Laboratorio de Paleobiología, Universidad del Mar, Oaxaca, México.
CONICET, División Icnología, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
PLoS One. 2020 Mar 12;15(3):e0230040. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0230040. eCollection 2020.
We describe a new complex burrow system produced by geomyids in southern Mexico. Yaviichnus inyooensis igen. isp. nov. is composed of main large chambers near the top of the paleosol, from which shafts showing different morphologies and orientations radiate, some of them ending in or connected to small deeper chambers. Gregorymys spp. is proposed as the producer based on its fossorial habits, abundance in the outcrops, presence of remains inside the burrows, and paired grooves in the walls, which are compatible with the traces of geomyid incisors. The complexity of these burrows attests to an extended underground life that would have been triggered by semiarid to arid conditions. Morphological complexity also suggests that the burrows were excavated and inhabited by more than one individual, indicating that Oligocene Gregorymys of southern Mexico would be a unique gregarious geomyid.
我们描述了一种由墨西哥南部的掘穴地鼠产生的新的复杂洞穴系统。inyooensis igen. nov. 的 Yaviichnus 由近古土壤顶部的主要大型洞穴组成,从这些洞穴中辐射出显示不同形态和方向的竖井,其中一些在或连接到较深的小洞穴中结束。基于其穴居习性、在露头中的丰富度、在洞穴内发现的遗骸以及墙壁上成对的凹槽,提出 Gregorymys spp. 是该洞穴的产生者,这些凹槽与地鼠科门齿的痕迹相吻合。这些洞穴的复杂性证明了一种延长的地下生活,这是由半干旱到干旱条件引发的。形态复杂性还表明,这些洞穴是由不止一个个体挖掘和居住的,这表明墨西哥奥陶纪的 Gregorymys 是一种独特的群居地鼠。