Ivanoff Dmitry V, Wolsan Mieczysław, Marciszak Adrian
Palaeontological Museum, National Museum of Natural History, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Bogdan Khmelnitsky 15, 01601, Kiev, Ukraine,
Naturwissenschaften. 2014 Aug;101(8):645-51. doi: 10.1007/s00114-014-1200-4. Epub 2014 Jun 27.
The pre-Quaternary fossil record of Canis in the Old World is scarce, and the first appearance of this genus in Europe remains an enigma. Amongst the oldest fossils assigned to this genus, there is a natural cast of the brain (endocast) collected in Węże 1, Poland, from Pliocene deposits dated between 3.3 and 4.0 Ma. We reexamined this specimen and found that it differs from the brain of Canis in having its region medial to the coronal sulcus heart-shaped in dorsal view, its region rostral to the presylvian sulcus shorter and less constricted laterally, and its cerebellum less overlapped by the cerebrum and lacking a lateral twist of the posterior vermis. We identified this fossil, as well as another fossil canid endocast from Węże 1, as representing the raccoon dog genus Nyctereutes. The previously reported presence of Canis in Węże 1 is therefore not confirmed. Specifically, both endocasts can be referred to N. donnezani because this is the only species of Nyctereutes that has been recognised in this locality on the basis of craniomandibular and dental fossils. Our study represents a taxonomic application of comparative neuroanatomical and palaeoneurological data, an approach that may become increasingly useful with the growing knowledge of the endocranial morphology of fossil mammals.
旧世界犬属的第四纪前化石记录稀少，该属在欧洲的首次出现仍是一个谜。在归属于该属的最古老化石中，有一个来自波兰韦热1的上新世沉积物（年代在330万至400万年前）中采集的天然脑模（脑内铸型）。我们重新检查了这个标本，发现它与犬属的大脑不同，其冠状沟内侧区域在背视图中呈心形，其颞前沟前方区域较短且侧向收缩较小，其小脑被大脑覆盖的程度较小且缺乏后蚓部的侧向扭曲。我们将这个化石以及另一个来自韦热1的犬科动物脑内铸型鉴定为代表貉属Nyctereutes。因此，之前报道的韦热1中存在犬属的情况未得到证实。具体而言，这两个脑内铸型都可归为N. donnezani，因为这是根据颅下颌和牙齿化石在该地点已被确认的唯一貉属物种。我们的研究代表了比较神经解剖学和古神经学数据的分类学应用，随着对化石哺乳动物颅内形态学认识的不断增加，这种方法可能会变得越来越有用。
