DOI: 10.15468/px2axy
title: Distinguishing between three modern Ellobius species (Rodentia, Mammalia) and identification of fossil Ellobius from Kaldar Cave (Iran) using geometric morphometric analyses of the first lower molar

description: This dataset contains the digitized treatments in Plazi based on the original journal article Rey-Rodríguez, Iván, Arnaud, Julie, López-García, Juan-Manuel, Stoetzel, Emmanuelle, Denys, Christiane, Cornette, Raphaël, Bazgir, Behrouz (2021): Distinguishing between three modern Ellobius species (Rodentia, Mammalia) and identification of fossil Ellobius from Kaldar Cave (Iran) using geometric morphometric analyses of the first lower molar. Palaeontologia Electronica (a 01) 24 (1): 1-18, DOI: 10.26879/1122, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.26879/1122ABSTRACTEllobius remains are common and often abundant in southeastern Europe, western and central Asia archaeological sites. A correct identification of species is crucial for our understanding of the evolution of species and communities through time, including biostratigraphic sequences to be established.This study applies geometric morphometric methods (GMM) to Ellobius first lower molars, with the objectives: 1) to discriminate modern species and explore morphological and size differences in reference samples; and 2) to identify fossil specimens recovered in archaeological sites, based on the aforementioned analysis. The reference dataset used in this paper includes specimens belonging to the three species that today occur in the southeastern Europe, western and central Asia: Ellobius fuscocapillus, E. lutescens and E. talpinus. The archaeological material comes from Late Pleistocene Iranian site of Kaldar Cave (Khorramabad valley, Lorestan Province, western Iran).Our study shows that the shape of the anterior cap and the arrangement of the following triangles allow discriminating the three studied extant Ellobius species. The shapes of E. fuscocapillus and E. lutescens m1 appear rather similar, whereas Ellobius talpinus is well separated from these two species. The total length and the anterior cap of m 1 in E. fuscocapillus is greater than in Ellobius lutescens.The GMM analyses performed on the modern reference dataset allowed us to identify fossil specimens from Kaldar Cave as Ellobius lutescens and some as E. fuscocapillus, and excluding E. talpinus.Iván Rey-Rodríguez. HNHP UMR 7194, CNRS / Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle / UPVD / Sorbonne Universités, Musée de l'Homme, Palais de Chaillot, 17 place du Trocadéro, 75016 Paris, France. Sezione di Scienze Preistoriche e Antropologiche, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università degli Studi di Ferrara, C.so Ercole I d’Este, 32 - 44121 Ferrara, Italy. ivanreyrguez@gmail.comJulie Arnaud. Sezione di Scienze Preistoriche e Antropologiche, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università degli Studi di Ferrara, C.so Ercole I d’Este, 32 - 44121 Ferrara, Italy. rndjmr@unife.it Juan-Manuel López-García. Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES). Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3) 43007 Tarragona, Spain. Área de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili. Facultat de Lletres, Avinguda Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain. jmlopez@iphes.catEmmanuelle Stoetzel. HNHP UMR 7194, CNRS / Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle / UPVD / Sorbonne Universités, Musée de l'Homme, Palais de Chaillot, 17 place du Trocadéro, 75016 Paris, France. emmanuelle.stoetzel@mnhn.frChristiane Denys. ISYEB UMR 7205, CNRS / Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle / UPMC / UA/ EPHE / Sorbonne Universités, Paris, France. christiane.denys@mnhn.frRaphaël Cornette. ISYEB UMR 7205, CNRS / Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle / UPMC / EPHE / Sorbonne Universités, Paris, France. raphael.cornette@mnhn.frBehrouz Bazgir. Área de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili. Facultat de Lletres, Avinguda Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain. behrouz.urv@gmail.comKeywords: Rodentia; Arvicolinae; m 1 shape; multivariate analysis; PleistoceneSubmission: 20 August 2020. Acceptance: 28 December 2020.