Szabó János szerk.: Fragmenta Mineralogica Et Palaentologica 20. 2002. (Budapest, 2002)

FRAGMENTA PALAEONTOLOGICA HUNGARICA 20, BUDAPEST, 2002 First record of an agamid lizard from the Pleistocene of Hungary by Charles A. M. MESZOELY - Mihály GASPARIK Abstract — In 1998 a small fragment of an agamid lizard mandible was discovered among the reptile bones from the locality of Tokod. It is the first agamid remain from the Pleistocene of Hungary. The presence of this taxon indicates a warm interglacial climate and raises the possibility that the age of the locality is Eemian, i.e. older than previously thought. Key words — Agamidae, Late Pleistocene, Eemian, vertebrates, interglacial. MESZOELY, CH. A. M.

. GASP ARIK, M. (2002): First record of an agamid lizard from the Pleistocene of Hungary. —Fragmenta Palaeontologica Hungarica, 20: 1-2. Introduction A small assemblage of Late Pleistocene vertebrates was excavated in 1990 near the town of Tokod (about 30 kms north-west from Budapest). The excavations continued for two more summer seasons through 1992. For the most part the collecting method of washing and screening was employed. The fossil bones include remains of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and a few fishes. Most of the bones of reptiles are disarticulated and fragmentary, and consists mostly of jaw elements and vertebrae, but the mammals are represented also by other numerous postcranial elements. Around 70 taxa of vertebrates are represented by this fossil assemblage. The age of the fossil bones is most probably Eemian i.e. Riss-Würm interglacial. In 1998 while re-examining the lower vertebrate fossil material a single fragment of a dentary with acrodont dentition was discovered among the numerous bones of other reptiles and amphibians. An initial assignment of the fossil dentary to the family Agamidae was confirmed by comparing this jaw element with dentaries of the numerous skeletons of recent agamids housed at the Herpetology Department of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. The vertebrate fauna The bones has turned up from a freshwater limestone tetarata basin, from deposits of sandy loess. The first excavation was made in 1960. JÁNOSSY (1971) dated the vertebrate fauna to the beginning stage of the Weichsel (Würm) glaciation (see also in JÁNOSSY 1986). Subsequent excavations revealed that two different faunas could be distinguished from the locality. (Since it is uncertain that the excavations have been made at the same site or not, we have to mark the localities with different names: Tokod I for Jánossy's excavation, Tokod LI for later ones.) The first assemblage shows a composition typical to glacial faunas. Its age is most probably Early Weichselian. However the lower part of the deposits yielded definitely interglacial fauna. Characteristic micromammal species are Crocidura cf. leucodon (HERMANN, 1870); Apodemus cf. sylvaticus (LINNAEUS, 1758); Pitymys subterraneus DE SELYSLONGCHAMPS, 1836; Glis glis (LINNAEUS, 1766), and among the voles Microtus arvalis (PALLAS, 1779) is dominant over Microtus gregalis (PALLAS, 1779) (GASPARIK 1993). This faunal assemblage is older than the Weichselian one from the upper part of the deposits; its age is most probably Eemian (Riss-Würm interglacial). One proof of this fact is that the measurements of Crocidura cf. leucodon mandibles from Tokod fall into the size category of Crocidura robusta HELLER, 1960, which species was described from last interglacial (i.e. Eemian) beds (HELLER 1960). In Hungary this form was found at two other localities (Süttő and Porlyuk Cave), the age of both is Eemian. The presence of the agamid lizard in the fauna is a new proof for the interglacial climate. GASPARIK (1993) dated the locality as the Varbóian faunal substage of the Riss-Würm interglacial (see in JÁNOSSY 1986). KORDOS . RINGER (1991) place this substage in the Early Würm glacial. Because of the occurrence of the mentioned Crocidura species and the agamid mandible fragment, the age of the Tokod II fauna is probably older and it can be placed into the Süttőian faunal substage (see in JÁNOSSY 1986), which was the warmest period of the Late Pleistocene.