Deperetomys (Rodentia, Muridae) from the Oligocene of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

Two new late Oligocene species of Deperetomys: D. calefactus and D. saltensis, are described and the affinities between the various species are discussed. The new records extend the stratigraphic range of Deperetomys into the Oligocene, making it the first European Miocene murid that can be traced across the "Cricetid vacuum". A single M1 of a large early Oligocene murid that may represent the oldest record of Deperetomys is described. The classification problems that arise as a result of the fast increase of information of the Paleogene Muridae from Asia and the Middle East are addressed and the need to recognise and define clades above the genus level is demonstrated. Our conclusion is that the Deperetomys clade contains at least three different evolutionary lineages.

Two Asian cricetodontine-like muroid rodents from the Neogene of western North America

“…In the chronology illustrated by Marković et al (2020), the earliest known Deperetomys appeared during the Oligocene, ca. 34–33 Ma (MP21–22).…”

“…They emended the generic diagnosis of Mein and Freudenthal (1971) and de Bruijn et al (1993). Because we lack upper molars of the Warm Springs cricetid, we refer only to the section of the diagnosis applying to the lower dentition, as follows (Marković et al, 2020, p. 833): “The m3 and m2 are about equally long. The m1 is rounded anteriorly.…”

“…Characteristic features of Pliotomodon are seen in the connection of the paracone to the metacone in the upper molars and the deep flexids on the lowers, resulting in oblique orientation of the major cusps and long connections of the cusps and their associated lophids in the latter. In addition to the paracone-metacone connection, enamel bridges from the procingulum on M1 and anterior cingula on M2-M3 close the paraflexus as well as the metaflexus, resulting in two enamel atolls surrounding the spaces representing the ancestral (open) paraflexus and metaflexus and a selenodont-like pattern seen in a number of rodent clades, particularly the Old World cricetodontines (Markovic ́et al, 2020). Atolls also form in the lower dentition (Fig.…”

“…For example, Maridet and Ni (2013) recognized a substantial diversity of subfamilies and included Deperetomys in the Cricetopinae of McKenna and Bell (1997) rather than in the Cricetodontinae. While admitting to the complexity of early cricetid evolution, López-Guerrero (2014) and Markovic ́et al (2020) chose to retain Deperetomys within the Cricetodontinae, and we tentatively adopt their content of the Cricetodontinae here.…”

Paleontological research on fossil small mammals from the open-pit coal mines of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Overview of results

“…1) was compared with those from western Europe, Greece and Anatolia a geological age could be established and biogeographical provinces can be defined. The latest research of the Tertiary basins of the Central Balkans revealed the large similarity of forms belonging in the associations from Paragovo (Fruška Gora, Serbia) and Ugljevik -"Bogutovo Selo" (Bosnia and Herzegovina) (Marković et al 2019). Both are of Late Oligocene age.…”