Prolagus
{{Short description|Extinct genus of mammals}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|fossil_range = {{fossilrange|Burdigalian|Holocene}}
|image = Prolagus skeleton SI.jpg
|image_caption = A Prolagus sardus skeleton
|image2 = Prolagus3.jpg
|image2_caption = Reconstruction of Prolagus sardus
|parent_authority =
|taxon = Prolagus
|authority = Pomel, 1853
|type_species = †Prolagus oeningensis
|type_species_authority = König, 1825
|subdivision_ranks = Species
|subdivision = See text
|range_map = Pika Prolagus sp. fossil distribution map.png
|range_map_caption =
}}
Prolagus is an extinct genus of lagomorph. Over 20 species have been named, and the genus was abundant and widespread in Europe during the Neogene. However, by the end of the Middle Pleistocene, it was confined to a single species, the Sardinian pika (P. sardus), on the Corsica, Sardinia, and surrounding islands, where it survived into historical times.{{MSW3 Hoffmann|pages=193-194}} In North Africa and Western Asia, the genus is known from the Miocene and Pliocene.{{cite book|last1=McKenna|first1=M.C.|last2=Bell|first2=S.K.|title=Classification of Mammals: Above the Species Level|year=1997|publisher=Columbia University Press|page=109|isbn=0-231-11013-8}} The scientific name may mean "before hares" or "primitive hares" (pro- meaning "before" and lagos meaning "hare"). Its taxonomy is disputed, with it either being considered a member of the family Ochotonidae, which includes living pikas, or the only member of the family Prolagidae.
Taxonomy
Prolagus was first named by Auguste Pomel in 1853. Prolagus has been considered by most taxonomists to be a member of the pika family Ochotonidae, but distinct from living pikas, which all belong to the genus Ochotona. Erbaleva in 1988 suggested it represented the only member of the monotypic family Prolagidae due to its distinct dental formula;ERBAEVA M. A., 1988: Late Cenozaic pikas: taxonomy, systematics, phylogeny. Nauka, Moskva, 224 pp (in Russian). this proposal was considered invalid by Nieves López Martínez, due to the fact that many mammal families have lineages with distinct dental formulae.N. López-Martínez [https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/33108871.pdf Paleobiogeographical history of Prolagus, a European ochotonid (Lagomorpha)] Lynx, 32 (2001), pp. 215-231 However, many authorities such as the IUCN Red List and American Society of Mammalogists accept Prolagidae as valid.Smith, A.T. & Lanier, H.C. 2019. Prolagus sardus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T18338A1737167. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T18338A1737167.en. Downloaded on 12 April 2021.{{cite web|title=ASM Mammal Diversity Database|url=https://www.mammaldiversity.org/|access-date=2021-07-06|website=www.mammaldiversity.org}} Analysis of a partial mitochondrial genome of Prolagus sardus suggests that it is more closely related to Ochotona than to Leporidae (which contains rabbits and hares), with an estimated divergence between Prolagus and Ochotona about 30 million years ago.{{cite journal|last1=Utzeri|first1=Valerio Joe|last2=Cilli|first2=Elisabetta|last3=Fontani |first3=Francesco|last4=Zoboli|first4=Daniel|last5=Orsini|first5=Massimiliano|last6=Ribani |first6=Anisa|last7=Latorre|first7=Adriana|last8=Lissovsky|first8=Andrey A.|last9=Pillola|first9=Gian Luigi|last10=Bovo|first10=Samuele|last11=Gruppioni|first11=Giorgio|last12=Luiselli|first12=Donata|last13=Fontanesi|first13=Luca|date=2023-08-21|title=Ancient DNA re-opens the question of the phylogenetic position of the Sardinian pika Prolagus sardus (Wagner, 1829), an extinct lagomorph|journal=Scientific Reports|volume=13|issue=1|page=13635|doi=10.1038/s41598-023-40746-w|issn=2045-2322|pmc=10442435|pmid=37604894|bibcode=2023NatSR..1313635U}}
{{clade
|label1=Glires
|1=
{{clade
|1=Rodentia
|label2=Lagomorpha
|2=
{{clade
|1=Leporidae (rabbits and hares)
|2=
{{clade
|1={{extinct}}Prolagus sardus (Sardinian pika)
|2=Ochotona (living pikas)
}}
}}
}}
}}
Description
Prolagus is distinguished by a continuously growing dentition, a lack of a lower third molar, a trilobed second lower molar and unusually shaped premolars, with additional cusps in the lower third premolar. In comparison to modern pikas of the genus Ochotona, they have one less dorsal vertebra in the spinal column. Most species of Prolagus probably weighed around {{convert|500|g|lb}}, similar to a living pika. A specimen with preserved soft-tissue is known from late Miocene aged deposits from Andance in France, which shows that its overall proportions, shape of the ears and lack of tail are similar to living Ochotona.
Species
Over 20 species of Prolagus have been named.{{cite web|author=Angelone, C.|year=2004|title=Messinian Prolagus (Lagomorpha, Mammalia) of Italy|url=http://www.messinianonline.it/MSCCorte1.php|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121209131814/http://www.messinianonline.it/MSCCorte1.php|archive-date=2012-12-09|access-date=2008-01-14|work=Messinian Online}}{{cite book|author = Nowak, Ronald M.|year=1999|title=Walker's Mammals of the World, 6th edition, volume II|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|pages=1936}}
| class="wikitable sortable"
!Species !width=50|Author and year !width=200|Temporal range !Location !width=400|Notes & description |
| P. oeningensis
|König, 1825 |late-Middle Miocene |Germany | |
| P. sardus
|Wagner, 1829 |Middle Pleistocene-Holocene |Sardinia, Corsica, and surrounding islands | |
| P. calpensis
|F. Major, 1905 |Pliocene |Gibraltar | |
| P. vasconiensis
|Viret, 1930 |Early Miocene |France | |
| P. bilobus
|Heller, 1936 |Pliocene |Germany | |
| P. osmolskae{{cite journal|last1=Fostowicz-Frelik|first1=Ł|year=2010|title=A new species of Pliocene Prolagus (Lagomorpha, Ochotonidae) from Poland is the northernmost record of the genus|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|volume=30|issue=2|pages=609–612|doi=10.1080/02724631003621789|bibcode=2010JVPal..30..609F|s2cid=84550663}}
|Fostowicz-Frelik, 2010 |Pliocene |Poland |Has been considered a junior synonym of P. bilobus{{cite journal|last1=Čermák|first1=S.|last2=Angelone|first2=C.|year=2013|title=Revision of the type material of the Pliocene species Prolagus bilobus Heller, 1936 (Mammalia, Lagomorpha), with comments on the taxonomic validity of P. osmolskae Fostowicz-Frelik, 2010|url=http://www.geology.cz/bulletin/contents/art1369|journal=Bulletin of Geosciences|volume=88|issue=1|pages=45–50|doi=10.3140/bull.geosci.1369|doi-access=free}} |
| P. crusafonti
|Lopez-Martinez, 1975 |Late Miocene |Spain | |
| P. michauxi
|Lopez-Martinez, 1975 |Pliocene |France | |
| P. ibericus
|Lopez-Martinez, 1975 |Pliocene |Spain | |
| P. figaro
|Lopez-Martinez, 1975 |Pliocene |Sardinia and Corsica | |
| P. depereti
|Lopez-Martinez, 1975 |Pliocene |France |Originally described as a subspecies of P. figaro |
| P. schnaitheimensis
|Tobien, 1975 |early-Middle Miocene |Germany | |
| P. tobieni
|Lopez-Martinez, 1977 |late-Middle Miocene |Spain | |
| P. major
|Lopez-Martinez, 1977 |late-Middle Miocene |Spain | |
| P. praevasconiensis
|Ringeade, 1978 |Early Miocene |France | |
| P. apricenicus
| rowspan="2" |Mazza, 1987 | rowspan="2" |Late Miocene | rowspan="2" |Italy | rowspan="2" |Part of endemic Gargano island fauna |
| P. imperialis |
| P. sorbini
|Massini, 1989 |Latest Miocene |Italy | |
| P. aguilari
|Lopez-Martinez, 1997 |early Middle Miocene |France | |
| P. fortis
|Lopez-Martinez et Sese, 1990 |Early Miocene |Spain | |
| P. caucasicus
|Averianov et Tesakov, 1998 |Pliocene |Russia | |
| P. pannonicus{{cite journal|last1=Angelone|first1=Chiara|last2=Čermák|first2=Stanislav|date=December 2015|title=Two new species of Prolagus (Lagomorpha, Mammalia) from the Late Miocene of Hungary: taxonomy, biochronology, and palaeobiogeography|url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12542-014-0247-z|journal=Paläontologische Zeitschrift|volume=89|issue=4|pages=1023–1038|doi=10.1007/s12542-014-0247-z|bibcode=2015PalZ...89.1023A |s2cid=84114380|issn=0031-0220|url-access=subscription}}
|rowspan=2|Angelone & Čermák, 2015 |rowspan=2|Late Miocene |rowspan=2|Hungary | |
| P. latiuncinatus
| |
| P. italicus{{Cite journal|last=Angelone|first=Chiara|date=July 2008|title=Prolagus italicus n. sp. (Ochotonidae, Lagomorpha), a new Pliocene species of peninsular Italy|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0016699508000600|journal=Geobios|language=en|volume=41|issue=4|pages=445–453|doi=10.1016/j.geobios.2007.12.001|bibcode=2008Geobi..41..445A |url-access=subscription}}
|Angelone, 2008 |Pliocene |Italy | |
| P. migrans{{cite journal|last1=Sen|first1=Sevket|last2=Geraads|first2=Denis|date=2023-02-03|title=Lagomorpha (Mammalia) from the Pliocene-Pleistocene locality of Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco|url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12549-022-00569-5|journal=Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments|volume=103|issue=3|pages=633–661|doi=10.1007/s12549-022-00569-5|bibcode=2023PdPe..103..633S|s2cid=256583662|issn=1867-1594}}
|Sen & Geraads, 2023 |Pliocene-Pleistocene |Morocco | |
Evolutionary history and ecology
Prolagus likely evolved from the Oligocene-earliest Miocene genus Piezodus. The distribution of Prolagus between 20-8 million years ago extends from the Iberian Peninsula in the west to Anatolia in the east, extending as far north as central Germany, though it was absent from the Italian Peninsula. Early Prolagus species are thought to have inhabited subtropical swamp and wetland environments, with a similar ecology to the living marsh rabbit (Sylvilagus palustris). In many European Miocene localities remains of Prolagus are extraordinarily abundant, and Prolagus species probably played a key role as prey for many predators. During the late Miocene, Prolagus dispersed into North Africa due to the connection between Africa and Europe as a result of the Messinian salinity crisis. The range of Prolagus shifted southwards and substantially contracted outside of North Africa during the Pliocene, due to climatic cooling and increasing aridity, though the genus reached its highest species richness at 9 species due to habitat fragmentation leading to speciation. Prolagus first arrived in Corsica, Sardinia, and other Mediterranean islands at the early-late Pliocene boundary, likely due to an emergent land connection. The earliest remains of Prolagus on the islands are represented by the species P. figaro, ancestral to P. sardus.{{cite journal|date=2015-07-01|title=The most ancient lagomorphs of Sardinia: An overview|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016699515000455|journal=Geobios|volume=48|issue=4|pages=287–296|doi=10.1016/j.geobios.2015.06.002|issn=0016-6995|last1=Angelone|first1=Chiara|last2=Čermák|first2=Stanislav|last3=Kotsakis|first3=Tassos|bibcode=2015Geobi..48..287A|url-access=subscription}} Among the last continental species of Prolagus is P. calpensis from the Early-Middle Pleistocene of the Iberian Peninsula. By the beginning of the Late Pleistocene, Prolagus was confined to the single species P. sardus on Corsica, Sardinia and surrounding islands. While decline of the distribution Prolagus on the mainland of the continents was primarily driven by climatic change, the cause of the final extinction of the mainland Prolagus species is unclear, but one factor suggested is increased predation pressure. The Sardinian pika probably became extinct sometime between 800 BC (the timing of the last reliable radiocarbon date) and the 6th century AD, likely due to introductions of invasive species by humans.{{cite journal|last1=Valenzuela|first1=Alejandro|last2=Torres-Roig|first2=Enric|last3=Zoboli|first3=Daniel|last4=Pillola|first4=Gian Luigi|last5=Alcover|first5=Josep Antoni|date=2021-11-29|title=Asynchronous ecological upheavals on the Western Mediterranean islands: New insights on the extinction of their autochthonous small mammals|journal=The Holocene|volume=32|issue=3|pages=137–146|doi=10.1177/09596836211060491|issn=0959-6836|s2cid=244763779|hdl=11584/322952|hdl-access=free}}
Notes
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References
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Additional references of the Paleobiology Database
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{{Commons category|Prolagus}}
{{Lagomorpha Genera|La.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q511863|from2=Q6005250}}
Category:Prehistoric lagomorphs
Category:Prehistoric placental genera
Category:Miocene genus first appearances