Large mammals from the late Middle Miocene of Markt Rettenbach (Bavaria, Germany)

Herein the fossil assemblage of the Middle Miocene (12.06 Ma) locality of Markt Rettenbach (Southern Germany) is studied. The fossil- bearing sediments of the clay pit have been known for almost a century, but until now only little is known about its fauna. A small sample of fossils collected in the 1940s is housed in the collections of the Kempten- Museum in the Zumsteinhaus (Germany). Since then, the clay pit has been re- naturalised and is not available for any further excavations and collecting of fossils. Thereby, this material, along with a single mandible of a Listriodon splendens described in the past, are the only information about the Middle Miocene fauna of this locality. Herein, five large mammals were identified: a proboscidean, a hornless rhino, a large- sized suid, a small ruminant (possibly a tragulid), and a medium- sized pecoran (possibly a small bovid). Thus, this work represents the first detailed study of the known mammalian fauna of Markt Rettenbach overall. Its fauna is comparable to other Middle Miocene sites such as Gratkorn (Austria) and matches the late Middle Miocene age previously suggested for the locality.