A complete skull and mandible of Eomellivora piveteaui Ozansoy, 1965 (Carnivora, Mammalia) from Batallones-3 (MN10), Upper Miocene (Madrid, Spain)

Abstract

The Cerro de los Batallones fossil sites, Upper Miocene (MN10), are located in the south of the province of Madrid (Spain). Batallones-1 and Batallones-3 have an unusually high proportion of fossil carnivores (over 98.5% of the remains determined as mammals are carnivores) and both localities have been interpreted as carnivore traps. The Batallones-3 carnivores association comprises two amphicionids (Magericyon sp and Thaumastocyon sp), one ursid (Indarctos sp), three felids (Machairodus aphanistus, Promegantereon ogygia and Styriofelis vallesiensis), one hyenid (Protictitherium crasum) and five musteloids (Eomellivora piveteaui, Martes sp, Proputorius sp, Mephitinae indet and Mustelidae indet). The aim of the present paper is to study the systematics of the fossil of Eomellivora from Batallones-3, as well as to describe the complete skull preserved from Batallones-3 by means of a virtual 3D model.