gives the phyletic relationships within this tribe. It shows that Mesembriacerus which is one of the oldest genera, is also the most primitive. The limb bones are as elongated as those of Recent cursorial bovids and they show, as does the bulk of the fauna, an open environment for the locality.