ABSTRACT

Anomalomyid rodents first appeared in the fossil record of Europe in the early Miocene being represented by three small-sized species of the genus Anomalomys (A. aliveriensis, A. minor, and A. minutus). During the middle and late Miocene, they were replaced by larger forms (A. gaudryi, A. rudabanyensis, A. gaillardi) with a simpler tooth morphology pattern. Here we describe a new medium-sized species of Anomalomys – A. grytsivensis sp. n. – from the early late Miocene locality Grytsiv in western Ukraine. The exceptional large sample size (ca. 500 specimens including maxillae and mandibles with dentition, isolated teeth) are confined to early Vallesian, MN9. The new species is characterised by the presence of brachio-hypselodont molars, separation of the anteroconid from the protoconid and mesoconid on m1 and m2, as well as the connection of mesoconid and protoconid to the hypoconid. Anomalomys grytsivensis sp. n. demonstrates a variable set of morphotypes and can be regarded as a transitional form between Anomalomys and Prospalax. Fossorial activity could be inherent to Anomalomys (as for Spalax), however it hardly played an important role in the life of these rodents because of their small and narrow incisors which could only occasionally be used as a digging tool.

摘要

Anomalomyid鼠害在欧洲的化石记录最早出现在早中新世由属的3个小型的物种代表Anomalomys（A. aliveriensis，A未成年人，和A.蝽）。在中新世中期和晚期，它们被更大的牙齿形态（A. gaudryi、A. rudabanyensis、A. gaillardi）取代，牙齿形态更简单。在这里，我们描述了一个新的中型品种Anomalomys - A. grytsivensissp. n. – 来自乌克兰西部中新世晚期的 Grytsiv。异常大的样本量（大约 500 个样本，包括有牙列的上颌骨和下颌骨，孤立的牙齿）仅限于早期的 Vallesian，MN9。新种的特征是存在臂-短齿磨牙，m1和m2上的前锥体与原锥体和中锥体分离，以及中锥体和原锥体与下锥体连接。Anomalomys grytsivensis sp. n. 展示了一组可变的形态类型，可以看作是Anomalomys和Prospalax之间的过渡形式。化石活动可能是异常固有的（对于Spalax)，但由于它们的门牙小而窄，只能偶尔用作挖掘工具，因此它在这些啮齿动物的生活中几乎没有发挥重要作用。