Palaeodiversity of Cricetodontini during the late Aragonian (middle Miocene) from the European basins

Abstract

The results of our study on the record of the tribe Cricetodontini (Cricetidae, Rodentia, Mammalia) from the European latest middle Miocene (Calatayud-Daroca and Valles-Penedes basins from Spain, several fissure fillings from France and several basins and karstic sites from central and eastern Europe) is presented here. We have analysed the morphological and diversity patterns of the Cricetodontini and compared them with those described in the Calatayud-Daroca Basin in order to evaluate the presence of a general pattern of the tribe on a European scale. Our findings show the presence of a high diversity of Cricetodontini during the late Aragonian (13.80–10.77 Ma) in all of the areas studied in Europe to date, and that this period of high diversity followed an interval of low diversity of species with basal morphology. The Cricetodontini shows a high morphological diversity during the late Aragonian, and the species present different combinations of features as well as a high degree of endemicity. These results are in accordance with the evolutionary patterns recently described from the Spanish Calatayud-Daroca Basin. The late Aragonian, throughout all of Europe, represents a dramatic and important interval for the evolutionary history of the Cricetodontini.