Pliomys
| Pliomys Temporal range:
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|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Cricetidae |
| Genus: | †Pliomys Méhely 1914[1] |
| Species[3] | |
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Pliomys is an extinct genus of voles that inhabited Europe during the Pleistocene epoch.
Distribution
The genus is known from fossils found across Europe.[4] The earliest fossils date to the first half of the Early Pleistocene (or possibly Late Pliocene) assigned to the species P. simplictor.[5] One species, P. lenki (which is possibly synonymous with Pliomys coronensis), surviving to the end of the Late Pleistocene, until around 12,000 years ago in southern France and the Iberian Peninsula.[4]
Taxonomy
Pliomys belongs to the tribe Pliomyini of the subfamily Arvicolinae.[6] Morphological evidence and DNA sequences obtained from P. lenki suggests that its closest living relative is the genus Dinaromys with a single species native to the Balkans, with P. lenki estimated to have diverged from Dinaromys around 4 million years ago. Both genera are suggested to have originated from the fossil genus Propliomys.[5]
Description
P. episcopalis and P. coronensis can be distinguished based on the morphology of their anteroconids. In P. episcopalis, T7 is typically not present or only somewhat developed, while the anterior cap is largely confluent with T6 and T7 when it is present. P. coronensis, on the other hand, has a distinctive T7. It also has well developed LRA5 and BRA4 angles, which combined with the distinctive T7 produces a clearer separation of T6 and T7 from the anterior cap.[7]
Palaeobiology
Palaeoecology
P. lenki was generally associated with cold and temperate conditions showing a range of climatic tolerance, though it appears to have only lived in open habitats and was intolerant of forest, with many specimens also found in hilly or mountainous environments.[4]
References
- ^ Méhely. 1914. A Magyar Nemzeti Muzeum Természetrajzi Osztályainak Folyóirata. Annales Historico-Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici 12
- ^ C. Radulesco and P. -M. Samson. 1996. Pliocene and Early Pleistocene arvicolids (Rodentia, Mammalia) of the Dacic Basin, Romania. Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia 39(1):401–406
- ^ "PBDB Taxon".
- ^ a b c Cuenca-Bescós, G.; Straus, L.G.; García-Pimienta, J.C.; Morales, M.R. González; López-García, J.M. (February 2010). "Late Quaternary small mammal turnover in the Cantabrian Region: The extinction of Pliomys lenki (Rodentia, Mammalia)". Quaternary International. 212 (2): 129–136. Bibcode:2010QuInt.212..129C. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2009.06.006 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
- ^ a b Alfaro-Ibáñez, María; Lira-Garrido, Jaime; Cuenca-Bescós, Gloria; Pons, Joan; Bover, Pere (2024). "Insights on the evolution of the tribe Pliomyini (Arvicolinae, Rodentia): Ancient DNA from the extinct Pliomys lenki". Palaeontologia Electronica. doi:10.26879/1403. Retrieved 2 March 2026 – via Palaeontologia Electronica.
- ^ Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. pp. 894–1531 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
- ^ Rodríguez-Sánchez, Azahara; Fagoaga, Ana; López-García, Juan Manuel; García-Medrano, Paula; Cáceres, Isabel (1 September 2025). "Taxonomic diversity and environmental inferences through rodent assemblages from the Middle Pleistocene site of Galería (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain)". Historical Biology: 1–17. doi:10.1080/08912963.2025.2547967. ISSN 0891-2963. Retrieved 2 March 2026 – via Taylor and Francis Online.