Dipodidae (Mammalia, Rodentia) from the Paleogene of south-east Serbia

Wilma Wessels,Hans De Bruijn,Zoran Marković,Andrew A Van De Weerd

doi:10.1007/s12549-019-00392-5

Wilma Wessels, Hans De Bruijn + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-019-00392-5

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Abstract

Isolated cheek teeth of the Asian dipodid Heosminthus primiveris from four early Oligocene localities in the Koritnica-Babušnica basin, south-east Serbia, are described. The record of the Paleogene Dipodidae of Central Asia and Europe is briefly discussed. The current view of the migration pattern of the Paleogene Dipodidae between central Asia and Europe is revised: the migration of Plesiosminthus into Europe during the late Oligocene was preceded by the immigration of Heosminthus into the Serbo-Macedonian high (S. E. Europe) during the early Oligocene.

Highlights

The extant Dipodidae Fischer, 1817 occupy a diverse array of ecological niches and shows a wide range of morphological adaptations
The fossil record of the family suggests that the family originated in Asia during the early Eocene and that the radiation that leads to the present day diversity occurred during the Oligocene
Since a revision of the Asian Paleogene Dipodidae is far beyond the scope of this study, our allocation of this material to Heosminthus is not based on characters that are specific for that genus, but rather on the striking similarity of the Serbian teeth and the of the type material of the genotype Heosminthus primiveris Wang, 1985, from the early Oligocene Caijiachong Formation, Yunnan, China

Summary

Introduction

The extant Dipodidae Fischer, 1817 occupy a diverse array of ecological niches and shows a wide range of morphological adaptations. Eleven species have been formally named in south western and central Europe, but Freudenthal and Martín-Suárez (2017) did not observe clear trends in dental morphology and size to allow recognition of lineages within the European material In contrast to their history in Europe the Asian record of the Dipodidae goes back to the middle Eocene where the family became diverse and played a dominating role in Oligocene rodent communities (Dawson 2003; Daxner-Höck et al 2014). Since a revision of the Asian Paleogene Dipodidae is far beyond the scope of this study, our allocation of this material to Heosminthus is not based on characters that are specific for that genus, but rather on the striking similarity of the Serbian teeth and the (pictures) of the type material of the genotype Heosminthus primiveris Wang, 1985, from the early Oligocene (possibly late Eocene) Caijiachong Formation, Yunnan, China

Methods

Discussion and conclusions

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