Enamel ultrastructure of molars in †Anomalomys gaillardi and some spalacid taxa (Rodentia, Mammalia)

[摘要] The paper presents results of the study of molar enamel ultrastructure in †Anomalomys gaillardi from the late Miocene and some extinct and recent Spalacidae species (Rodentia, Mammalia) from the territory of Ukraine. We characterize the similarities and differences in the enamel structure between extinct and recent forms, as well as between different taxa within the genera †Anomalomys, †Pliospalax, and Spalax. Analysis shows that the tooth enamel of the studied species is multilayered and differs in the presence of its different types, as well as in the arrangement of prisms. A more complex enamel structure was discovered in †Anomalomys gaillardi from the late Miocene of Ukraine compared to Pliocene †Pliospalax and, especially, Pleistocene and recent Spalax. It allows us to assume that anomalomyids and spalacids are distantly related and they evolved independently.

[学科分类] 地质学

[关键词] Dariusz Nowakowski;Leonid Rekovets;Oleksandr Kovalchuk;Edward Pawlina;Vitalii Demeshkant;evolution;convergence;mole-rats;morphology;teeth;Ukraine