Lyras GA, Van Der Geer AAE. 2007. The Late Pliocene vertebrate fauna of Vatera (Lesvos Island, Greece). Cranium 24 (2): 11-24.
Vatera is a Late Pliocene
(~2 Ma) locality in the southern
part of Lesvos
Island, Greece, in which a
mainland fauna of large vertebrates
has been found and systematically
excavated. The fauna is composed
of the typical
European mammals of
that time: horses (Equus), giraffes (Mitilanotherium),
gazelles (Gazella), antelopes (Gazellospira), oxes (Leptobos), raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes), badgers (Meles), dirk-toothed cats
(Homotherium), rhinoceroses (Stephanorhinus),
mastodonts (Anancus)
and mammoths (Mammuthus). In addition, the remains
of a rare
species of macaque (Paradolichopithecus)
and a species
of a giant
tortoise (Cheirogaster)
were also discovered.