A seven-million-year record from the Daroca-Calamocha area (Miocene, Spain) brings new clues to Erinaceidae phylogeny and paleobiogeography

Ninety-two localities from the Daroca-Calamocha area (central Spain), spanning seven million years, have yielded a high diversity of Miocene erinaceids, comprising six species of Galericinae (Galerix remmerti, Galerix symeonidisi, Galerix exilis, Parasorex sp. Parasorex voesendorfensis, Lantanotherium sp.) and four species of Erinaceinae (‘Amphechinus’ baudeloti, Atelerix cf. depereti, ‘Mioechinus’ sp. Erinaceinae gen. et sp. indet). We identify the transition from Galerix remmerti to G. exilis during Local Zone C (MN4) and discuss the differences between G. exilis and G. symeonidisi in Spain. Detailed comparisons of the intraspecific variability of Galerix species lead to a new phylogeny of the genus that supports a strong basal dichotomy and two distinct dispersal events into Europe during the Early Miocene. The record of Parasorex sp. and Lantanotherium sp. in the Iberian Peninsula is constrained to the middle-late Aragonian transition and is correlated with unstable climatic conditions. The latest Aragonian and Vallesian material from Nombrevilla 2, Carrilanga 1, and Pedregueras 2A, previously identified as Parasorex socialis, is reattributed to Parasorex voesendorfensis.