LAUSR

Abstract We describe the Late Pliocene paleoenvironment and paleoclimate of the Pula fossil site of the western Pannonian Basin, Hungary, which occurs within a lacustrine succession deposited in a volcanic crater (maar). Radiometric dating of adjacent volcanic bodies hosting the fossil-bearing sedimentary assemblages gives an age of 4.25 ± 0.17 Ma (K–Ar). To date, five, articulated rhinoceros skeletons (Dihoplus sp.) have been recovered, and a few fragmentary remains of artiodactyls and freshwater fishes (Perca sp., Leuciscus sp. and Gobius sp.) are also present. An insect taphocoenosis comprises terrestrial groups that inhabited the former lake margins (Syrphidae, Heteroptera, Chalcidoidea, Tenebrionidae) as well as aquatic insects (Dytiscidae, Baetidae, and Chironomidae). Deciduous broad-leaved, woody plants prevailed in and around the Pula locality (Quercus, Ulmus, Zelkova, Acer, Salicaceae) and are associated with some rare floral elements (Ginkgo, Sassafras) and Buxus. Deposition at the lake bottom seems to have taken place in oxygen-depleted layers, and taphonomic evidence indicates that fossil material underwent minimal (if any) weathering. δ13C values of one rhinoceros tooth suggest that this mammal consumed mixed C3 plants in a wooded environment. The climatic conditions inferred from the reconstructed vegetation and stable oxygen isotope data from the tooth enamel support a Cf-type climate (Koppen classification) with a mean annual temperature of 10–13 °C with some dry periods during the year. Pula is comparable to other maar fossil sites of Pliocene age such as Camp dels Ninots, Spain, and Hajnacka I, Slovakia.