Independent water vole (Mimomys savini, Arvicola: Rodentia, Mammalia) lineages in Italy and Central Europe

Abstract

Water voles are important key fossils of the Quaternary. Given their wide distribution, regional differences were expected to exist in different areas. Early hints on possible independent evolutionary trends of water voles in Italy came from palaeontology and specifically from the comparison of enamel differentiation (SDQ value) of the first lower molars between specimens from Italy and Germany. The data available at that time indicated that in the early Middle Pleistocene there were only minor enamel differences between first lower molars of water voles from these two geographical regions, whereas from the late Middle Pleistocene onwards, two lineages were clearly distinguished. Examination of mitochondrial DNA of extant Arvicola populations from across Europe by Wust-Saucy led to a similar conclusion that Arvicola populations from the Italian Peninsula had undergone independent evolution during the last 0.2 million years. The inclusion of new fossil and extant Arvicola samples from Italy and Central Europe, together with the examination of additional morphological parameters of the occlusal surface (so-called van der Meulen indexes), have provided further support for the proposed evolutionary pattern. The combined analysis of length, SDQ and A/L index reveal a certain degree of intercorrelation and indicate an essentially continuous evolutionary trend. However, variations are discernible, related to the age and geographical origins of the samples, and become more clearly seen at least since the beginning of the Late Pleistocene. Italian samples have a characteristic tendency to grow larger, elongate the anteroconid, and have less derived SDQ. This corroborates the suggestion that Italian water voles underwent an evolutionary history distinct from that of their Central European counterparts. The differences in morphology may be related to a combination of etho-/ecological (aquatic or terrestrial habits) and palaeobiogeographical factors.

The Late Pleistocene faunal assemblage from Cava Muracci (Latium, Italy): Palaeoenvironmental implications for coastal central Italy during MIS 3

“…Maul et al (1998) consider it impossible for the populations of peninsular Italy to belong to a "northern" evolutionary lineage and classify the late Pleistocene populations of southern Italy as Arvicola sp. (see also Masini et al, 2003) a position accepted by Piras et al (2012). Recently, Castiglia et al (2016) demonstrated the existence of a divergent mtDNA lineage for the populations of Arvicola amphibius (s.l.)…”

Pequeños vertebrados del relleno kárstico del Pleistoceno Superior de Avetrana (Apulia, Sur de Italia)

“…The systematics of the genus Arvicola has also been discussed and reviewed. Maul et al (1998) pointed out that the morphology of the M 1 from the southern Italy Arvicola populations would not belong to the same evolutionary line of the transalpine populations, a thesis reiterated by Masini et al (2003). Molecular studies (Taberlet et al, 1998;Piertney et al, 2005;Kryštufek et al, 2015) revealed that the evolutionary history of the genus Arvicola is more complicated than the previously proposed models (see cladograms in Taberlet et al, 1998and Pirtney et al, 2005, combined in Marcolini et al, 2011and Piras et al, 2012.…”

Paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental reconstructions based on the small vertebrates from the Middle Paleolithic of Hohle Fels Cave, SW Germany

“…A general decrease in the value of SDQ index is observed in water vole populations all across Europe during the Middle and Late Pleistocene (Heinrich 1990;van Kolfschoten 1992;Koenigswald von 1994;van Kolfschoten and Turner 1996;Desclaux et al 2000;Maul et al 2000;Paunescu et al 2004;Kalthoff et al 2007;Cuenca-Bescós et al 2010). However, this trend is not perfectly smooth through time or synchronous in all regions (Maul and Markova 2007;Maul et al , 2014Masini et al 2020). Hence, criticisms have been made about the use of the SDQ index as a tool for specific determination and/or stratigraphic correlations (Escudé et al 2008;Martin 2014).…”