https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6053-6996
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ABSTRACT
Spermophilinus is a primitive marmotine ground squirrel from the early Miocene – early Pliocene of Eurasia. Despite the high abundance in small mammal communities, apparently indicating its important role in Neogene terrestrial ecosystems, an autecological study of this taxon based on direct methods has not yet been carried out. Herein, we report on a dental microwear analysis of S. bredai, the type species of the genus, based on the m3 specimens from the early late Miocene locality Grytsiv in western Ukraine. The results suggest that the diet of this ground squirrel has presumably consisted of hard fruit and seeds with no evidence of significant grass consumption or burrowing behaviour, thus suggesting feeding preferences most closely resembling those of the living tree squirrels of the genera Sciurus and Callosciurus. We also discuss the dental microwear of the extant ground and tree-dwelling Sciuridae in relation to their diet.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Ilya V. Zubarev and Dmitry K. Kuznetsov from Ural Centre of Collective Use “Modern Nanotechnologies”, Institute of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Ural Federal University for their assistance in preparation and for digitalising the specimens. We thank Olga V. Makarova (ZIN) and Olga S. Zagainova (Zoological museum of Institute of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Ural Federal University) for the help in the selection of the sample for our study from museum collections.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Correction Statement
This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.
