Muridae from the late Miocene site of Venta del Moro (Eastern Spain)

Abstract

Murids are usually the dominant faunas of the late Miocene and early Pliocene micromammal assemblages. The present work deals with the murid faunas of the well-known late Miocene locality of Venta del Moro, comprising over 2700 molars ascribed to the taxa Apodemus gorafensis, Occitanomys alcalai, Paraethomys meini and Stephanomys dubari. This list differs from those of previous studies by the presence of A. gorafensis instead of A. gudrunae. The presence of A. gudrunae in younger localities than Venta del Moro implies that both species, considered ancestor and descendant, coexisted for some time. In addition, the analysis of such an extensive collection has allowed us to check the variability of the studied species in great detail, such as the development of the longitudinal connections of O. alcalai, to a greater extent than previously described. Finally, we discuss the biometrical changes of the lineages of Paraethomys in Southern Europe from MN13 to MN15, and hypothesize about the mechanisms behind these variations in size.