E. Gheerbrant et al., Discovery of vertebrates in "Calcaires de Rona" (Thanetian or Spanacian), Transylvania, Romania: Oldest known Cenozoic mammals from Eastern Europe, ECLOG GEOL, 92(3), 1999, pp. 517-535
The new continental microvertebrate localities reported here from the "Calc
aires de Rona", NW Transylvania, Romania, yield the oldest mammals from Eas
tern Europe. An unsolved Thanetian-Sparnacian age is indicated by a previou
sly unreported specific association of mixed biostratigraphic affinities. T
he occurrence of a rodent postdates the MP6 reference-fauna of Cernay, but
does not exclude an age correlative to the North-American Clarkforkian. The
charophytes, the chelonians, and the mammals from the Transylvanian sites
are of typical European affinities and are the first data for a significant
Eastern extension of the European biotic province at the Paleocene-Eocene
transition. A new chelonian is referred to the family Dortokidae, previousl
y known only in the Cretaceous of SW Europe. The still poorly documented ma
mmals include multituberculates and primitive eutherians ("insectivores", c
ondylarths, and an undeterminate rodent). These new Transylvanian localitie
s add new important data to the knowledge of the evolution of early Cenozoi
c mammals in Europe and their paleobiogeography.