Crocidura obtusa Kretzoi, 1938

Botka, Dániel & Mészáros, Lukács, 2018, Taxonomic and palaeoecological review of the Soricidae (Mammalia) fauna from the late Early Pleistocene Somssich Hill 2 locality (Villány Hills, Southern Hungary) Eötvös Loránd University, Department of Palaeontology,, Fragmenta Palaeontologica Hungarica 35, pp. 143-151 : 145-147

Crocidura obtusa Kretzoi, 1938 – n: 15; MNI: 13 Crocidura sp. ( kornfeldi or obtusa ) – n: 181; MNI: 53

Taxonomic results – The present investigation on the Somssich Hill 2 fossil material has resulted taxonomically in three Soricidae groups.

1. The specially adapted genus Beremendia occurs with two species in the Carpathian Basin. The bigger B. fissidens described by PETÉNYI (1864) and the smaller B. minor discovered by RZEBIK-KOWALSKA (1976) are well distinguished by size of the upper and lower molars. Separation was supported by the morphometric analysis made on the M 2 length and width of the two forms by BOTKA & MÉSZÁROS (2014 b). They emended the differential characters between the two species with some morphological characteristics, the most important one of which was in the third lower molar. B. fissidens has basined M 3 talonid with straight posterior margin (hypolophid) and the entoconid is lower than that one of the smaller species. Contrarily, B. minor has a more reduced, not basined M 3 talonid with rounded posterior margin and high entoconid.

2. Specimens of the Sorex (Drepanosorex) savini - margaritodon group are reported from several localities of the European Early and Middle Pleistocene. Sorex savini was described by HINTON (1911) and KORMOS (1930) distinguished another species for a similar form as S. margaritodon on the basis of its smaller size than the previous one. BOTKA & MÉSZÁROS (2016) demonstrated that the measurements of the two forms overlap and the tiny differences between them may be the consequences of intraspecific variability. Hence, they thought that Sorex (Drepanosorex) margaritodon Kormos, 1930 is a junior synonym of Sorex (Drepanosorex) savini Hinton, 1911 , thus the earlier S. (D.) savini is the valid name. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that the areas of the two species do not separate from each other in time and space.

3. The rich Crocidura material of Somssich Hill 2 site provided important data to the distinction of the Early Pleistocene white-toothed shrew Crocidura obtusa from the coeval C. kornfeldi . Latter was discovered by KORMOS (1934), while C. obtusa was originally described by KRETZOI (1938) as a new species. Because Kretzoi’s description was not properly detailed, the later authors separated the two species mainly on the basis of the size of the teeth. The morphometric studies by BOTKA & MÉSZÁROS (2015) revealed that the differentiation of the isolated teeth of C. kornfeldi and C. obtusa is unreal based on the measurements only. They emended the original diagnosis according to the observations of RZEBIK-KOWALSKA (2000) and their studies on the Somssich Hill 2 material with some morphological characters, mainly in the mandibular ramus.