Ancient DNA Contradicts the Presence of Social Voles (Genus Microtus, Subgenus Sumeriomys) in the Late Pleistocene of Western Europe
Taxonomic decisions made by palaeontologists are often based on a few morphological features preserved in the fossil material. This practice may sometimes lead to the description of new species based on single specimens, which are, in fact, extreme or aberrant morphological variants of known taxa. A...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/1424-2818/15/4/538/ 2023-08-20T04:07:58+02:00 Ancient DNA Contradicts the Presence of Social Voles (Genus Microtus, Subgenus Sumeriomys) in the Late Pleistocene of Western Europe Adam Nadachowski Anna Lemanik Laure Fontana Danijela Popović Michał Golubiński Barbara Bujalska Mateusz Baca agris 2023-04-07 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/d15040538 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Phylogeny and Evolution https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d15040538 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Diversity; Volume 15; Issue 4; Pages: 538 arvicolines taxonomy and systematics dental morphology ancient DNA Cytb last glacial period Text 2023 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/d15040538 2023-08-01T09:36:46Z Taxonomic decisions made by palaeontologists are often based on a few morphological features preserved in the fossil material. This practice may sometimes lead to the description of new species based on single specimens, which are, in fact, extreme or aberrant morphological variants of known taxa. Ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis of the Late Pleistocene specimens from the archaeological site Petits Guinards (Creuzier-la-Vieux, Allier, France), described as a new vole Microtus (Sumeriomys) bifrons, did not confirm the species distinctness of the studied population. The genetically examined specimens belonged to Stenocranius anglicus and/or Microtus arvalis, the dominant species at the site. Our findings show that it is risky to describe new fossil taxa on the basis of phenotypic outliers or morphologically aberrant, rare specimens that do not fall within the previously known population variability. We also highlight the importance of ancient DNA in resolving taxonomic and nomenclature problems and classifying fossil mammals of the Late Pleistocene age. Text Microtus arvalis MDPI Open Access Publishing Diversity 15 4 538 |
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MDPI Open Access Publishing |
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ftmdpi |
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English |
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arvicolines taxonomy and systematics dental morphology ancient DNA Cytb last glacial period |
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arvicolines taxonomy and systematics dental morphology ancient DNA Cytb last glacial period Adam Nadachowski Anna Lemanik Laure Fontana Danijela Popović Michał Golubiński Barbara Bujalska Mateusz Baca Ancient DNA Contradicts the Presence of Social Voles (Genus Microtus, Subgenus Sumeriomys) in the Late Pleistocene of Western Europe |
topic_facet |
arvicolines taxonomy and systematics dental morphology ancient DNA Cytb last glacial period |
description |
Taxonomic decisions made by palaeontologists are often based on a few morphological features preserved in the fossil material. This practice may sometimes lead to the description of new species based on single specimens, which are, in fact, extreme or aberrant morphological variants of known taxa. Ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis of the Late Pleistocene specimens from the archaeological site Petits Guinards (Creuzier-la-Vieux, Allier, France), described as a new vole Microtus (Sumeriomys) bifrons, did not confirm the species distinctness of the studied population. The genetically examined specimens belonged to Stenocranius anglicus and/or Microtus arvalis, the dominant species at the site. Our findings show that it is risky to describe new fossil taxa on the basis of phenotypic outliers or morphologically aberrant, rare specimens that do not fall within the previously known population variability. We also highlight the importance of ancient DNA in resolving taxonomic and nomenclature problems and classifying fossil mammals of the Late Pleistocene age. |
format |
Text |
author |
Adam Nadachowski Anna Lemanik Laure Fontana Danijela Popović Michał Golubiński Barbara Bujalska Mateusz Baca |
author_facet |
Adam Nadachowski Anna Lemanik Laure Fontana Danijela Popović Michał Golubiński Barbara Bujalska Mateusz Baca |
author_sort |
Adam Nadachowski |
title |
Ancient DNA Contradicts the Presence of Social Voles (Genus Microtus, Subgenus Sumeriomys) in the Late Pleistocene of Western Europe |
title_short |
Ancient DNA Contradicts the Presence of Social Voles (Genus Microtus, Subgenus Sumeriomys) in the Late Pleistocene of Western Europe |
title_full |
Ancient DNA Contradicts the Presence of Social Voles (Genus Microtus, Subgenus Sumeriomys) in the Late Pleistocene of Western Europe |
title_fullStr |
Ancient DNA Contradicts the Presence of Social Voles (Genus Microtus, Subgenus Sumeriomys) in the Late Pleistocene of Western Europe |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ancient DNA Contradicts the Presence of Social Voles (Genus Microtus, Subgenus Sumeriomys) in the Late Pleistocene of Western Europe |
title_sort |
ancient dna contradicts the presence of social voles (genus microtus, subgenus sumeriomys) in the late pleistocene of western europe |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/d15040538 |
op_coverage |
agris |
genre |
Microtus arvalis |
genre_facet |
Microtus arvalis |
op_source |
Diversity; Volume 15; Issue 4; Pages: 538 |
op_relation |
Phylogeny and Evolution https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d15040538 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/d15040538 |
container_title |
Diversity |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
4 |
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538 |
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