Prodryomys satus Mayr 1979

Prodryomys aff. satus Mayr, 1979

(Fig. 4 U-X)

LOCALITIES. — MAB3 and MAB5.

MATERIAL. — MAB 3: 1 M3; MAB 5: 1 m1, 1 m2, 1 M2.

MEASUREMENTS. — Appendix 5

DESCRIPTION

m1 (MAB5)

The tooth is rectangular in occlusal view, with wide valleys and low and straight crestids. The anterolophid is short, and connected to the endoloph. There is an anterotropid. The metalophid is long, with a narrow contact with the endoloph. The centrolophid is long. The mesolophid and the posterolophid are long and they are well connected in the lingual side. The posterotropid is well developed. The labial cuspids are better developed than the lingual ones.

m2 (MAB 5)

The tooth is subrectangular in occlusal view, and it has narrow irregular crestids and wide valleys. The anterolophid is long and connected with the endolophid. There is a low anterotropid that connects the anterolophid and the metalophid. The metaconid is connected to the anteroconid. The metalophid is curved, irregular and not connected to the metalophid. The centrolophid is irregular, longer than half of the tooth width, and connected to the metalophid. The mesolophid is long, and connected to the posterolophid. There is a posterotropid. The posterior valley is wide. The labial cuspids are better developed than the lingual ones.

M2 (MAB 5)

The tooth is quadrate in occlusal view, and it has delicate crests and wide valleys. The anteroloph is long and isolated. The protoloph and the metaloph are U-shaped, and they join in the lingual side. The precentroloph is of medium size, and the postcentroloph is long and prolonged until the lingual side. There is no connection between the centrolophs. The posteroloph is short and isolated. The enamel is slightly rugose.

M3 (MAB 3)

The tooth is subrectangular in occlusal view. The anteroloph is long and forms a closed ellipse with the protoloph, although in the labial side the connection is low, and in the lingual one it is not connected with the protoloph. The precentroloph is short and the postcentroloph is long and isolated from the metatrope. The protoloph and the metaloph are U-shaped and not connected until the lingual side. The metaloph and the posteroloph are not connected in the labial side. The posteroloph is short.

REMARKS

The genus Prodryomys is included in a series of genera like Peridyromys, Miodyromys, Myomimus, and Pseudodryomys (Wu 1990; Álvarez-Sierra et al. 1990; Daams & De Bruijn 1995; Daams 1999a; De Bruijn et al. 2003; Heissig 2006; Freudenthal & Martín-Suárez 2006; García-Paredes et al. 2009) which are difficult to assign taxonomically. Although more recent phylogenetic analyses result in the genus Prodryomys as monophyletic (Dalmasso et al. 2022). Solving this controversy would require an in-depth review since the differences between them are not clear, but this is beyond the aim of this paper.

The oldest record of Prodryomys in the Iberian Peninsula corresponds to the site of Vargas 2A, at the end of the MN4 (Van der Meulen et al. 2012); therefore, the remains found in the Ribesalbes-Alcora Basin constitute one of the oldest findings of this genus in the Iberian Peninsula.

The material described here shows the typical characters of Prodryomys satus, such as the posterior centroloph longer than the anterior ones, narrow crests with wide valleys, and a more rounded outline of the teeth, like that described by Wu (1990) in the material from Puttenhausen. Our specimens do not belong to Prodryomys remmerti Aguilar & Lazzari, 2006 because the latter taxon is characterized by having wide crests and the trigone ending in a V-shape and not in a U-shape as in the material in study. Prodryomys gregarius (Dehm, 1950) is also discarded due to its higher number of extra crests and higher complexity. Our material is clearly less brachyodont than that of Prodryomys brailloni (Thaler, 1966) (Wu 1993, Aguilar & Lazzari, 2006). Although, the material described here is morphologically like P. satus, it is significantly larger than in other populations of this species, so we preferred to name it as Prodryomys aff. satus.

Although the M2 was first ascribed to the genus Altomiramys (Crespo et al. 2012), the finding of more material allowed the comparison with other peninsular populations. According to the new data, the shape and distribution of the crests and valleys, especially the centrolophs, in these teeth allow to discard their ascription to Altomiramys.