Majorcan Giant Dormouse

Majorcan Giant Dormouse
Majorcan Giant Dormouse
Temporal range: Middle Pleistocene-Recent
Articulated skeletons of Hypnomys morpheus covered by flownstone found in the Cova des Pas de Vallgornera
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Gliridae
Genus: Hypnomys
Species: H. morphaeus
Binomial name
Hypnomys morphaeus

The Majorcan Giant Dormouse, scientifically known as Hypnomys morphaeus or Eliomys morpheus (Majorca, Spain), is an extinct animal from Europe. It is considered an example of island gigantism. The closest extant relative is considered to be the garden dormouse, genus Eliomys.[1] It is believed to have had an omnivorous diet,[2] and may have been terrestrial rather than arboreal. The arrival of humans on the island is believed to have been a major factor in its extinction.[3] It was described by the palaeontologist Dorothea Bate in 1919. A 2011 study estimated its body weight as between 173 and 284 g and a head and body length of 179 mm and a total body length of 295 mm .[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ MC McKenna and SK Bell "Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level" 1997 631pp. Columbia University Press, New York.
  2. ^ Hautier, L. Bover, P., Alcover, J.A., and Michaux, J. 2009. Mandible morphometrics, dental microwear pattern, and palaeobiology of the extinct Balearic Dormouse Hypnomys morpheus. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 54 (2): 181–194. DOI: 10.4202/app.2008.0001]
  3. ^ P Bover, JA Alcover, Journal of Biogeography, 2008 (35) 1112-1122 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2007.01839.x
  4. ^ http://www.ploscollections.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0015817;jsessionid=4A4B8A5E7DD12BC3E642D5AE30B80069.ambra02



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