Talpa minor Freudenberg, 1914

Popov, Vasil V., 2004, Pliocene small mammals (Mammalia, Lipotyphla, Chiroptera, Lagomorpha, Rodentia) from Muselievo (North Bulgaria), Geodiversitas 26 (3), pp. 403-491 : 408

Talpa minor Freudenberg, 1914

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — 1 fragmentary humerus (Ms377-1), 1 cubitus and 3 fragments of cubitus (Ms377-2). Minimal width of humerus = 4.00; length of cubitus = 10.30.

REMARKS

The two postcranial bones found in Muselievo reveal features of the genus Talpa . Their measurements are intermediate between the mediumsized Pleistocene forms, usually denoted as Talpa fossilis Petényi, 1864 , and the smaller species Talpa minor . In this respect, they correspond to the Pliocene species Talpa csarnotana Kretzoi, 1959 , described from Csarnóta ( Hungary). This species is of the size of T. minor , but differs in a stronger development of the proximal area of the humerus and a shorter shaft. Storch (1978) provided an illustration of the humerus of this form. However, the available fragment of humerus does not permit detailed comparisons. Nevertheless, it seems “unlikely that Csarnóta contains a different smaller Talpa species that other Hungarian localities of similar age” and it seems likely “that T. csarnotana is a junior synonym of T. minor ” (Van Cleef-Roders & Van den Hoek Ostende 2001) . The differences in size can be related to local environmental peculiarities as it is the case in the present-day populations of T. europaea Linnaeus, 1758 and T. levantis Thomas, 1906 in Bulgaria ( Popov & Miltchev 2001).

Order CHIROPTERA Blumenbach, 1779