Hypogeomys australis
Hypogeomys australis Temporal range: Holocene
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Left maxilla (upper jaw) from Andrahomana | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Family: | Nesomyidae |
Genus: | Hypogeomys |
Species: | †H. australis
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Binomial name | |
†Hypogeomys australis G. Grandidier, 1903
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Hypogeomys australis is an extinct
Taxonomy
Hypogeomys australis was described in 1903 by
Description
Hypogeomys australis was generally similar to H. antimena,[6] the largest living rodent of Madagascar,[8] but even larger, with little if any overlap in measurements.[6] Grandidier described the extinct species as more robust, with more prominent muscle scars on the long bones and with longer molars with more distinct crests and lobes.[9] The length of the first lower molar is 5.2 to 6.4 mm, averaging 5.7 mm, in ten H. australis and 3.9 to 5.5 mm, averaging 4.8 mm, in twenty-four H. antimena. The width of the femur at the proximal (near) end is 18.6 to 21.5 mm, averaging 19.9 mm, in thirteen H. australis and 16.8 to 18.5 mm, averaging 17.5 mm, in nine H. antimena. In ten H. australis, total length of the femur is 69.9 to 75.1 mm, averaging 72.1 mm, compared to 59.7 to 69.9 mm, averaging 63.8 mm in nine H. antimena.[10]
Distribution and ecology
Remains attributed to Hypogeomys australis are known from Andrahomana in southeastern Madagascar and Antsirabe in central Madagascar, suggesting a broad former distribution.[6] Its range is not known to overlap that of H. antimena, which has undergone a dramatic reduction during the Holocene.[11] A bone from Andrahomana has been radiocarbon dated to about 4440 BP[12] and another to 1536 BP.[13] Although almost nothing is known of the ecology of H. australis, Goodman and Rakotondravony presumed that it was similar to its living relative in living in burrows in areas with loose soils.[12] H. australis shows relatively high content of carbon-13 isotope, likely because it ate some plants which were enriched in carbon-13 through C4 carbon fixation and crassulacean acid metabolism; both of these photosynthesis-related processes occur most frequently in plants adapted to dry environments.[14]
Hypogeomys australis is one of only three extinct rodents known from Madagascar (the others are
References
- ^ Grandidier, 1903, p. 13
- ^ Goodman and Rakotondravony, 1996, fig. 1
- ^ Grandidier, 1903, pp. 13–14
- ^ MacPhee, 1994, p. 33
- ^ Goodman and Rakotondravony, 1996, p. 285
- ^ a b c d Goodman and Rakotondravony, 1996, p. 286
- ^ Musser and Carleton, 2005, pp. 930, 947, 951
- ^ Sommer, 1996, p. 295
- ^ Grandidier, 1903, p. 14
- ^ Goodman and Rakotondravony, 1996, table 1
- ^ Goodman and Rakotondravony, 1996, p. 290
- ^ a b Goodman and Rakotondravony, 1996, p. 287
- ^ Burney et al., 2004, p. 45
- ^ Crowley et al., 2010, p. 7
- ^ Mein et al., 2010
- ^ Turvey, 2009, pp. 32–33
Literature cited
- Burney, D.A., Burney, L.P., Godfrey, L.R., Jungers, W.L., Goodman, S.M., Wright, H.T. and Jull, A.J.T. 2004. A chronology for late prehistoric Madagascar (subscription required). Journal of Human Evolution 47:25–63.
- Crowley, B.E., Godfrey, L.R. and Irwin, M.T. 2010. A glance to the past: subfossils, stable isotopes, seed dispersal, and lemur species loss in Southern Madagascar (subscription required). American Journal of Primatology 71:1–13.
- Goodman, S.M. and Rakotondravony, D. 1996. The Holocene distribution of Hypogeomys (Rodentia: Muridae: Nesomyinae) on Madagascar. Biogéographie de Madagascar 1996:283–293.
- Grandidier, G. 1903. Description de l'Hypogeomys australis, nouvelle espèce de Rongeur sub-fossile de Madagascar. Bulletin du Muséum national d'histoire naturelle 9:13–15 (in French).
- MacPhee, R.D.E. 1994. Morphology, adaptations, and relationships of Plesiorycteropus, and a diagnosis of a new order of eutherian mammals. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 220:1–214.
- Mein, P., Sénégas, F., Gommery, D., Ramanivoso, B., Randrianantenaina, H. and Kerloc'h, P. 2010. Nouvelles espèces subfossiles de rongeurs du Nord-Ouest de Madagascar (subscription required). Comptes Rendus Palevol 9(3):101–112 (in French, with abridged English version).
- Musser, G.G. and Carleton, M.D. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. Pp. 894–1531 in Wilson, D.E. and Reeder, D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: a taxonomic and geographic reference. 3rd ed. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols., 2142 pp. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0
- Sommer, S. 1996. Ecology and social structure of Hypogeomys antimena, an endemic rodent of the dry deciduous forest in western Madagascar. Biogéographie de Madagascar 1996:295–302.
- Turvey, S.T. 2009. Holocene Extinctions. Oxford University Press US, 359 pp. ISBN 978-0-19-953509-5