ABSTRACT
Two new species of the endemic genus Stertomys (Mammalia, Rodentia, Gliridae) are described from the Late Miocene fissure filling Biancone 1 on the palaeo-island Gargano (Province of Foggia, Italy): S. daamsi and S. daunius. A third new species, Dryomys apulus, presents no endemic features at the generic level and is assigned to the extant genus Dryomys. The new taxa suggest that faunal immigration to Gargano occurred in one event, and that the Biancone deposit is, at most, Late Miocene in age. Additionally, an analysis of all fossil Myomiminae argues that Stertomys belongs to that subfamily, and that it may be derived from Myomimus dehmi or Miodyromys aegercii.
Matthijs Freudenthal. Departamento de Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Campus Fuentenueva, Granada, Spain; Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum, Postbus 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.
Elvira Martín-Suárez. Departamento de Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Campus Fuentenueva, Granada, Spain.
Keywords: Gliridae; Miocene; Italy; endemism; insularity; new species
Copyright: Society of Vertebrate
Paleontology September
2006
Submission: 7 March 2006 Acceptance: 13 June 2006
