%0 Journal Article
%A Geraads, Denis
%A Drapeau, Michelle S. M.
%A Bobe, René
%A Fleagle, John G.
%+ Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society
%T Vulpes mathisoni, sp. nov., a new fox from the Pliocene Mursi Formation of southern Ethiopia and its contribution to the origin of African foxes : 
%G eng
%U https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0028-53AB-8
%R 10.1080/02724634.2014.943765
%7 2015-06-15
%D 2015
%* Review method: peer-reviewed
%X We describe here Vulpes mathisoni, sp. nov., a new species of fox from the Mursi Formation of Ethiopia, dated to ca. 4 Ma., based upon a complete cranium with mandible. It is similar in size to V. pallida and resembles this species in several aspects, but the skull is narrower, the muzzle more slender, P4 has a weak protocone, M2 has a large metacone and a distinct, strong metaconule, m1 has a talonid with five distinct cuspids, and m2 has a strong mesial cingulum. Vulpes mathisoni, sp. nov., is probably an early member of a southern Afro-Indian clade that minimally includes V. pallida, V. chama, and V. bengalensis, pushing back its divergence from the Holarctic clade(s) to at least 4 Ma. We observe that, in sharp contrast to the Holarctic realm, the southern Afro-Indian one virtually lacks carnivorous small canids.
%J Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
%V 35
%N 4
%] e943765
%@ 0272-4634