Hoplitomeryx matthei Leinders, 1984

Van Der Geer, Alexandra A. E., 2014, Systematic revision of the family Hoplitomerycidae Leinders, 1984 (Artiodactyla: Cervoidea), with the description of a new genus and four new species, Zootaxa 3847 (1), pp. 1-32 : 22

Hoplitomeryx matthei Leinders, 1984

Hoplitomeryx Leinders, 1984 , ear region type I, horn core type I (= Hoplitomeryx matthei )— Leinders 1984: p. 15, 35, pl. 1, 2.

Hoplitomeryx Leinders, 1984 , size 2—Van der Geer 2005: p. 330, 331, 333; Van der Geer 2008 (partim): p. 153, 154, fig. 4, 5, 6.

Hoplitomeryx Leinders, 1984 , size 1—Van der Geer 2008 (partim): p. 153, fig. 4, 6.

Hoplitomeryx falcidens Mazza & Rustioni, 2011 — Mazza & Rustioni 2011 (partim): p. 1312, fig. 2 [RGM 215.000].

Holotype. Adult partial skull RGM 260.965 (figured in Leinders 1984: pl. 1, 2).

Paratypes. Skull fragments RGM 260.944, RGM 260.945 (Type II). Nasal horn cores RGM 260.898 (Type II?), RGM 260.922 (Type I), RGM 260.923 (Type I), RGM 261.098 (Type III). Orbital horn cores RGM 261.097 (Type III), RGM 261.099 (Type IV), RGM 178.286 (Type?).

Referred specimens. See Appendix III and fig. 4D, K, L, fig. 5F, L, fig. 6E.

Original diagnosis. The skull size of H. matthei is about the same as that of the roe deer Capreolus capreolus . The rest of the diagnosis fits in with that of the genus (cited from Leinders 1984: p. 6).

Emended diagnosis. Postcranial material is robust in comparison to mainland deer with similar limb bone lengths. Estimated body mass 44.3 kg. The trochlea of the astragal is non-parallel sided. The tibia is spirally winded.

Preservation and deposition. Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, the Netherlands (formerly Rijksmuseum van Geologie en Mineralogie ( RGM)).

Type locality and horizon. Late Miocene (Middle or Late Turolian, MN12-13) fissure filling with code Pirro 11A in the limestone quarry Dell’ Erba (formerly Pirro) along the provincial road between Poggio Imperiale and Apricena (Province of Foggia, Apulia, Italy).

Studied localities. Fissure fillings with codes Chirò 3, 9, 10B, 27 and D3, Fina N and K, Gervasio 1, Nazario 4, Pirro 11A, Pizzicoli 12, Posticchia 1B, San Giovannino. All localities are located in the north-western portion of the Gargano Peninsula, Apulia, south-eastern Italy. Probable other locality. Fissure filling with code Gervasio 2 in the limestone quarry Gervasio near San Severo (Province of Foggia, Apulia, Italy).

Measurements. See Appendix III (linear measurements) and Appendix I and II (body mass estimations).

Remarks. Type locality Pirro 11A falls within the younger faunal complex (no hamsters; see Introduction) and is one of the youngest localities, perhaps younger than San Giovannino. The proximal radius and distal humerus of the two smallest size classes were inseparable in Van der Geer (2008). This is, however, not the case when (approximate) length is taken into account and the width of the distal radius. During dwarfism, width and breadth of the elbow joint is maintained more or less unchanged in first instance and that may be the reason why the distinction between the smallest sizes is unreliable without using length as well. Only relatively complete specimens are taken into account here for these small sizes. The isolated horn cores that were assigned to other types than type 1 by Leinders (1984) in his original description of the species and that were not assigned here to a new species are here included as paratypes.