The Tapirus from Camp dels Ninots (NE Iberia) : implications for morphology, morphometry and phylogeny of Neogene Tapiridae
Pandolfi, Luca (Università della Basilicata. Dipartimento di Scienze)
Sorbelli, Leonardo (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Oms, O (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Geologia)
Rodriguez-Salgado, Pablo (University College Dublin. Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences)
Campeny, Gerard (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social)
Gómez de Soler, Bruno (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social)
Grandi, Federica (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social)
Agustí, Jordi 1954- (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social)
Madurell-Malapeira, Joan (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Geologia)

Date:	2023
Abstract:	Western Eurasian Neogene tapirids are an intriguing but poorly known and poorly documented group of mammals. As the Western Eurasian Tapiridae are mainly represented by scanty and fragmented remains, their systematics have been the subject of debate. Here, we describe exquisite tapirid material from the late Pliocene locality of Camp dels Ninots (CN), North-East Iberia, providing new information on the taxonomy, morphological and morphometric variability, and phylogeny of fossil species. The material studied comprises five crania of different ages, shedding new light on the ontogenetic patterns of fossil European tapirs and their variability. The adult specimens from CN are morphologically similar to other latest Pliocene tapirs from Vialette (France) and Villafranca d'Asti (Italy), and are referred here to the species Tapirus arvernensis. Further, the differences detected among the animals of different ages shed light on the variability of some features and aid in reconsidering the validity of some fossil species. A new cladistic analysis of fossil Tapiridae suggests T. arvernensis is closely related to T. indicus, and is probably an Asian immigrant. Other latest Miocene fossil species, Tapiriscus balkanicus and Ta. pannonicus, are resolved sister taxa and probably represent endemic species of Europe that were replaced by T. arvernensis.
Grants:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación CGL2017-82654-P Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2017/SGR-116 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2019/FI_B-00579 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2020-116908GB-I00 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2021/SGR-00620 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2022/FI_B-00383 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca CLT009/22/00043 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2021/SGR-01238 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2021/SGR-01237 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2019-103987 GB-C31 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2021-123092NB-C21 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación CEX2019-000945-M
Rights:	Tots els drets reservats.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Subject:	Morphology ; Ontogeny ; Morphometry ; Phylogeny ; Neogene ; Eurasia ; Tapiridae
Published in:	Journal of systematic palaeontology, Vol. 21, Issue 1 (October 2023) , art. 2250117, ISSN 1478-0941

DOI: 10.1080/14772019.2023.2250117

Available from: 2024-10-31 Postprint

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles