Friday 24 February 2017

Rare fossils of giant rodents raise questions




Date: February 22, 2017
Source: Taylor & Francis Group
Adult and juvenile remains of a giant rodent species (Isostylomys laurdillardi) have been uncovered by researchers, in the Río de la Plata coastal region of southern Uruguay, raising questions about classification within dinomids.

The study, detailed in Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, consisted of examining teeth structure and development, and comparing the fossils to previously found examples and the largest living rodent -- the capybara. It was proposed that, due to similarities in the adult's and the juvenile's teeth structure, previously found fossils, which were smaller and thought to belong to a different species, were in fact from the same species.

The authors have consequently proposed that members of the subfamily Gyriabrinae could represent juveniles belonging to other subfamilies of Dinomyidae and that three known species of the genus Isostylomys should be merged into just one species, Isostylomys laurillardi.

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