Miosorex sp.

Rzebik-Kowalska, Barbara & Rekovets, Leonid I., 2016, New data on Eulipotyphla (Insectivora, Mammalia) from the Late Miocene to the Middle Pleistocene of Ukraine, Palaeontologia Electronica 12 (1), pp. 1-31 : 14

cf. Miosorex sp.

Figure 7.1

Material. Verkhnya Krynitsa 2 ( MN 11/ MN 12), right I1. MNI = 1. Catalogue number 29/2/6.

Description. The I1 ( Figure 7.1 ) is not fissident. Its upper margin is extremely convex and the apex curved down. The ventral edge of the apex is straight with a small denticle situated near the talon. There is an acute angle between the apex and the talon. The talon is slightly bulbous on the buccal side. The posterior cingulum is wide.

Measurements. See Table 5.

Systematic Position. The I1 from Verkhnya Krynitsa 2 is different from I1 of all known soricid species with the exception of this tooth in the subfamily Crocidosoricinae and especially in the genus Miosorex . Unfortunately, it is relatively large, larger than I1 of any form of that subfamily, even of the largest Miosorex , a genus with the longest stratigraphic range. However, according to de Jong (1988), M. grivensis enlarged its dimensions with geological age. The youngest remains of Miosorex are known so far from MN10 ( France, Farjanel and Mein, 1984; Spain, van den Hoek Ostende and Furió, 2005) and the described I1 is dated to MN11/MN12. It is, therefore, much younger than French and Spanish specimens, and perhaps this explains its larger size. If the identification is correct, it is the youngest and the largest Miosorex species known so far, and it enlarges the geographical range of the species eastward.

Figures

FIGURE 7. 1, cf. Miosorex sp. from Verkhnya Krynitsa 2, right I1, buccal view (c.n. 29/2/6/1). 2, Miosorex grivensis from Popovo 3, fragment of right mandible with m2 and trigonid of m3, buccal view (c.n. 29/III/7/1).