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Cricetodon is present in the early Miocene of Greece in six assemblages, Cricetodon aliveriensis Klein Hofmeijer and de Bruijn, 1988 in Aliveri and Karydia (both MN4) and Cricetodon meini Freudenthal, 1963 in the MN5 localities of Thymiana A and C, Antonios and Komotini. The two MN4 small mammal assemblages in Aliveri (Euboea island) and Karydia (Northern Greece) have several species in common and Cricetodon aliveriensis is one of them. The aim of this paper is to record and describe this species, the most abundant rodent in the Karydia assemblage, to compare the morphological variation and to discuss the differences in size between the material of Karydia and Aliveri. The results of this study indicate that we deal with one Cricetodon species in Karydia, although more advanced than Cricetodon aliveriensis from Aliveri. This study highlights the importance of a detailed morphological description to the size range of a species. The Karydia material shows a large range in length and width measurements that may indicate heterogeneity of samples. However, the morphological similarity and the normal distribution of the Cricetodon values support the assignment to only one species.

The world-famous upper Miocene fossil localities on the Aegean island of Samos in Greece have produced a rich fossil record that sheds light on the evolution of eastern Mediterranean terrestrial faunas over a one-million-year interval of the late Neogene. Fossils have been discovered on Samos since antiquity, although a succession of paleontological and commercial collecting expeditions over the last 130 years has resulted in specimens now being distributed throughout museums all over the world. Here, we survey the fossil tortoise remains from Samos, which are significant because they include early antecedents of the modern Testudo lineage, together with spectacular examples of the European Neogene gigantic testudinid †Titanochelon, which represents one of the largest-bodied terrestrial turtle taxa documented to date. All of the Samos fossils derive from the Mytilinii Formation, which spans the late MN11–early MN13 Neogene land mammal zones. The small-bodied tortoise remains include two incomplete shells that are morphologically consistent with basal testudonans and phylogenetically distinct from the coeval species Testudo marmorum found on mainland Greece. The Samos gigantic tortoise †‘Testudo’ schafferi was based on a spectacularly large skull and femur. However, we describe new plastron fragments, limb elements, and osteoderms that are compatible with †Titanochelon specimens from southern Greece and Anatolia. This could imply faunal links with the distinctive ‘Pikermian’ local assemblages from Asia Minor and concurs with the proposed late Miocene–Pliocene biogeographic segregation of large mammals from the eastern Aegean margin and Turkey relative to those occurring in northwestern Greece and the Balkan Peninsula.

The world-famous upper Miocene fossil localities on the Aegean island of Samos in Greece have produced a rich fossil record that sheds light on the evolution of eastern Mediterranean terrestrial faunas over a one-million-year interval of the late Neogene. Fossils have been discovered on Samos since antiquity, although a succession of paleontological and commercial collecting expeditions over the last 130 years has resulted in specimens now being distributed throughout museums all over the world. Here, we survey the fossil tortoise remains from Samos, which are significant because they include early antecedents of the modern Testudo lineage, together with spectacular examples of the European Neogene gigantic testudinid †Titanochelon, which represents one of the largest-bodied terrestrial turtle taxa documented to date. All of the Samos fossils derive from the Mytilinii Formation, which spans the late MN11–early MN13 Neogene land mammal zones. The small-bodied tortoise remains include two incomplete shells that are morphologically consistent with basal testudonans and phylogenetically distinct from the coeval species Testudo marmorum found on mainland Greece. The Samos gigantic tortoise †‘Testudo’ schafferi was based on a spectacularly large skull and femur. However, we describe new plastron fragments, limb elements, and osteoderms that are compatible with †Titanochelon specimens from southern Greece and Anatolia. This could imply faunal links with the distinctive ‘Pikermian’ local assemblages from Asia Minor and concurs with the proposed late Miocene–Pliocene biogeographic segregation of large mammals from the eastern Aegean margin and Turkey relative to those occurring in northwestern Greece and the Balkan Peninsula.

The world-famous upper Miocene fossil localities on the Aegean island of Samos in Greece have produced a rich fossil record that sheds light on the evolution of eastern Mediterranean terrestrial faunas over a one-million-year interval of the late Neogene. Fossils have been discovered on Samos since antiquity, although a succession of paleontological and commercial collecting expeditions over the last 130 years has resulted in specimens now being distributed throughout museums all over the world. Here, we survey the fossil tortoise remains from Samos, which are significant because they include early antecedents of the modern Testudo lineage, together with spectacular examples of the European Neogene gigantic testudinid †Titanochelon, which represents one of the largest-bodied terrestrial turtle taxa documented to date. All of the Samos fossils derive from the Mytilinii Formation, which spans the late MN11–early MN13 Neogene land mammal zones. The small-bodied tortoise remains include two incomplete shells that are morphologically consistent with basal testudonans and phylogenetically distinct from the coeval species Testudo marmorum found on mainland Greece. The Samos gigantic tortoise †‘Testudo’ schafferi was based on a spectacularly large skull and femur. However, we describe new plastron fragments, limb elements, and osteoderms that are compatible with †Titanochelon specimens from southern Greece and Anatolia. This could imply faunal links with the distinctive ‘Pikermian’ local assemblages from Asia Minor and concurs with the proposed late Miocene–Pliocene biogeographic segregation of large mammals from the eastern Aegean margin and Turkey relative to those occurring in northwestern Greece and the Balkan Peninsula.

The world-famous upper Miocene fossil localities on the Aegean island of Samos in Greece have produced a rich fossil record that sheds light on the evolution of eastern Mediterranean terrestrial faunas over a one-million-year interval of the late Neogene. Fossils have been discovered on Samos since antiquity, although a succession of paleontological and commercial collecting expeditions over the last 130 years has resulted in specimens now being distributed throughout museums all over the world. Here, we survey the fossil tortoise remains from Samos, which are significant because they include early antecedents of the modern Testudo lineage, together with spectacular examples of the European Neogene gigantic testudinid †Titanochelon, which represents one of the largest-bodied terrestrial turtle taxa documented to date. All of the Samos fossils derive from the Mytilinii Formation, which spans the late MN11–early MN13 Neogene land mammal zones. The small-bodied tortoise remains include two incomplete shells that are morphologically consistent with basal testudonans and phylogenetically distinct from the coeval species Testudo marmorum found on mainland Greece. The Samos gigantic tortoise †‘Testudo’ schafferi was based on a spectacularly large skull and femur. However, we describe new plastron fragments, limb elements, and osteoderms that are compatible with †Titanochelon specimens from southern Greece and Anatolia. This could imply faunal links with the distinctive ‘Pikermian’ local assemblages from Asia Minor and concurs with the proposed late Miocene–Pliocene biogeographic segregation of large mammals from the eastern Aegean margin and Turkey relative to those occurring in northwestern Greece and the Balkan Peninsula.

The world-famous upper Miocene fossil localities on the Aegean island of Samos in Greece have produced a rich fossil record that sheds light on the evolution of eastern Mediterranean terrestrial faunas over a one-million-year interval of the late Neogene. Fossils have been discovered on Samos since antiquity, although a succession of paleontological and commercial collecting expeditions over the last 130 years has resulted in specimens now being distributed throughout museums all over the world. Here, we survey the fossil tortoise remains from Samos, which are significant because they include early antecedents of the modern Testudo lineage, together with spectacular examples of the European Neogene gigantic testudinid †Titanochelon, which represents one of the largest-bodied terrestrial turtle taxa documented to date. All of the Samos fossils derive from the Mytilinii Formation, which spans the late MN11–early MN13 Neogene land mammal zones. The small-bodied tortoise remains include two incomplete shells that are morphologically consistent with basal testudonans and phylogenetically distinct from the coeval species Testudo marmorum found on mainland Greece. The Samos gigantic tortoise †‘Testudo’ schafferi was based on a spectacularly large skull and femur. However, we describe new plastron fragments, limb elements, and osteoderms that are compatible with †Titanochelon specimens from southern Greece and Anatolia. This could imply faunal links with the distinctive ‘Pikermian’ local assemblages from Asia Minor and concurs with the proposed late Miocene–Pliocene biogeographic segregation of large mammals from the eastern Aegean margin and Turkey relative to those occurring in northwestern Greece and the Balkan Peninsula.

We here describe new remains of amphibians and reptiles from the early Miocene (MN 4) of two different Greek localities, Aliveri and Karydia. The newly described material consists of urodelans, alytids, indeterminate anurans, turtles, crocodylians, lacertids, indeterminate scincomorphs, anguids, colubrids, viperids, and indeterminate snakes. The presence of the frog Latonia cf. gigantea in Greece is documented for the first time. Additionally, the presence of viperids in Aliveri implies a much wider distribution for these snakes during the early Miocene of Europe. Of special interest is the presence of a peculiar colubrid that seems to possess a hitherto unknown vertebral structure, which is herein defined as the ‘paracentral ridge’. Although incomplete, the new material has important taxonomic and biogeographic implications, as it enhances our understanding of southeastern European herpetofaunas from the early Miocene, a time period that was characterised by major dispersal and extinction events and climatic change that affected the whole continent.

Well-preserved fossil eggs and eggshell fragments from the Pliocene Apolakkia Formation of Rhodes (Greece) are described. The eggs were found in-situ in a clutch. They are sub-spherical with lengths of 53-60 mm and widths of about 40 mm. All eggs are diagenetically compressed and their original diameters are estimated at 45-50 mm. The eggshells are 0.3-0.5 mm thick, partly recrystallized, but widely still aragonitic. They consist of needle-like crystals that form individual shell units. A few pores are preserved between these shell units. This shell-structure allows assignment to chelonian eggs in the oofamily Testudoolithidae and the oogenus Testudolithus. The external morphology, microstructure and mineralogical composition of the eggshells show close resemblance to eggs of the extant tortoise Geochelone elephantopus. Together with a small association of turtle carapace fragments from the same formation, the clutch represents the first discovery of turtle and reptilian remains from the Pliocene of the island of Rhodes.

Well-preserved fossil eggs and eggshell fragments from the Pliocene Apolakkia Formation of Rhodes (Greece) are described. The eggs were found in-situ in a clutch. They are sub-spherical with lengths of 53-60 mm and widths of about 40 mm. All eggs are diagenetically compressed and their original diameters are estimated at 45-50 mm. The eggshells are 0.3-0.5 mm thick, partly recrystallized, but widely still aragonitic. They consist of needle-like crystals that form individual shell units. A few pores are preserved between these shell units. This shell-structure allows assignment to chelonian eggs in the oofamily Testudoolithidae and the oogenus Testudolithus. The external morphology, microstructure and mineralogical composition of the eggshells show close resemblance to eggs of the extant tortoise Geochelone elephantopus. Together with a small association of turtle carapace fragments from the same formation, the clutch represents the first discovery of turtle and reptilian remains from the Pliocene of the island of Rhodes.

Well-preserved fossil eggs and eggshell fragments from the Pliocene Apolakkia Formation of Rhodes (Greece) are described. The eggs were found in-situ in a clutch. They are sub-spherical with lengths of 53-60 mm and widths of about 40 mm. All eggs are diagenetically compressed and their original diameters are estimated at 45-50 mm. The eggshells are 0.3-0.5 mm thick, partly recrystallized, but widely still aragonitic. They consist of needle-like crystals that form individual shell units. A few pores are preserved between these shell units. This shell-structure allows assignment to chelonian eggs in the oofamily Testudoolithidae and the oogenus Testudolithus. The external morphology, microstructure and mineralogical composition of the eggshells show close resemblance to eggs of the extant tortoise Geochelone elephantopus. Together with a small association of turtle carapace fragments from the same formation, the clutch represents the first discovery of turtle and reptilian remains from the Pliocene of the island of Rhodes.

We here describe new remains of amphibians and reptiles from the early Miocene (MN 4) of two different Greek localities, Aliveri and Karydia. The newly described material consists of urodelans, alytids, indeterminate anurans, turtles, crocodylians, lacertids, indeterminate scincomorphs, anguids, colubrids, viperids, and indeterminate snakes. The presence of the frog Latonia cf. gigantea in Greece is documented for the first time. Additionally, the presence of viperids in Aliveri implies a much wider distribution for these snakes during the early Miocene of Europe. Of special interest is the presence of a peculiar colubrid that seems to possess a hitherto unknown vertebral structure, which is herein defined as the ‘paracentral ridge’. Although incomplete, the new material has important taxonomic and biogeographic implications, as it enhances our understanding of southeastern European herpetofaunas from the early Miocene, a time period that was characterised by major dispersal and extinction events and climatic change that affected the whole continent.