A new fossil cricetid (Rodentia, Sigmodontinae) from northeastern Brazil with remarks on small mammal extinctions in the tropical Quaternary

The rare cricetid rodent Bibimys Massoia, 1980 contains three extant species that are distributed in the lowlands of eastern South America between 35°S and 20°S and distinguished mostly by subtle morphological and genetic features. Several fragmented jaws belonging to this genus were recovered from...

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Published inJournal of mammalogy Vol. 101; no. 4; pp. 1133 - 1147
Main Authors das Neves, Simone B., Pardiñas, Ulyses F. J., Hadler, Patrícia, Mayer, Elver L., Ribeiro, Ana M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published US American Society of Mammalogists 31.08.2020
Oxford University Press
Subjects
Akodontini
carste
cavernas
caves
Feature Articles
hipsodontia
hypsodonty
karst
Pleistocene–Holocene
Pleistoceno–Holoceno
rodents
roedores
Serra da Capivara
hypsodonty
Serra da Capivara
Pleistocene–Holocene
Pleistoceno–Holoceno
hipsodontia
roedores
caves
cavernas
karst
carste
Akodontini
rodents
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Summary:The rare cricetid rodent Bibimys Massoia, 1980 contains three extant species that are distributed in the lowlands of eastern South America between 35°S and 20°S and distinguished mostly by subtle morphological and genetic features. Several fragmented jaws belonging to this genus were recovered from Late Quaternary deposits located in northeastern Brazil, forming part of a rich archaeological and paleontological small mammal assemblage that has been recovered from caves in the Serra da Capivara, state of Piauí. This material is described herein as belonging to a new species, the most hypsodont member of the genus. The specimens also represent an extralimital occurrence of this sigmodontine, as the nearest extant population of Bibimys is ∼1,200 km to the south. Because there are few reliable records of extinct small mammals from the Pleistocene–Holocene transition on the South American continent, in describing this new sigmodontine we extend the records of past biodiversity preserved in the Quaternary deposits of tropical South America. This new species likewise highlights that the Serra da Capivara deposits are promising for understanding the evolutionary history of cricetid rodents.
ISSN:0022-2372
1545-1542
DOI:10.1093/jmammal/gyaa066