PROCAVIIDAE (HYRACOIDEA: MAMMALIA) FROM THE MIDDLE PLEISTOCENE INFILLINGS OF KARAIN CAVE, ANTALYA, TURKEY: BIOGEOGRAPHIC AND PALAEOCLIMATIC IMPLICATIONS

Abstract

Abundant procaviid fossils from archaeological contexts at Karain Cave, Antalya, Turkey, comprise the first record of this extant family of Hyracoidea outside Afro-Arabia. The relatively large body dimensions of the remains, which are attributed to Procavia capensis (the rock hyrax) indicate that the climate was relatively cool and humid, more so than the region where the nearest extant neighbours survive, the subspecies Procavia capensis syriaca, which is a smaller animal living in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel.