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Variations in Microtus arvalis and Microtus agrestis (Arvicolinae, Rodentia) Dental Morphologies in an Archaeological Context: the Case of Teixoneres Cave (Late Pleistocene, North-Eastern Iberia)

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Abstract

Morphological and morphometric variations in the first lower molars of Microtus arvalis and Microtus agrestis from the late Pleistocene site of Teixoneres Cave (Barcelona, Spain) have been investigated in order to understand the modifications in dental patterns occurring in these two species in a peripheral region of their distribution area. It was possible to identify along the sequence differences in size and frequencies of morphotypes within the two populations, corresponding to environmental and climatic oscillations. Hypotheses to explain these intraspecific changes are discussed, and the variations are ascribed primarily to small-scale intraregional movements of these two rodent populations.

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Acknowledgments

The authors want to thank Rupert Glasgow for the revision of the English and the reviewers for their valuable comments. E. Luzi is a beneficiary of a PhD scholarship funded under the Erasmus Mundus Program – International Doctorate in Quaternary and Prehistory. The research at Toll-Teixoneres Caves is supported by projects 2014/100573 and 2014 SGR 900 from the Generalitat de Catalunya; project 19434/PI/14 from the SéNeCa Foundation; and projects HAR2013-48784-C3-1-P, CGL2012-38434-C03-03, CGLBOS-2012-34717 and HAR2010-18952-C02-01 from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IPHES, Institut Catala de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolucio Social, C/ Marcel·lí Domingo s/n. Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007, Tarragona, Spain

    Elisa Luzi, Juan Manuel López-García, Florent Rivals & Jordi Rosell

  2. Area de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya, 35, 43002, Tarragona, Spain

    Elisa Luzi, Florent Rivals & Jordi Rosell

  3. Centro Nacional de Investigación Sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Paseo Sierra de Atapuerca 3, 09002, Burgos, Spain

    Ruth Blasco

  4. ICREA, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona, Spain

    Florent Rivals

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  1. Elisa Luzi
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  2. Juan Manuel López-García
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  3. Ruth Blasco
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  4. Florent Rivals
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Correspondence to Elisa Luzi.

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Luzi, E., López-García, J.M., Blasco, R. et al. Variations in Microtus arvalis and Microtus agrestis (Arvicolinae, Rodentia) Dental Morphologies in an Archaeological Context: the Case of Teixoneres Cave (Late Pleistocene, North-Eastern Iberia). J Mammal Evol 24, 495–503 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-016-9355-8

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