Dietary preferences and autecology of a basal Holarctic ground squirrelSpermophilinus(Rodentia: Sciuridae: Xerinae), inferred from dental microwear analysis

Spermophilinus is a primitive marmotine ground squirrel from the early Miocene – early Pliocene of Eurasia. Despite the high abundance in small mammal communities, apparently indicating its important role in Neogene terrestrial ecosystems, an autecological study of this taxon based on direct methods has not yet been carried out. Herein, we report on a dental microwear analysis of S. bredai, the type species of the genus, based on the m3...