PROLAGUS (LAGOMORPHA, PROLAGIDAE) FROM THE PLIOCENE OF MOLDOVA AND UKRAINE

Abstract

Two species of the genus Prolagus, P. sorbinii Masini (Early Ruscinian) and P. bilobus Heller (Late Ruscinian), are determined from the Pliocene of Ukraine and Moldova for the first time. Prolagus fossils from the Upper Ruscinian of Moldova and Ukraine, which were previously referred to as Prolagus cf. oeningensis, are assigned to P. bilobus. In Eastern Europe, P. sorbinii became extinct and P. bilobus widely distributed at the boundary between the Early and Late Ruscinian.