A revision of European Plesiosminthus (Rodentia, Dipodidae), and new material from the upper Oligocene of Teruel (Spain)

Abstract

The European record of the rodent genus Plesiosminthus is revised, and two new species are described. Plesiosminthus promyarion is found to be a nomen dubium in the sense of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and that name should therefore no longer be used. Until now the genus was hardly known from localities older than MP28; for the first time we describe rich samples from the upper Oligocene (MP 27) of Spain. By now, 10 European species are known, one from the lower Miocene, and the other ones from the upper Oligocene. For most of them it is not possible to establish ancestor-descendant relationships.