Reappraisal of the giant caviomorph rodent Phoberomys burmeisteri (Ameghino, 1886) from the late Miocene of northeastern Argentina, and the phylogeny and diversity of Neoepiblemidae

Abstract

Phoberomys is a giant caviomorph rodent included in the extinct Neoepiblemidae. It is recorded in the late Miocene-Pliocene of South America (Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil and Peru), and is one of the largest rodents that have ever lived. In this contribution we study specimens of Phoberomys from the ‘Mesopotamiense’, late Miocene of Entre Ríos Province (Argentina), including several unpublished specimens and the holotypes of the five nominal species (Ph. burmeisteri, Ph. praecursor, Ph. insolita, Ph. lozanoi and Ph. minima) previously recognised for this unit. Our study indicates that all Mesopotamian specimens belong to Phoberomys burmeisteri, and that the differences among them reveal individual and ontogenetic variation. Our phylogenetic analysis indicates that Neoepiblemidae is monophyletic and includes Phoberomys, Neoepiblema, and Perimys. Phoberomys species are recovered as a clade, which is more closely related to Neoepiblema than to the Patagonian Perimys. In addition, our study shows that Eusigmomys is not a Neoepiblemidae, but a Dinomyidae.

Keywords:

• Mammalia
• Caviomorpha
• Neoepiblemidae
• late Miocene
• South America
• Argentina

Acknowledgements

We want to thank to A. Kramarz (MACN), M. Reguero (MLP) and A. Scarano (MLP) for allowing the access to the collections under their care. We also thank two anonymous reviewers whose comments and corrections improved the final version of the manuscript.