When moles became diggers: Tegulariscaptor gen. nov., from the early Oligocene of south Germany, and the evolution of talpid fossoriality

Abstract

The systematics of Geotrypus is among the most debated within Talpidae, but the recent development of quantitative methods for shape analyses allows us to provide a thorough reconsideration of Geotrypus spp. In the present study, we perform a systematic revision of the species Geotrypus minor from the early Oligocene of Germany using two-dimensional geometric morphometrics on the humerus, and cladistic analyses using two different character matrices. Our results suggest a distinct generic allocation for this species based on its unique humeral shape. Cladistic analyses reveal that G. minor has closer phylogenetic relationships with urotrichine shrew-moles than with other Geotrypus species or highly fossorial moles. Quantitative methods applied in this study support qualitative observations and fully justify a new generic allocation. In light of these results, Tegulariscaptor gen. nov. is proposed to encompass the material previously assigned to G. minor.