Old-timers and newcomers: The shrews and heterosoricids from the ribesalbes-alcora basin (east of spain)

Abstract

The zone of Araia d’Alcora in the Ribesalbes-Alcora Basin (Spain, early Miocene, biozone C, MN 4) yielded a relatively rich assemblage of shrews for an Iberian site, composed by Oligosorex thauensis, cf. Soricella discrepans, Paenelimnoecus micromorphus and Heterosorex neumayrianus. The fossils of O. thauensis, the most abundant taxon, significantly increase our knowledge regarding the morphology of the species. It signals the last known occurrence of this shrew and extending its record to a MN4 site. This species is competing with other shrews in the studied sites. Paenelimnoecus micromorphus is recorded for the first time in the Iberian Peninsula. Soricella discrepans is a typical species from Central Europe; if its occurrence is confirmed in Ribesalbes-Alcora, it would represent the only record of this species in MN4 from the Iberian Peninsula. The material of Heterosorex neumayrianus, a species relatively common in the Iberian Peninsula but always poorly represented, constitutes the best Spanish collection described. When dimylids are present Heterosorex is uncommon.© October 2019 Paleontological Society.