THE LATE PLIOCENE MAMMALIAN FAUNA OF AHL AL OUGHLAM, CASABLANCA, MOROCCO

The Late Pliocene site (ca 2.5 Ma) of Ahl al Oughlam has yielded a com plete fauna of macro- and micro-mammals, by far the richest of the lat e Cenozoic era of North Africa; it includes at least 55 species. Carni vora (23 species) are the dominant group. Many of them used the caves and fissures as dens or shelters, bringing in most of the ungulate rem ains. These remains include mostly medium-size species and juveniles o f larger ones. Very few taxa are akin to Palearctic ones, and most of the faunal exchanges were intra-African. However, when compared to Eas t Africa, the poor diversity of these these ungulates must be noted, w hich the karstic nature of the site fails to fully explain, but which could result from a harsh, open and relatively cold environment. (C) A cademie des sciences/Elsevier, Paris.