I have just seen this study from July 2020 about the fossil species recorded in the Oltet River Valley of Romania from the early Pleistocene.
Animals found include several species of deer, bovids, a giraffid (
Mitilanotherium), a pig, horses, rhinoceros, canids (including the raccoon dog
Nyctereutes megamastoides), a badger, a bear, hyenas, as many as five cat species (two sabre-tooth cats -
Homotherium and
Meganteron, a lynx
Lynx issiodorensis, a cougar
Puma pardoides and possibly the giant cheetah
Acinonyx pardinensis), the large monkey
Paradolichopithecus, a crested porcupine, both the giant and modern Eurasian beaver, turtles and birds (including the giant ostrich
Pachystruthio).
For me, the most interesting find was that a pangolin formerly referred to as
Manis cf.
hungarica was actually found to be from the modern African ground pangolin genus
Smutsia - this animal was intermediate in size between the Temminck's ground and giant pangolins and is currently referred to as
Smutsia sp. nov. with additional descriptions forthcoming.
The full paper is included here:
Early Pleistocene fauna of the Olteţ River Valley of Romania: Biochronological and biogeographic implications - ScienceDirect
