Morphology and evolutionary position of the Early Pliocene vole Propliomys jalpugensis from Eastern Europe

Abstract

Propliomys jalpugensis, a fossil rhizodont vole (late Early Pliocene, late Ruscinian, MN15), is revised based on materials from the type locality Kotlovina (southwestern Ukraine). This form is interpreted as a phyletic stage, marked by dental complication of first lower molar and hypsodonty, intermediate between the preceding late Early Pliocene Propliomys kowalskii and P. destinatus, and successive Late Pliocene Propliomys ucrainicus. Molar enamel of P. jalpugensis shows a pattern with the radial enamel in leading edges, occasionally with the incipient lamellar enamel, and the inner radial and outer primitive tangental enamel in trailing and closing edges © RUSSIAN JOURNAL OF THERIOLOGY, 2022