Neomys newtoni Hinton, 1911

Botka, Dániel & Mészáros, Lukács, 2017, Asoriculus and Neomys (Mammalia, Soricidae) remains from the late Early Pleistocene Somssich Hill 2 locality (Villány Hills, Southern Hungary), Fragmenta Palaeontologica Hungarica 34, pp. 105-125 : 109-115

Neomys newtoni Hinton, 1911

( Figs 4–6 )

1911 Neomys newtoni n. sp. – HINTON, p. 535, text-fig. 1a, tab. II, pl. XXV, fig. 1.

1949 Neomys newtoni Hinton – FRIANT, fig. 15: 1.

1991 Neomys newtoni Hinton – RZEBIK-KOWALSKA, pp. 405–407, tabs XXXIV–XXXV, text-fig. 19.

2000 Neomys cf. newtoni Hinton – RZEBIK-KOWALSKA, p. 35, fig. 10C.

2002 Neomys newtoni Hinton – ZAITSEV & BARYSHNIKOV, pp. 301–302, tab. II, fig. 10C-D.

2006 Neomys newtoni Hinton – HARRISON et al., fig. 3b.

2010 Neomys newtoni Hinton – MAUL & PARFITT, p. 96, tab. 4, fig. 2H-I.

2013 Neomys newtoni Hinton – RZEBIK-KOWALSKA, p. 22, tab. 26, fig. 5: 4–5.

2016 Neomys newtoni Hinton – RZEBIK-KOWALSKA & REKOVETS, p. 21, tab. 9, fig. 9: 4–6.

Studied material and measurements – For the overview of the measurements see Table 2 . Specimen numbers and MNI data by layers are given in Table 3 .

Layer 4 – inv. n.: V.82.85.

– Right mandible fragment without dentition.

Layer 5 – inv. n.: V.82.54.

– Left mandible fragment with M 1 (L: 1.75, W: 1.10) and M 2 (L: 1.60, W: 1.05);

– Left I 1 (L: 2.15, H: 1.45);

– Left M 1 (L: 1.73, W: 1.00).

Layer 15 – inv. n.: V. 89.51.

– Right I 1 fragment;

– Left M 1 fragment.

Layer 22

– Left I 1 (L: 1.78, H: 1.30);

– 2 right I 1 fragments;

– Right I 1 (L: 4.60, H: 0.80);

– Right I 1 (L: 4.95, H: 1.03).

Layer 24

– Left I 1 fragment;

– Right I 1 (L: 2.00, H: 1.28);

– Right P 4 (BL: 1.75, LL: 1.46, W: 1.80);

– Left M 1 (LL: 1.75, BL: 1.66, AW: 1.70, PW: 1.85);

– Right M 1 (LL: 1.70, BL: 1.66, AW: 1.75, PW: 1.93);

– Left M 2 (LL: 1.60, BL: 1.68, AW: 1.84, PW: 1.89);

– Left M 2 fragment;

– Left I 1 (L: 4.73, H: 1.00).

Layer 25

– Left M 1 fragment;

– Right I 1 (L: 4.45, H: 0.83).

Layer 27

– Left A 1;

– Left M 1 (L: 1.58, W: 1.00);

– Left M 2 (L: 1.43, W: 0.85);

– Right M

2

(L: 1.29, W: 0.83).

Layer 29

– Right mandible fragment without dentition;

– Left M 1 (LL: 1.70, BL: 1.65, AW: 1.76, PW: 1.98);

– Right M 2 (LL: 1.39, BL: 1.46, AW: 1.58, PW: 1.60).

Layer 31

– Left I 1 (L: 1.88, H: 1.28).

Layer 32

– Right M 2 (LL: 1.68, BL: 1.45, AW: 1.94, PW: 1.73).

Layer 33

– Right I 1 (L: 4.60, H: 1.00);

– Right I 1 fragment.

Layer 36

– Right mandible fragment with M 1 (L: 1.60, W: 0.88), M 2 (L: 1.38, W: 0.80), and M 3 (L: 1.08, W: 0.68);

– Right I 1 (L: 1.98, H: 1.38).

Layer 39

– Left mandible fragment with M 1 fragment and M 2 (L: 1.50, W: 0.85);

– Right M 1 fragment.

Layer 40

– Left maxillary fragment with P 4 (BL: 1.88, LL: 1.33, W: 1.75), M 1 (LL: 1.68, BL: 1.68, AW: 1.71, PW: 1.93), and M 2 (LL: 1.48, BL: 1.43, AW: 1.84, PW: 1.69);

– Right mandible fragment with M 1 (L: 1.78, W: 1.00), M 2 (L: 1.53, W: 0.90), and M 3 (L: 1.30, W: 0.75).

Layer 41

– Right M 1 fragment.

Layer 44

– Right I 1 fragment;

– Left M 2 (L: 1.40, W: 0.83).

Layer 45

– Right mandible fragment with A 1, M 1 (L: 1.64, W: 0.95), and M 2 (L: 1.46, W: 0.90).

Description – Neomys remains differ from the ones of Asoriculus not only in their morphology, but also in their somewhat bigger size ( Fig. 7 ). Pigmentation on the Neomys teeth is red to orange.

Mandible – Structure of the condyloid process is typical for genus Neomys . The upper and lower condyloid facets are separated by a narrow interarticular area ( Fig. 6 ). The morphology of the condyloid and coronoid processes agrees with the description given by RZEBIK-KOWALSKA (2013): “The coronoid process is narrow and its tip is rounded. The coronoid spicule is distinct, situated in 2/3 of the height of the coronoid process. The upper facet of the condyloid process is small, the lower is wide on the buccal side and narrow on the lingual side. The interarticular area is very narrow in the middle and it widens towards the upper and lower facets.”

I 1 – The buccal cingulum is week and undulate. The lower margin of the talon is concave. The apex even as the talon are pointed. The upper margin of the apex is rounded ( Fig. 4 ).

P 4 – The parastyle is big with a low parastylar crest. The protocone is separated from the hypocone by a broad valley. The hypoconal flange is surrounded by a well-developed cingulum.

M 1 and M 2 – The protocone is high, but its metaloph is low. It is separated from the hypocone by a broad valley. The hypocone is placed further towards the lingual side than the protocone. A wide cingulum runs along the flat hypoconal flange. AW<PW at M 1, but AW>PW at M 2 ( Fig. 5 ).

I 1 – The lower incisor is monocuspulate with up-turned apex. There is a weak cingulum on the posterior margin of its buccal side.

M 1 and M 2 – The first two molars are very similar to each other in morphology. M 2 is slightly smaller than M 1. Low entoconid crests are present. The lingual cingulum is wider than the buccal one; the latter is slightly undulate ( Fig. 6 ).

M 3 – It is typically smaller than M 2, but it is not reduced in morphology. Its talonid is basined ( Fig. 6 ).

Figures

Figs 4–6. Neomys newtoni Hinton, 1911. – 4. Left I1, buccal view, layer 22. – 5. Left M1, occlusal view, layer 29. – 6. Right mandible fragment with M 1 , M 2 , and M 3 , buccal view, layer 40. Scale bars = 1 mm

Fig. 7. Scatter plot of the measurements(M 2 L/W ratio) of the Asoriculus and Neomys remains from the Somssich Hill 2 locality

Tables

Table 2. Measurements of Neomys newtoni teeth from the Somssich Hill 2 locality (for the ab-

		n	min.	mean	max.	SD
I1	L	5	1.78	1.96	2.15	0.1408
	H	5	1.28	1.34	1.45	0.0762
M1	LL	4	1.68	1.71	1.75	0.0315
	BL	4	1.65	1.66	1.68	0.0102
	AW	4	1.70	1.73	1.76	0.0298
	PW	4	1.85	1.92	1.98	0.0515
M2	LL	4	1.39	1.53	1.68	0.1280
	BL	4	1.43	1.50	1.68	0.1156
	AW	4	1.58	1.80	1.94	0.1552
	PW	4	1.60	1.73	1.89	0.1203
P4	BL	2	1.75	1.81	1.88	0.0884
	LL	2	1.33	1.39	1.46	0.0972
	W	2	1.75	1.78	1.80	0.0354
I 1	L	5	4.45	4.67	4.95	0.1867
	H	5	0.80	0.93	1.03	0.1081
M 1	L	6	1.58	1.68	1.78	0.0838
	W	6	0.88	0.99	1.10	0.0737
M2	L	8	1.29	1.15	1.60	0.0970
	W	8	0.80	0.88	1.05	0.0791
M 3	L	2	1.08	1.19	1.30	0.0591
	W	2	0.68	0.71	0.75	0.0530