A large mimotonid from the middle Eocene of China sheds light on the evolution of lagomorphs and their kin.

ABSTRACT: Mimotonids share their closest affinity with lagomorphs and were a rare and endemic faunal element of Paleogene mammal assemblages of central Asia. Here we describe a new species, Mimolagus aurorae from the Middle Eocene of Nei Mongol (China). This species belongs to one of the most enigmatic genera of fossil Glires, previously known only from the type and only specimen from the early Oligocene of Gansu (China). Our finding extends the earliest occurrence of the genus by at least 10 million years in the Paleogene of Asia, which closes the gap between Mimolagus and other mimotonids that are known thus far from middle Eocene or older deposits. The new species is one of the largest known pre-Oligocene Glires. As regards duplicidentates, Mimolagus is comparable with the largest Neogene contine

SUBMITTER: Fostowicz-Frelik L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4377629 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature