Talpa tyrrhenica

Talpa tyrrhenica is an extinct species of mole belonging to the genus Talpa. It was endemic to the Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Sardinia during the Pleistocene epoch.[1][2][3]

Tyrrhenian mole
Temporal range:
Fossil humerus of the Tyrrhenian mole (Talpa tyrrhenica)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Eulipotyphla
Family: Talpidae
Genus: Talpa
Species:
†T. tyrrhenica
Binomial name
†Talpa tyrrhenica
Bate, 1945

It was first described in 1945 by Dorothea Bate,[1] Remains with affinities to the species extend back to around 2 to 2.1 million years ago on the archipelago, during the Early Pleistocene.[4] It is suggested to have evolved from the mainland European species Talpa minor, which is known from the archipelago during the Pliocene.[5] It is estimated to have been around 15% larger than its mainland ancestor.[6] The species survived into the Late Pleistocene, but the timing of its extinction is uncertain due to a lack of radiocarbon dates.[7]

Paleoenviroment

During the Middle-Late Pleistocene Corsica and Sardinia had their own highly endemic depauperate terrestrial mammal fauna which besides T. tyrrhenica included Tyrrhenian field rat, (Rhagamys orthodon), the Sardinian pika (Prolagus sardus), a shrew (Asoriculus similis), the Tyrrhenian vole (Microtus henseli), the Sardinian dhole (Cynotherium sardous), a galictine mustelid (Enhydrictis galictoides), a dwarf mammoth (Mammuthus lamarmorai) three species of otter (Algarolutra majori, Sardolutra ichnusae, Megalenhydris barbaricina) and a deer (Praemegaceros cazioti).[4]

See also

References
  1. Bate, Dorothea M.A. (1945). "XLII. — The pleistocene mole of Sardinia". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. Series 11. 12 (91): 448–461. doi:10.1080/00222934508654743.
  2. Abbazzi, Laura; Angelone, Chiara; Arca, Marisa; Barisone, Giancarlo; Bedetti, Claudia; Delfino, Massimo; Kotsakis, Tassos; Marcolini, Federica; Palombo, Maria Rita; Pavia, Marco; Piras, Paolo; Rook, Lorenzo; Torre, Danilo; Tuveri, Caterinella; Valli, Andrea M.F. & Wilkens, Barbara (2004). "Plio-Pleistocene fossil vertebrates of Monte Tuttavista (Orosei, Eastern Sardinia, Italy), an overview". Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia. 110 (3): 681–706. doi:10.13130/2039-4942/5832.
  3. Pereira, Elisabeth; Ottaviani-Spella, Marie-Madeleine & Salotti, Michelle (2001). "Nouvelle datation (Pléistocène moyen) du gisement de Punta di Calcina (Conca, Corse du Sud) par la découverte de Talpa tyrrhenica Bate, 1945 et d'une forme primitive de Microtus (Tyrrhenicola) henseli Forsyth-Major, 1882". Geobios (in French). 34 (6): 697–705. doi:10.1016/S0016-6995(01)80031-0.
  4. Palombo, Maria Rita; Rozzi, Roberto (April 2014). "How correct is any chronological ordering of the Quaternary Sardinian mammalian assemblages?". Quaternary International. 328–329: 136–155. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2013.09.046.
  5. M. Furió, C. AngeloneInsectivores (Erinaceidae, Soricidae, Talpidae; Mammalia) from the Pliocene of Capo Mannu D1 (Mandriola, central-western Sardinia, Italy) Neues Jahrb. Geol. Paläontol. A., 258 (2010), pp. 229-242
  6. Lomolino, Mark V.; van der Geer, Alexandra A.; Lyras, George A.; Palombo, Maria Rita; Sax, Dov F.; Rozzi, Roberto (August 2013). Triantis, Kostas (ed.). "Of mice and mammoths: generality and antiquity of the island rule". Journal of Biogeography. 40 (8): 1427–1439. doi:10.1111/jbi.12096.
  7. Valenzuela, Alejandro; Torres-Roig, Enric; Zoboli, Daniel; Pillola, Gian Luigi; Alcover, Josep Antoni (March 2022). "Asynchronous ecological upheavals on the Western Mediterranean islands: New insights on the extinction of their autochthonous small mammals". The Holocene. 32 (3): 137–146. doi:10.1177/09596836211060491. ISSN 0959-6836.


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