- Project title
- Paleontological and stratigraphical overview of micromammal faunas from Anatolia during the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene_Synthesys+ 2022-2023 (FR-TAF_Call4_072)
- Description of the project
- Recently, a large assemblage of a spalacine species was discovered in the Pliocene of Anatolia. This Afsar assemblage is important in reconstructing the evolutionary history of the Spalacinae. Their history has been reconstructed in a phylogeny by µSen and Sarica (2011). However, the study of Spalacinae is hampered by two factors: the rarity in the fossil record and the morphological changes that their hypsodont teeth undergo with wear.
Using MicroCT scanning on unworn molars from the Afsar section, I was able to document the morphological changes with wear. Moreover, I discovered that these changes show a remarkable parallel to the evolutionary pathways, which involve an increase in crown height and a simplification of the molar morphology. In the light of these discoveries, we need to take a new look at the Pliocene species of Pliospalax, of which an important collection is at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle. Pliospalax macoveii is considered ancestral to the form found at Afsar, but shows a series of primitive characters. Our study will be focused on how these characters develop with wear and to what extent the early evolution of the group already shows a parallel with the ontogenetic stages.
Works done by the platform AST-RX
