Canis mosbachensis
Canis mosbachensis Temporal range:
Middle Pleistocene | |
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Skull from Würzburg-Schalksberg | |
Life restoration | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Canidae |
Genus: | Canis |
Species: | †C. mosbachensis
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Binomial name | |
†Canis mosbachensis Soergel, 1925[1]
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Subspecies | |
Canis mosbachensis is an extinct wolf that once inhabited Europe 600,000—420,000 years ago (
Taxonomy
The
The Mosbach wolf occurred in the time between Canis etruscus in the Early Pleistocene and the modern C. lupus.[4] The phylogenetic descent of the extant wolf C. lupus from C. etruscus through C. mosbachensis is widely accepted.[4] However, other researchers cannot see a clear anatomical relationship between C. mosbachensis and C. etruscus, that C. mosbachensis is more similar to C. arnensis,[10][11][12] and that it exhibits a size and dentition more similar to an omnivorous jackal.[12]
In 2010, a study found that the diversity of the Canis group decreased by the end of the
As wolves continue to evolve they become bigger. The mammalogist Ronald Nowak proposed that C. mosbachensis was the ancestor of Eurasian and North American wolves, and that one population of C. mosbachensis invaded North America where it became isolated by the later glaciation and there gave rise to C. rufus. Another population of C. mosbachensis remained in Eurasia and evolved into C. lupus, from where it invaded North America.[4]
The Mosbach wolf was a short-legged carcass feeder adapted for scavenging megafauna on the mammoth steppe. Its cranial shape is almost identical to the modern wolves found in the Dinaric Alps-Balkans region. The last specimen of the Mosbach wolf in Europe dates to 456–416 thousand years ago,[9] however some specimens were found in southern England that may date to MIS 11—9.[3]
Canis lupus bohemica
In 2022, a new species Canis lupus bohemica was
In Hungary in 1969, a tooth (the premolar of the Maxilla) was found which dated to the Middle Pleistocene, and was assessed as being midway between that of Canis mosbachensis and the cave wolf Canis lupus spelaeus, but leaning towards C.l. spelaeus. [14] During the late Middle Pleistocene around 600,000 years ago, the Bohemian wolf diversified into two wolf lineages that specialized for different environmental and climatic conditions. One was a southern interglacial (warm climate) grey wolf of Europe which was to become the Mosbach wolf, and the other a northern glacial white wolf of Eurasia which was to become C. l. spelaeus.[3]
Canis variabilis
The Zhoukoudian wolf Canis variabilis Pei, 1934 is an extinct small wolf that once inhabited part of what is now
In 2018, a study proposed that Canis variabilis should be recognized as Canis mosbachensis variabilis, an east Eurasian subspecies of the west Eurasian C. mosbachensis. The difference is that C. m. variabilis possesses a shorter nasal bone and a slight variation in the ridge of the first upper molar tooth. The craniodental characteristics of C. m. variabilis are more evolved and indicate that it was less of a hypercarnivore than Canis chihliensis, the European C. etruscus and C. arnensis, but was less evolved and less of a hypercarnivore than C. lupus. It is not a direct ancestor of C. lupus but was a close relative.[17]
Fossil remains of C. variabilis have been discovered in central Yakutia in Siberia on the Alaseya River and the Aldan River.[18] They are the oldest recorded samples of Olesky era fauna found in Yakutia.[19] Specimens of Canis cf. variabilis (where cf. in Latin means confer, uncertain) is thought to have been widespread in Eurasia until around 300,000 years before present YBP and does not appear to overlap with the earliest occurrence of the morphologically distinctive grey wolf.[15]
Fossils of C. variabilis were found at the Zhoukoudian (once spelt Choukoutien) cave system and archaeological site in 1934 and named by its discoverer, Pei Wenzhong.
Although no sharp line can be traced between the above described Canis and a true C. lupus, the marked differences found in size, and in cranial characters, seem to be sufficient for creating, at least, a new variety, Canis lupus variabilis, for the Zhoukoudian Locality 1 small wolf.[2]: 17
The small wolf was initially named Canis lupus variabilis but was later recognised as a variant of Canis variabilis (Pei 1934) that was also discovered and named by Pei in the same year.
Relationship to the domestic dog and the modern wolf
Pei describes this small wolf as exhibiting variation in size and tooth adaptations, stating that its skull differs from the typical wolf in much smaller size (about 175.0 mm total length for a large C. variabilis specimen), with a more slender muzzle and noticeably reduced or absent sagittal crest. In addition, the lower border of some C. variabilis mandibles is "strongly convex as in the dog".[2]: 15 The one trait aligning C. variabilis with wolves is relatively large carnassial teeth (P1 20.4 – 23.0 mm; M1 22.0 – 24 mm). A later researcher has confirmed Pei's measurements, and describes the wolf's skull as having "heavy, wolf-like proportions although smaller than any extant C. lupus.[23] More recent researchers have revisited Pei's view that the ancestor of the dog is a now extinct Canis lupus, and proposed that C. variabilis might be an ancestor of the dog lineage.[24][25]: 7
In 2012, a study of the wolf-like Canis species of ancient China conducted by the noted vertebrate
In 2015, a study looked at the
The
References
- ^ a b Soergel, V. H. W. (1925). "Die Säugetierfauna des altdiluvialen Tonlagers von Jockgrim in der Plalz". Zeitschrift der Deutschen Geologischen Gesellschaft Abhandlungen (in German). 77: 405–438. (The mammal fauna of the old diluvial camp of Jockgrim in the Plalz)
- ^ a b c d e Pei, W.C. (1934). The carnivora from locality 1 of Choukoutien. Palaeontologia Sinica, Series C, vol. 8, Fascicle 1. Geological Survey of China, Beijing. pp. 1–45. Archived from the original on 2015-06-06. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
- ^ .
- ^ ISBN 0-226-51696-2.
- ^ a b Thenius, E. 1954. Die Caniden (Mammalia) aus dem Altquartár von Hundsheim (Niederosterreich) nebst Bemerkungen zur Stammesgeschichte der Gattung Cuon. Neues Jahrbuch fur Geologie und Palaontology. Abhandlungen 99, 230-286. [The canids (Mammalia) from the Old Quarter of Hundsheim (Lower Austria), along with remarks on the tribal history of the genus Cuon]
- ^ Kurtén B. (1968). Pleistocene mammals of Europe. 110 pp. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London.
- ^ Lumley, H. de, Kahlke, H.D., Moigne, A.M., Moulle, P.E., 1988. Les faunes de grands mammifères de la grotte du Vallonnet Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Alpes-Maritimes. L’Anthropologie 92, 465–496.
- ^ Biochronologie et grands mammifères au Pléistocène moyen et supérieur en Europe occidentale : l’apport des Canidés, des Ursidés et des Carnivores en general Argant, A. Quartenair vol. 20/4 | 2009 : Biochronologie et Grands Mammifères [Biochronology and large mammals of the Middle and the Upper Pleistocene in Western Europe: the contribution of ursids, canids and of carnivores in general]
- ^ a b Iurino, D.A., Mecozzi, B., Iannucci, A. et al. A Middle Pleistocene wolf from central Italy provides insights on the first occurrence of Canis lupus in Europe. Sci Rep 12, 2882 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06812-5
- ^ Soergel, W., 1928. Ein Kleiner Wolf aus dem Kiesen von Süssenborn. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Geologische Gesellschaft 80, 227–255. (A small wolf from the gravels of Süssenborn)
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- ^ PMID 19427671.
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- ^ PMID 26018528.
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- ^ Vangengeim, E.A. (1961). "Paleontological study of anthropogenic sediment stratigraphy north of Eastern Siberia (on the fauna of mammals)". Proc. Geological Sciences of the USSR. 48: 183.
- ^ Sher, Andrei (1971). Pleistocene Mammals and stratigraphy of the Far Northeast USSR and North America. Science, Moscow. pp. 1–310.
- ^ Teilhard de Chardin, P., and W.-C. Pei. 1941. The fossil mammals from locality 13 of Choukoutien. Palaeontologica Sinica Series C 11: 1–106.
- ^ Teilhard de Chardin, P & Pivetean, J. (1930). Les Mammiferes Fossiles De Nihowan (China). Annales de Paleontology vol 19, Paris. pp. 88–89. (The mammal fossils of Nihowan)
- ^ Hu, C. & Qi, T. (1978). Gongwangling Pleistocene mammalian fauna of Lantian, Shaanxi. Paleontologia Sinica, Whole Series no. 155, New Series C no. 21. Geological Survey of China, Beijing. pp. 1–64. Cited in S. Olsen 1985
- ^ a b Olsen, S. J. (1985). Origins of the domestic dog: the fossil record. Univ. of Arizona Press, Tucson, USA. pp. 88–89.
- ^ Lawrence, B. (1967). "Early domestic dogs". Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde. 32: 44–59.
- S2CID 14850835. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2014-10-23. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
- ^ Tong, H.-w., N. Hu, and X. Wang. 2012. New remains of Canis chihliensis (Mammalia, Carnivora) from Shanshenmiaozui, a lower Pleistocene site in Yangyuan, Hebei. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 50(4):335-360 - refer page 357
- ^ Olsen S J, Olsen J W, Qi G Q, 1982. The position of Canis lupus variabilis, from Zhoukoudian, in the ancestral lineage of the domestic dog, Canis familiaris. Vert PalAsia, 20(3): 264-267(in Chinese with last page abstract in English)
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