A new, extraordinarily diverse, earliest Late Miocene (early Turolian, MN 11) small vertebrate “reference” assemblage from the Csodabogyós Cave (Keszthely Hills, Western Hungary)

Pages	114–153
DOI	10.37520/fi.2025.009
Keywords	Late Miocene, Turolian, MN 11, mammal, herpetofauna, Aves, Insectivora, Chiroptera, Rodentia
Citation	PAZONYI, Piroska, MÉSZÁROS, Lukács, TREMBECZKI, Mária, SZENTESI, Zoltán, SEGESDI, Martin, HORÁČEK, Ivan, MAUL, Lutz C. a HÍR, János. A new, extraordinarily diverse, earliest Late Miocene (early Turolian, MN 11) small vertebrate “reference” assemblage from the Csodabogyós Cave (Keszthely Hills, Western Hungary). Fossil Imprint / Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae, Series B – Historia Naturalis. Prague: National Museum, 2025, 81(1-2), 114–153. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37520/fi.2025.009. ISSN 2533-4050 (tisk), 2533-4069 (online). Also available from: https://www.nm.cz/en/periodicals/fossil-imprint-acta-musei-nationalis-pragae-series-b-historia-naturalis/81-1-2/a-new-extraordinarily-diverse-earliest-late-miocene-early-turolian-mn-11-small-vertebrate-reference-assemblage-from-the-csodabogyos-cave-keszthely-hills-western-hungary

Fossil Imprint / Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae, Series B – Historia Naturalis | 2025/81/1-2

The Csodabogyós Cave in western Hungary yielded a rich terrestrial vertebrate fauna during two excavations in 2023. The material comprises 1,053 amphibian and reptile remains, 51 bird bones, 5,640 identifiable mammal teeth and bones, and thousands of bone fragments. The fauna of the Csodabogyós Cave is most similar to that of the nearby Kohfidisch site (Burgenland, Austria). In the description of the shrew material, we raise the need to establish a new genus for “Petenyia” dubia Bachmayer et Wilson, 1970, we extend the stratigraphic range of Asoriculus gibberodon (Petényi, 1864) to the beginning of the MN 11 Zone, and we present a morphological transition between Crusafontina kormosi (Bachmayer et Wilson, 1970) and its descendant, Amblycoptus oligodon Kormos, 1924. Within the bat fauna, Myotis is the richest genus, with six forms. All three size ranges of Rhinolophus are represented, and Miniopterus and Plecotus also occur at the site. In addition, to the typical Late Miocene species of the rodent fauna, a new species of glirid (Vasseuromys n. sp.) and the westernmost and one of the oldest finds of the genus Microtoscoptes are described from the site. Based on the paleoecological analysis, the site’s environment was highly diverse. On the shores of Lake Pannon, a gallery forest and shrub vegetation were found, while further away from the lake was a wooded savannah, with semi-open karstic areas on the higher parts. It may have been warm, but drier than the Middle Miocene, with a seasonal climate, probably characterised by hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. The age of the fauna is estimated to be approximately 8.7–8.5 million years (early Turolian, MN 11).

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