New Early Miocene Material of Iberictis, the Oldest Member of the Wolverine Lineage (Carnivora, Mustelidae, Guloninae)

• Published in: Journal of Mammalian Evolution
• Main Authors: Valenciano, Alberto, Abella, Juan, Alba, David M., Robles, Josep M., Álvarez-Sierra, M. Ángeles, Morales, Jorge
• Other Authors: European Commission, American Museum of Natural History, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España), Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España), Generalitat de Catalunya, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Springer Nature 2020
• Subjects: Mustelidae; Neogene; Gulo; Wolverine; Plesiogulo; Iberictis; Guloninae; Gulo gulo
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/230321; https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-018-9445-x; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002809; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100004837; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002911; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000780; https://doi.org/10.13039/100005835

We describe new dental remains of the genus Iberictis (Carnivora: Mustelidae) from the late early Miocene of the Iberian Peninsula. The new fossils of Iberictis azanzae from Artesilla (16.5–16.3 Ma, MN4; Calatayud-Teruel Basin, Zaragoza, Spain) add important morphological information about this species. Material from another species, Iberictis buloti, is described from els Casots (16.5–16.3 Ma, MN4; Vallès-Penedès Basin, Barcelona, Spain). This material constitutes the most complete sample of Iberictis and the first record of I. buloti in the Iberian Peninsula. Our analyses confirm the taxonomic validity of both species, and confirm the more plesiomorphic status of I. buloti compared to I. azanzae. Re-examination of large mustelid Miocene genera (Dehmictis, Ekorus, Eomellivora, Hoplictis, Iberictis, Ischyrictis, and Plesiogulo) and their inclusion for the first time in a cladistic analysis indicate that Iberictis is the sister taxon of Plesiogulo, and that these genera constitute the sister group of the extant wolverine (Gulo gulo). Our analysis thus confirms a close relationship between the early Miocene Iberictis, the late Miocene Plesiogulo, and the Plio-Pleistocene Gulo. Iberictis is the oldest member of Gulonini, the total clade of wolverines, thereby tracking the fossil record of this clade back to the early Miocene. We further propose a new systematic arrangement for the aforementioned large Miocene mustelids into the subfamilies Guloninae, Mellivorinae, and Mustelinae. This research received support by A.V. from the SYNTHESYS3 Project http://www.synthesys.info/(SYNTHESYS; AT-TAF-5457), which is financed by European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 Capacities Programme, and the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 226506 (SYNTHESYS; SE-TAF-3637). A.V. also received support by an American Museum of Natural History Collection Study Grant Program 2014. The support ofthe DST-NFR Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences (CoE-Pal) towardthis ...