The extant Cabrera’s vole,Microtus cabrerae,differs in morphology and evolutionary history from the other species of Microtus.This arvicoline has unique derived features in the cranium,mandible and dentition.Probably...The extant Cabrera’s vole,Microtus cabrerae,differs in morphology and evolutionary history from the other species of Microtus.This arvicoline has unique derived features in the cranium,mandible and dentition.Probably its most conspicuous features are its large size,the high skull in lateral view,the long and distally broad nasals,and the triangle shape of the anteroconid complex,with a marked labio-lingual asymmetry of the occlusal surface of the first lower molars.In this study,we propose a phylogenetic lineage that includes Cabrera’s vole in what until now has been the Microtus subgenus Iberomys.Paleontological information and several life history traits support the elevation of Iberomys to the rank of genus.Genus Iberomys comprises species that have appeared in succession during the Quaternary:in the Early Pleistocene,the extinct I.huescarensis in the Middle Pleistocene,the extinct I.mediterraneus and in the Late Pleistocene,the extant I.cabrerae.Interestingly,the extant species shows several biological singularities,such as multiple polymorphic copies of the SRY male-specific gene in both males and females,and the lowest basal metabolic rate in relation to weight among arvicoline species.Likewise,its habitat requirement is unique among the Iberian arvicolines.Accordingly,the biological and paleontological data that we present in this work support the elevation of its taxonomic rank to that of genus.This study also suggests a modification of nomenclature:Microtus(Iberomys)brecciensis is replaced with I.mediterraneus and the common name of the extant M.(I.)cabrerae changed from‘topillo’to‘iberon’to improve conservation and protection actions.展开更多
基金This work was supported by MICINN Projects CGL2009-12703-C03-03,CGL2012-38434-C03-01,Fundacion Ancestros,Fundación Atapuerca,Fundación Biodiversidad(Project‘Bases para la conservación del Iberón,M.cabrerae,en España’),Grupos consolidados del Gobierno de Aragon y Fondo Social Europeo(European Social Fund).Hugues-Alexandre Blain(IPHES)scanned part of the work of Cuvier of 1812 from the original personal exemplar.We are grateful to the people from different institutions who provided materials for the present study:Pablo Martínez Rica(IPE)and Josefina Barreiro(Dpto.Aves y Mamíferos,Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales de Madrid).Andy Currant(NHM)provided material from Westbury-sub-Mendip and Lutz Maul(Senckenberg,Weimar)provided material from Untermassfeld.Comments made by Ignacio Martínez(Universidad de Alcaláde Henares/Instituto de Salud Carlos III),Alvaro Morcillo(Madrid),María Melero(Logroño),JoséA.Garrido-García(Estación Biológica de Doñana),Rafael Diaz de la Guardia(Universidad de Jaen),Boris Krystufek(University of Primorska)and Juan Jiménez(Conselleria de Valencia)improved the drafts of this article.JoséM.López-García is a beneficiary of a Beatriu de Pinós postdoctoral fellowship(2011BP-A00272)from the Generalitat de Catalunya,a grant co-funded by the European Union through the Marie Curie Actions of the 7th Framework Program for R+D.M.A.Galindo-Pellicena is a beneficiary of grants BES-2007-15368,and Fundacion Atapuerca.
文摘The extant Cabrera’s vole,Microtus cabrerae,differs in morphology and evolutionary history from the other species of Microtus.This arvicoline has unique derived features in the cranium,mandible and dentition.Probably its most conspicuous features are its large size,the high skull in lateral view,the long and distally broad nasals,and the triangle shape of the anteroconid complex,with a marked labio-lingual asymmetry of the occlusal surface of the first lower molars.In this study,we propose a phylogenetic lineage that includes Cabrera’s vole in what until now has been the Microtus subgenus Iberomys.Paleontological information and several life history traits support the elevation of Iberomys to the rank of genus.Genus Iberomys comprises species that have appeared in succession during the Quaternary:in the Early Pleistocene,the extinct I.huescarensis in the Middle Pleistocene,the extinct I.mediterraneus and in the Late Pleistocene,the extant I.cabrerae.Interestingly,the extant species shows several biological singularities,such as multiple polymorphic copies of the SRY male-specific gene in both males and females,and the lowest basal metabolic rate in relation to weight among arvicoline species.Likewise,its habitat requirement is unique among the Iberian arvicolines.Accordingly,the biological and paleontological data that we present in this work support the elevation of its taxonomic rank to that of genus.This study also suggests a modification of nomenclature:Microtus(Iberomys)brecciensis is replaced with I.mediterraneus and the common name of the extant M.(I.)cabrerae changed from‘topillo’to‘iberon’to improve conservation and protection actions.
