An advanced form of Microtus nivaloides Forsyth Major, 1902 (Arvicolinae, Rodentia) in the late Middle Pleistocene of West Siberia: facts and hypotheses ...

• Main Authors: Markova, Evgenia, Borodin, Aleksandr
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Taylor & Francis 2022
• Subjects: Medicine; Microbiology; FOS Biological sciences; Evolutionary Biology; Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified; Ecology; Sociology; FOS Sociology; Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified; Lemmus sibiricus; Siberia
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.21287011; https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/dataset/An_advanced_form_of_i_Microtus_nivaloides_i_Forsyth_Major_1902_Arvicolinae_Rodentia_in_the_late_Middle_Pleistocene_of_West_Siberia_facts_and_hypotheses/21287011

Grey voles Microtus sensu lato represent one of the youngest and most successful radiations of rodents in the Holarctic that gave rise to several genera and over 60 living species. Despite abundant fossil record encompassing up to one million years, the early stages of Microtus ’ evolution remain poorly understood. We describe Microtus voles from fluvial deposits (Tobolsky Horizon, the Late Middle Pleistocene) found in 2019–2020 in Gornopravdinsk 2, West Siberia. Based on linear measurements, m1 morphotypes, and configuration of mandibular masseteric crests, we identify the sample as a new taxon M. nivaloides lidiae ssp. nov. It appears more advanced than type specimens of M. nivaloides sensu stricto from West Runton Freshwater Bed (the Early Middle Pleistocene, Great Britain), and falls within the range of m1 variability of M. nivaloides sensu lato from the Middle Pleistocene of Eastern Europe. M. n. lidiae is found in a non-analogue faunal assemblage with Lemmus sibiricus, Dicrostonyx simplicior, ...