MIO-PLIOCENE RODENTS FROM LISSASFA (CASAB LANCA, MAROC)

The new site of Lissasfa near Casablanca (Morocco) has yielded a rich rodent fauna, which includes: a new species of Paraethomys close to th e Spanish ones; a Mus which could be the earliest in North-Africa; a n ew species of Ruscinomys, with little reduced third molars; a rare Myo cricetodon similar to late Miocene Spanish forms; a new species of Pro tatera, also reminding of the Spanish Mio-Pliocene forms, but with a q uite peculiar M1; a second gerbillid species, rare, which compares fav ourably with a poorly known form from the early Pliocene of Tunisia; I rhoudia sp.; Atlantoxerus sp., and the rare Lophiomys. This associatio n is rather different from other faunas of similar age in North Africa , and this is a drawback against precise dating, but Lissasfa is most unlikely to be younger than the early Pliocene, thus demonstrating tha t the ''Quaternary'' sequence in Casablanca is much longer than previo usly believed.