The earliest dipodomyine heteromyid in North America and the phylogenetic relationships of geomorph rodents

ABSTRACT: Dipodomyine heteromyids (kangaroo rats and mice) are a diverse group of arid-adapted ricochetal rodents of North America. Here, a new genus and species of a large dipodomyine is reported from early Miocene-aged deposits of the John Day Formation in Oregon that represents the earliest record of the subfamily. The taxon is known from a single specimen consisting of a nearly complete skull, dentary, partial pes, and caudal vertebra. The specimen is characterized by a mosaic of ancestral and highly derived cranial features of heteromyids. Specifically, the dental morphology and some cranial characteristics are similar to early heteromyids, but other aspects of morphology, including the exceptionally inflated auditory bullae, are more similar to known dipodomyines. This specimen was included in

SUBMITTER: Samuels J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10007967 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature