Proedromys Thomas 1911

Proedromys Thomas 1911, Abstr. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1911 (90): 4.

Type Species: Proedromys bedfordi Thomas 1911

Species and subspecies: 1 species:

Species Proedromys bedfordi Thomas 1911

Discussion: Arvicolini. Although included in Microtus by Ellerman and Morrison-Scott (1951) and Corbet (1978 c), most systematists have maintained Proedromys as genus (G. M. Allen, 1940; Gromov and Polyakov, 1977; McKenna and Bell, 1997; Musser and Carleton, 1993; Pavlinov et al., 1995 a; Wang et al., 1966; Zhang et al., 1997). The taxon’s diagnostic traits, as enumerated by Thomas (1911 d — massive cranium with wide, heavy, and grooved upper incisors and remarkably short lower incisors, and molar peculiarities), identify it as an independent lineage derived from some as yet unidentified ancestral arvicoline stock. Gromov and Polyakov (1977) considered Proedromys a relict of unidentifiable affinites, and Repenning (1992:65), based on molar occlusal patterns, speculated that "an origin out of Allophaiomys or early Lasiopodomys seems apparent but is not as yet documented.".