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History of Polish Canidae (Carnivora, Mammalia) and Their Biochronological Implications on the Eurasian Background

The remains of 12 canid species that date back ca. 4.9 myr have been found at 116 paleontological localities. Among these localities, eight are dated to the Pliocene age, 12 are dated to the Early Pleistocene age, 12 are from the Middle Pleistocene age, while the most numerous group includes 84 site...

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Autores principales: Marciszak, Adrian, Kropczyk, Aleksandra, Gornig, Wiktoria, Kot, Małgorzata, Nadachowski, Adam, Lipecki, Grzegorz
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10048199/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36980812
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/genes14030539
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author Marciszak, Adrian
Kropczyk, Aleksandra
Gornig, Wiktoria
Kot, Małgorzata
Nadachowski, Adam
Lipecki, Grzegorz
author_facet Marciszak, Adrian
Kropczyk, Aleksandra
Gornig, Wiktoria
Kot, Małgorzata
Nadachowski, Adam
Lipecki, Grzegorz
author_sort Marciszak, Adrian
collection PubMed
description The remains of 12 canid species that date back ca. 4.9 myr have been found at 116 paleontological localities. Among these localities, eight are dated to the Pliocene age, 12 are dated to the Early Pleistocene age, 12 are from the Middle Pleistocene age, while the most numerous group includes 84 sites from the Late Pleistocene–Holocene age. Some, especially older forms such as Eucyon odessanus and Nyctereutes donnezani, have only been found at single sites, while the remains of species from the genus Lycaon, Canis and Vulpes have been recorded at numerous sites from the last 2 myr. Ancient canids such as Eucyon and Nyctereutes had already vanished from Poland in the Earliest Pleistocene, between 2.5 and 2.2 myr ago. Poland’s extant canid fauna is characterised by the presence of two new species, which spread into the territory due to a human introduction (Nyctereutes procyonoides) or natural expansion (Canis aureus). Research indicates a strong competition between dogs, especially between Lycaon, Canis and Cuon, with a strong lycaon-limiting effect on the wolf between 2.5 and 0.4 myr ago. After the extinction of Lycaon lycaonoides, Canis lupus evolved rapidly, increasing in number and size, and taking over the niche occupied by Lycaon. In order to reduce competition, the body size of Cuon alpinus gradually reduced, and it became an animal adapted to the forest, highland and mountain environments. Generally, the history of canids in Poland is similar to that known of Eurasia with some noteworthy events, such as the early occurrence of Canis cf. etruscus from Węże 2 (2.9–2.6 myr ago), Lycaon falconeri from Rębielice Królewskie 1A or one of the latest occurrences of L. lycaonoides from Draby 3 (430–370 kyr). Predominantly lowland or upland in the southern part and devoid of significant ecological barriers, Poland is also an important migration corridor in the East–West system. This 500–600 km wide corridor was the Asian gateway to Europe, from where species of an eastern origin penetrated the continent’s interior. In colder periods, it was in turn a region through which boreal species or those associated with the mammoth steppe retreated.
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spelling pubmed-100481992023-03-29 History of Polish Canidae (Carnivora, Mammalia) and Their Biochronological Implications on the Eurasian Background Marciszak, Adrian Kropczyk, Aleksandra Gornig, Wiktoria Kot, Małgorzata Nadachowski, Adam Lipecki, Grzegorz Genes (Basel) Article The remains of 12 canid species that date back ca. 4.9 myr have been found at 116 paleontological localities. Among these localities, eight are dated to the Pliocene age, 12 are dated to the Early Pleistocene age, 12 are from the Middle Pleistocene age, while the most numerous group includes 84 sites from the Late Pleistocene–Holocene age. Some, especially older forms such as Eucyon odessanus and Nyctereutes donnezani, have only been found at single sites, while the remains of species from the genus Lycaon, Canis and Vulpes have been recorded at numerous sites from the last 2 myr. Ancient canids such as Eucyon and Nyctereutes had already vanished from Poland in the Earliest Pleistocene, between 2.5 and 2.2 myr ago. Poland’s extant canid fauna is characterised by the presence of two new species, which spread into the territory due to a human introduction (Nyctereutes procyonoides) or natural expansion (Canis aureus). Research indicates a strong competition between dogs, especially between Lycaon, Canis and Cuon, with a strong lycaon-limiting effect on the wolf between 2.5 and 0.4 myr ago. After the extinction of Lycaon lycaonoides, Canis lupus evolved rapidly, increasing in number and size, and taking over the niche occupied by Lycaon. In order to reduce competition, the body size of Cuon alpinus gradually reduced, and it became an animal adapted to the forest, highland and mountain environments. Generally, the history of canids in Poland is similar to that known of Eurasia with some noteworthy events, such as the early occurrence of Canis cf. etruscus from Węże 2 (2.9–2.6 myr ago), Lycaon falconeri from Rębielice Królewskie 1A or one of the latest occurrences of L. lycaonoides from Draby 3 (430–370 kyr). Predominantly lowland or upland in the southern part and devoid of significant ecological barriers, Poland is also an important migration corridor in the East–West system. This 500–600 km wide corridor was the Asian gateway to Europe, from where species of an eastern origin penetrated the continent’s interior. In colder periods, it was in turn a region through which boreal species or those associated with the mammoth steppe retreated. MDPI 2023-02-21 /pmc/articles/PMC10048199/ /pubmed/36980812 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/genes14030539 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Marciszak, Adrian
Kropczyk, Aleksandra
Gornig, Wiktoria
Kot, Małgorzata
Nadachowski, Adam
Lipecki, Grzegorz
History of Polish Canidae (Carnivora, Mammalia) and Their Biochronological Implications on the Eurasian Background
title History of Polish Canidae (Carnivora, Mammalia) and Their Biochronological Implications on the Eurasian Background
title_full History of Polish Canidae (Carnivora, Mammalia) and Their Biochronological Implications on the Eurasian Background
title_fullStr History of Polish Canidae (Carnivora, Mammalia) and Their Biochronological Implications on the Eurasian Background
title_full_unstemmed History of Polish Canidae (Carnivora, Mammalia) and Their Biochronological Implications on the Eurasian Background
title_short History of Polish Canidae (Carnivora, Mammalia) and Their Biochronological Implications on the Eurasian Background
title_sort history of polish canidae (carnivora, mammalia) and their biochronological implications on the eurasian background
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10048199/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36980812
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/genes14030539
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