New material of the shrew Macroneomys Fejfar, 1966 (Mammalia, Soricomorpha, Soricidae) from the British early Middle Pleistocene, with comments on its palaeobiology and European range

Abstract

Abstract. A lower incisor and two lower premolars of Macroneomys, from the early Middle Pleistocene archaeological site at Pakefield (Suffolk, UK), add to the relatively small number of finds of this enigmatic shrew known from the Pleistocene of Europe. Molluscs and vertebrates associated with the Pakefield Macroneomys suggest deposition in a large, fast-flowing river, bordered by open herbaceous vegetation and regional deciduous woodland. Macroneomys from Sugworth (near Oxford) and West Runton (Norfolk) is also associated with fluvial environments. This suggests that the species may have had an ecological preference for aquatic habitats. The thick enamel and bulbous morphology of the lower premolars from Pakefield may indicate a specialization for crushing, consistent with a diet of ‘hard’ or abrasive foods that may have included large molluscs and small vertebrates.