Occurrence of pharyngeal teeth of the carp, Cyprinus Linnaeus (Teleostei, Cyprinidae) in the Middle and Upper Miocene of Andalusia (southern Spain): A puzzling disconnected palaeobiogeographical distribution

Three pharyngeal teeth of carp, Cyprinus Linnaeus, were found when washing and screening sediment in the Middle and Upper Miocene of Andalusia (Spain). Their examination has shown that they look very similar to those of the recent carp, Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, so that it would not be impossible that they belong to this species. Their presence in southern Spain at that time is surprising because Cyprinus remains are unknown before the Pleistocene in the countries westward of Ukraine, as no articulated skeleton or bony fragment of this genus has ever been identified in the many Mio-Pliocene localities investigated throughout central and western Europe. (C) 2014 Academie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.