Parascalops fossilis Skoczeń, 1993

Rzebik-Kowalska, Barbara, 2014, Review of the Pliocene and Pleistocene Talpidae (Soricomorpha, Mammalia) of Poland, Palaeontologia Electronica (26 A) 26, pp. 1-26 : 7-8

Parascalops fossilis Skoczeń, 1993

Figure 2.5-6

1980 Scapanulus agrarius Skoczeń ; Skoczeń, p. 440, fig. 5.

1993 Parascalops fossilis Skoczeń ; Skoczeń, p. 127, fig. 3.

1994 Scapanulus agrarius Skoczeń ; Rzebik-Kowalska, p. 80, 84, 86.

1994 Parascalops fossilis Skoczeń ; Rzebik-Kowalska, p. 80, 84, 86.

2001 “ Scalopoides ” agrarius (Skoczeń) ; Dahlmann, p. 21, pl. 7, fig. 4.

2005 Parascalops fossilis Skoczeń ; Rzebik-Kowalska, p. 123, 126.

2009 Parascalops agrarius (Skoczeń) ; RzebikKowalska, p. 8, 16, 19.

2009 Scapanulus agrarius Skoczeń ; Rzebik-Kowalska, p. 50.

Material. Podlesice. Holotype - a nearly complete left humerus no. MF/1018/24, paratype - the distal part of the right humerus, no. MF/1018/25. Remaining material: manubrium sterni and right ulna. MMI = 1, catalogue number MF/1018. Węże 1. Two incomplete humeri, left and right. MNI = 1, catalogue number MF/1019. They are housed in the collection of the ISEAPAS in Kraków.

According to Skoczeń (1993), a fragmentary right humerus, manubrium sterni, and ulna from Podlesice were previously identified as Scapanulus agrarius Skoczeń, 1980 . The veracity of this statement is confirmed by the same catalogue number (MF/1018) of the specimens cited by Skoczeń in his papers of 1980 and 1993.

However, the material described by Skoczeń in 1980 as S. agrarius was more abundant. Besides the specimens mentioned above, the material also contained four astragali and 17 humeri. Their systematic position is now unclear because it is unknown whether Skoczeń (1993) left these specimens (four astragali and 17 humeri) to S. agrarius or whether he included them in P. fossilis . In the latter case specimens assigned to the mole known as S. agrarius cease to exist in the fossil fauna of Poland, and the fossil fauna in general and the name S. agrarius becomes a junior homonym of P. fossilis .

Unfortunately these questions cannot be resolved because in the latest paper of Skoczeń (1993) these remains (four astragali and 17 humeri) from Podlesice figure neither as S. agrarius nor as P. fossilis and they were not found in the material elaborated by Skoczeń (1980, 1993).

The holotype of S. agrarius was described as a “relatively less damaged” left humerus ( Skoczeń, 1980) and that of P. fossilis as a “nearly complete” left humerus ( Skoczeń, 1993). However, they cannot be the same specimens because their numbers are different, i.e., MF/1018/2 and MF/1018/24, respectively. These different numbers are not erroneous because the morphology and measurements of both holotypes are also different. The humerus length (L) of S. agrarius equals 8.52 mm and its proximal width (Wp) is 5.10 mm ( Skoczeń, 1980), while the L humerus of P. fossilis equals 10.7 mm and its Wp is 7.7 mm ( Skoczeń, 1993). A verification of measurements of the Podlesice material showed that the humerus indicated by Skoczeń in 1993 is the holotype of P. fossilis . The holotype of S. agrarius has not been found.

It is also unclear which humerus was chosen as the holotype for P. fossilis . It may have been one of the 17 humeri mentioned in the paper of 1980 (and now absent in the material) or a new one not cited earlier. Most probably the first supposition is correct because Skoczeń (1993) did not mention new material from Podlesice.

Description. The original description and measurements of Parascalops fossilis were given by Skoczeń (1993). Here the presence and the degree of development of the “scalopine ridge” on the humerus, characteristic for the Scalopinae family, is discussed.

Among 14 known Scalopinae genera, eight ( Proscapanus , Scapanulus , Scalopus , Scapanus , Yanshuella , Scalopoides, Yunascaptor , and Leptoscaptor ) are characterized by a prominent or rather prominent “scalopine ridge” on their humeri. In one genus, Parascalops , this ridge is weak, fragmentary, or almost lacking. Known humeri of Domninoides and Scapanoscapter are incomplete and those of Mydecodon , Proscalops , and Hugueneya unknown. In this situation the presence or absence of a “scalopine ridge” is unknown. The humeri of fossil P. fossilis from Poland are characterized by a weak “scalopine ridge” similar to the ridge in the Recent Parascalops in which it is also faint.

Systematic position and distribution. The specimens mentioned above were previously described by Skoczeń (1980) as belonging to Scapanulus agrarius . However Storch and Qiu (1983) questioned its inclusion into this genus. According to them the Polish humeri differ from those of Recent Scapanulus oweni Thomas, 1912 from China, and they considered the generic status of Scapanulus agrarius undecided.

Most probably this critique caused Skoczeń (1993) to revise the systematic position of the S. agrarius remains and their inclusion into the genus Parascalops True, 1894 . The only species of this genus, P. breweri (Bachman, 1842) (in Bachman and Charleston 1843 -1844) now lives in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada.

To confirm the new classification, Skoczeń (1993) listed 11 humeral characters common for Parascalops breweri and P. fossilis . Among them is a weak “scalopine ridge” present in both species. On the other hand he mentioned only five common characters of P. fossilis and Scapanulus oweni and among them also a weakly developed “scalopine ridge.” However, according to Storch and Qiu (1983) this ridge is not weak in Recent S. oweni and thus both forms have only four common features.

Only four characters discriminate between humeri of P. fossilis and Recent P. breweri and as many as eight delimit P. fossilis and Recent S. oweni ( Skoczeń, 1993) . This comparison shows that the specimens described earlier as Scapanulus agrarius are more similar to Parascalops than to Scapanulus ( Skoczeń, 1980, 1993), and they should be included into the first genus ( Parascalops ).

In 2001 Dahlmann named a mole from the Early Pliocene locality Wölfersheim in Germany as “ Scalopoides ” agrarius ( Skoczeń, 1980) . According to him these remains resemble Scapanulus agrarius Skoczeń, 1980 described from Poland and also compared by Skoczeń (1980, p. 444) to Scalopoides Wilson, 1960 because of some common characters in both forms. However, the fossil Scalopoides from the USA (Early Miocene, Colorado) is characterized by a prominent “scalopine ridge” which in P. fossilis (previously Scapanulus agrarius ) is only very weak. The five humeri of “ Scalopoides ” agrarius from Germany are damaged. In this situation the degree of formation of their “scalopine ridge” is unknown and their inclusion into the genus Scalopoides is rather open. On the other hand, despite the absence of teeth among P. fossilis specimens, the close similarity of their ( P. fossilis and recent P. breweri ) humeri, ulna, and manubrium shows that it represents a Parascalops -like mole and can be ascribed to the genus Parascalops .

The name of the species remains problematic. Previously ( Rzebik-Kowalska, 1994, 2005, 2009) it seemed certain that P. fossilis was described on the grounds of the same material as S. agrarius , all specimens belonging to S. agrarius were included into the genus Parascalops and the new form should be named Parascalops agrarius ( Skoczeń, 1993) . Now, after a revision of the material (in which the holotypes of both forms are not the same specimens and most remains of Scapanulus agrarius have disappeared) the name P. fossilis Skoczeń, 1993 has been maintained. At the same time the species Scapanulus agrarius Skoczeń, 1980 and its name disappear from the Polish fossil fauna as well as from the fossil fauna in general.

Apart from Poland, fossil remains of Parascalops were found in Pleistocene localities of North America ( Van Zyll de Jong, 1983).