Abstract

Fossils of Metatheria and Eulipotyphla from the karstic fissures MWQ2/2003, MCQ3/2005 and MWQ4/2018 of Mokrá-Quarry (South Moravia, the Czech Republic) are studied. These Early Miocene fissures have yielded remains of the herpetotheriid Amphiperatherium frequens, together with the erinaceids Amphechinus cf. baudeloti, Galerix exilis, and G. symeonidisi. The talpid Talpa sp. has also been identified. The rare remains of Amphiperatherium frequens represent the first description of this species from the Early Miocene of the Czech Republic. The erinaceid Amphechinus cf. baudeloti could be a convenient structural ancestor of A. baudeloti, although the scarcity of remains hampered a clear taxonomic verdict. In addition, the relatively abundant remains of Galericinae in the studied fissures made it possible to identify a mixture of two Galerix species, G. exilis and G. symeonidisi. Their cooccurrence is evidenced at least in MWQ2/2003. The dentognathic and postcranial remains of Talpidae clearly point to Talpa sp. The relatively low diversity of insectivores recovered from Mokrá-Quarry fissures agree with previous studies concerning the paleoenvironmental reconstruction, depicting Mokrá-Quarry as a dry karst plateau close to water bodies and patches of woodland. The wide range of small mammal species found in Mokrá-Quarry fissures suggests a diverse regional environment, making Mokrá-Quarry a reference locality in the Early Miocene of Central Europe.

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Abstract

Over the last half a century, a massive amount of data has been gathered on Neogene rodents of Europe. Using the NOW database, we analysed changes in generic diversity during the Neogene and the beginning of the Quaternary. Studies as the present are useful for exploring major changes in diversity, but the pitfalls are many and varied. Whereas the quality of the fossil record is good, there are notable exceptions. Within our dataset, MN 1, MN 12 and MN 17 stand out for the limited number of localities available and the record of the eastern Mediterranean is clearly as yet poorer than that from central Europe and the Iberian Peninsula. The record can be influenced by incomplete faunal lists, outdated literature and unresolved taxonomies. In addition, the use of the MN system presumably obscures patterns, as it often does not allow for a co-eval comparison between various regions. Reconstruction of major patterns starts with the understanding of basic data. Despite all these limitations the results of this work indicate that the record for central Europe consistently shows higher diversity than lower latitudes. The highest peak in diversity is found in MN 15, but the record of the Iberian Peninsula shows no increase at that time. The rodent diversity is surprisingly constant during most part of the Neogene, the stronger variations being related to the diversification of the murinae and arvicolinae groups and decline of the cricetine.

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