Synaptomys australis

Synaptomys australis, the Florida bog lemming, is an extinct species of bog lemming that occurred in Florida during the Late Pleistocene.

Synaptomys australis
Temporal range: Pleistocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Cricetidae
Subfamily: Arvicolinae
Genus: Synaptomys
Species:
†S. australis
Binomial name
†Synaptomys australis
(Simpsons, 1928)[1]

Taxonomy

Although the bog lemmings are not indigenous to Florida at the present time, remains are known there from the Pleistocene, indicating the range of these normally cold-adapted rodents extended further south during glaciation events.[2] The Florida bog lemming was described from a lower jaw collected from Pleistocene deposits in 1928.[3] Its taxonomic status as a full species has been questioned however, with some researchers considering it a prehistoric race of the southern bog lemming.[4][5]

Description

The Florida bog lemming was slightly larger than the living southern bog lemming.[4] It went extinct around 12,000 BP, as a result of glacial retreat and the return of very warm temperatures.

References
  1. "Synaptomys australis". Fossilworks.
  2. Brodkorb, Pierce (1959). "The Pleistocene avifauna of Arredondo, Florida". Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences. 4 (9): 269–291.
  3. Olsen, Stanley J. (November 1958). "The Bog Lemming from the Pleistocene of Florida". Journal of Mammalogy. 39 (4): 537–540. doi:10.2307/1376792. JSTOR 1376792.
  4. Repenning, Charles A.; Grady, Frederick (1988). "The microtine rodents of the Cheetah Room fauna, Hamilton Cave, West Virginia, and the spontaneous origin of Synaptomys". Bulletin 1853. doi:10.3133/b1853.
  5. Martin, Robert A.; Duobinis-Gray, Leon; Crockett, Christopher P. (2003). "A new species of early Pleistocene Synaptomys (Mammalia, Rodentia) from Florida and its relevance to southern bog lemming origins". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 23 (4): 917–936. doi:10.1671/2291-16. S2CID 86823093.


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