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Mitt. Komm. Quartärforsch. Österr. Akad. Wiss., 13:47–48, Wien 2004
The list of all taxa published by BRODAR, S. & M. (1983)
and verifi ed through fossil remains in Potočka zijalka,
could be confi rmed for the most part in course of the
renewed excavations.
Pisces und Mollusca were only collected during the exca-
vation Brodar. Among birds the number of species could
be increased to four, but Lagopus mutus (BRODAR, S. & M.,
1983) was not recovered during the recent excavations.
The sand lizard Lacerta agilis is evident by two dentalia,
whereas remains of Amphibians could not be collected.
In the assemblage of small mammals, in layer 8 after
Brodar, remains of Soricids and Arvicolids predominate.
In course of the recent collections the Sorex-taxa are
confi rmed, though no remains of Crocidura and Talpa
were found.
The genus Myotis and Eptesicus among bats could not be
established, whereas well determined remains of the genus
Barbastella are available, which are close to the fi nds from
Drachenloch near Mixnitz.
Among rodents we could not detect any remains of Glirids,
while in BRODAR, S. & M. (1983) Glis and Muscardinus
are mentioned. Microtus-species (with the exception of
M. agrestis) are confi rmed, as well as Arvicola. The terms
Microtus incertus and Arvicola cfr. Scherman have been
replaced by M. cf. subterraneus and A. terrestris. There
were no fi nds of hares in the recent material. Remains of
marmots were discovered in nearly all excavation areas of
the cave and confi rmed as faunal element of the Plenigla-
cial by one radiometric date.
Cave bear is the most abundant species among large
mammals, followed by remains of wolves. According to
BRODAR, S. & M. (1983) the few remains of brown bear
belong to the Holocene but the recent investigations sug-
gest Pleistocene remains as well. Cave lion is a newly
described species, although the specimen had already been
uncovered during the excavations by Brodar. A previous
mentioned phalange was incorrect determined (PACHER,
1998). Other Felidae are not available from the recent ex-
cavations, while BRODAR, S. & M. (1983) describe remains
of Lynx lynx from the cave entrance.
Concerning Mustelidae, Gulo gulo is fi rst determined in
the material from the recent excavation campaigns (DÖP-
PES, 2001). Martes foina is another new faunal element of
Potočka zijalka, but no remains of Mustela were evident
in the recent material.
Ungulata remains are rare, and only Rupicapra rupicapra
is confi rmed in the material of the renewed excavations.
Musk-ox, recovered during the excavation Brodar, is a
remarkable fi nd in the Southern Alps. According to BRO-
DAR, S. & M. (1983:189) it must have been imported by
men and it does not belong to the Pleistocene Fauna of
Slovenia (RAKOVEC, 1975:264).
References
BRODAR, S. & BRODAR, M., 1983. Potočka zijalka, visoko-
alpska postaja aurignacienskih lovcev (Potočka zijalka
– eine hochalpine Aurignacjäger-Station). — Dela 1
in 4. razr. SAZU, 24:1–213, Ljubljana.
DÖPPES, D., 2001. Gulo gulo (Mustelidae, Mammalia)
im Jungpleistozän Mitteleuropas. — Beitr. Paläont.,
26:1–95, Wien.
PACHER, M., 1998. Die pleistozäne Höhlenfundstelle
Potočka zijalka in Slowenien. — Geol.-Paläont. Mitt.
Innsbruck, 23:67–76, Innsbruck.
RAKOVEC, I., 1975. Razvoj kvatarne sesalske favne v Slo-
veniji. — Arh. vest., 24:225–270, Ljubljana.
List of Fossil Faunal Remains from Potočka zijalka
(Slovenia)
Gernot RABEDER1), Doris DÖPPES1), Miha KROFEL2), Martina PACHER1), Vida POHAR3), Karl L.
RAUSCHER1) & Gerhard WITHALM1)
RABEDER, G., DÖPPES, D., KROFEL, M., PACHER, M., POHAR, V., RAUSCHER, K. & WITHALM, G., 2004. List of Fossil Faunal
Remains from Potočka zijalka (Slovenia). — Mitt. Komm. Quartärforsch. Österr. Akad. Wiss., 13:47–48, Wien.
1) UNIV.-PROF. DR. GERNOT RABEDER, DR. DORIS DÖPPES,
DR. MARTINA PACHER, DR. KARL RAUSCHER & DR.
GERHA RD WITHALM, all: Institute of Palaeontology,
University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, A-1090 Vienna,
Austria. e-mail: gernot.rabeder@univie.ac.at, doris.
doeppes@univie.ac.at, martina.pacher@univie.ac.at,
karl.rauscher@univie.ac.at, gerhard.withalm@univie.
ac.at
2) MIHA KROFEL, Zavrh 2, SI-1353 Borovnica, Slovenija.
e-mail: lynx_mk@hotmail.com
3) PROF. DR. VIDA POHAR, Department of Geology, Faculty
of Natural Sciences and Engineering, University of
Ljubljana, Aškerčeva 2, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
48 Mitt. Komm. Quartärforsch. Österr. Akad. Wiss., 13, Wien, 2004
Table 1: List of faunal remains from Potočka zijalka.
BRODAR, S. & M. (1983) POHAR & RABEDER
Class Genus Species layer 1–7 layer 8–9 layer 1–7 layer 8–9
Amphibia Rana cf. temporaria — + — —
Rana cf. vulgaris — + — —
Reptilia Lacerta agilis + — 1
Aves Lagopus mutus + — 1 —
Pyrrhula pyrrhula — — 1 —
Emberiza sp. — — 1 —
Pyrrhocorax graculus — — 1 —
Garrulus cf. glandarius — — 1 —
Turdus ? sp. — — 1 —
Mammalia Sorex minutus — + — 2
Sorex alpinus — + — 1
Sorex araneus — + — 7
Crocidura sp. — + — —
Talpa europaea — + — —
Myotis myotis — + — —
Myotis sp. 1 — + — —
Myotis sp. 2 — + — —
Eptesicus serotinus — + — —
Barbastella cf. schadleri — — 5 —
Marmota marmota + — 1 1
Glis glis + — — —
Muscardinus avellanarius — + — —
Arvicola terrestris —„aff. Scher-
manni” — 2
Microtus arvalis — + — 24
Microtus agrestis — + — —
Microtus cf. subterraneus — „incertus“ — 11
Microtus nivalis + — — 3
Microtus oeconomus — — — 2
Lepus europaeus + — — —
Canis lupus + — ? 1
Vulpes vulpes + — —
Ursus arctos + ? ?
Ursus ingressus „spelaeus“„spelaeus“ ca. 50
Mustela nivalis + — —
Mustela sp. + — —
Martes foina — — — +
Martes martes — — — +
Gulo gulo — — 1 +
Panthera spelaea ? ? ? —
Lynx lynx — + — —
Cervus elaphus + — — —
Capreolus capreolus + — — —
Bos primigenius f. taurus + — — —
Rupicapra rupicapra + — 1 —
Ovibos moschatus + — — —