Mesocapromys sp.

Orihuela, Johanset, Orozco, Leonel Pérez, Álvarez Licourt, Jorge L., Viera Muñoz, Ricardo A. & Barani, Candido Santana, 2020, Late Holocene land vertebrate fauna from Cueva de los Nesofontes, Western Cuba: Stratigraphy, chronology, diversity, and paleoecology, Palaeontologia Electronica (a 57) 23 (3), pp. 1-46 : 18

Mesocapromys sp.

Material. This genus is represented by over 50 specimens, most of which are long bones, representing at least two species and 20 individuals. The two species are represented by Mesocapromys nanus (Allen, 1917) and Mesocapromys kraglievichi (Varona and Arredondo, 1979) . This genus was present at all levels and in most beds, but more profusely in level III and IV ( Table 4).

Description. Most remains showed taphonomic evidence of predation and digestion. Others were mineralized or adhered to a carbonate matrix. Most were juveniles with open or incomplete epiphysis and alveoli.

Taxonomic remarks. Although Silva Taboada et al. (2007) and M. Condis (2005) provided size groups for elements of the appendicular skeleton, attributing any of these long bones to a specific species is problematic due to the lack of complete skeletons as comparative material. Often, identification and assignment are satisfactory when complete adult hemimandibles are present in the assemblage, for which there are diagnostic M. nanus and M. kraglievichi . At present, the only diagnostic trait distinguishing them is the lateral extension of the condyle’s ascending ramus process beyond the plane orientation of the angular process in M. nanus when the dentary is in occlusal view (i.e., viewed from above; Silva Taboada et al., 2007 p. 176). In M. kraglievichi , the ascending ramus follows the same plane as the angular process below. However, both species could be considered synonyms in the future (Osvaldo Jiménez and Lazaro W. Viñola, personal commun., 2017). Most of the undetermined material is assigned to Mesocapromys spp. indet. Table 3 represents juveniles, just as those of the extinct Geocapromys columbianus and the extant Capromys pilorides , which were well-represented in the assemblage ( Tables 3-4).