Meles meles Linnaeus, 1758

Fourvel, Jean-Baptiste, Fosse, Philippe, Fernandez, Philippe & Antoine, Pierre-Olivier, 2015, Large mammals of Fouvent-Saint-Andoche (Haute-Saône, France): a glimpse into a Late Pleistocene hyena den, Geodiversitas 37 (2), pp. 237-266 : 246

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5252/g2015n2a5
publication LSID	urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:0117CBA4-4CE0-4431-B5F6-721F998C72C7
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/038087D7-FFE1-FF9F-FEDE-FADDFBE3350A
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Meles meles Linnaeus, 1758
status

Treatment

Meles meles Linnaeus, 1758 View in CoL

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — NISP =25; MNI =10.

1989-1992 sample: 1 left c; 1 canine; 2 thoracic vertebrae; 1 right scapula; 1 right radius; 1 left radius; 1 right ulna; 2 right metacarpals IV; 1 left metacarpal IV; 1 left metacarpal V; 1 right femur; 1 right innominate; 1 left femur; 1 femur; 1 patella; 2 right tibiae; 1 left tibia; 2 right metatarsals IV; 1 left metatarsal V; 1 first phalanx; 1 third phalanx.

DESCRIPTION

The badger M. meles is frequently found in Pleistocene samples. His role in bone assemblage disturbance and stratigraphic significance are regularly evoked ( Clot & Duranthon 1990; Mallye 2007). It is clearly attested in Fouvent (NISP=25; MNI=10); the type of preservation/alteration of the concerned specimens supports their contemporaneity with the bulk of inventoried material. Their robustness and morphological features perfectly fit those of M. meles . In particular, the greatest lengths (GL) of all three metacarpals IV (36, 32.4, and 32.5 mm, respectively) fall within

the size range of Pleistocene badgers (between 28 and 32.5 mm; Ambros 2006) even if one of them appears larger than the compared data.

During the Late Pleistocene interval in Europe, Meles is only represented by M. meles ( Kurtén 1968; Mallye & Guérin 2002). Accordingly, we have referred the concerned specimens to that species.