2D geometric morphometrics reveals temporal patterns in the evolution of modern and Pleistocene Arvicola (Rodentia, Cricetidae) in Europe
Abstract
This study applies a comprehensive two-dimensional (2D) geometric morphometric framework to investigate dental morphological variation in modern and Pleistocene populations of the genus Arvicola. A reference dataset of 390 first lower molars (m/1) representing four extant species (A. amphibius, A. sapidus, A. italicus, and A. persicus) was analysed using Elliptic Fourier Analysis combined with multivariate statistics (PCA, MANOVA, LDA, CDA, Random Forest, and Mahalanobis distances). All modern species of Arvicola exhibit highly significant morphological differences, demonstrating that m/1 outlines shape reliably discriminates species-specific variation. This validated classification framework was applied to fossil assemblages from five well-dated localities spanning the late Middle Pleistocene to Upper Pleistocene (MIS 6 to MIS 3). The MIS 6 assemblage from Lazaret Cave displays a heterogenous and intermediate morphospace distribution, reflecting the presence of archaic lineages attributed to Arvicola ex gr. cantianus/amphibius and Arvicola ex gr. cantianus/sapidus. By MIS 5.5 (Baume Moula-Guercy), Arvicola amphibius-like morphologies dominate, although several specimens retain plesiomorphic traits. In contrast, MIS 3 assemblages (Abauntz Cave, Cova Eirós, and Trou Al'Wesse) exhibit predominantly modern morphologies, with high classification agreement (up to 100%) and clear species-level assignment. A temporal trend emerges in which discrimination accuracy and morphological distinctiveness increase from the late Middle Pleistocene to MIS 3, documenting the evolutionary transition from archaic Arvicola forms to fully differentiated modern species. The results further suggest a complex biogeographic history of Arvicola sapidus, involving multiple Middle and early Late Pleistocene dispersal events into Western Europe. Overall, this study demonstrates that 2D outline-based geometric morphometrics of the m/1 is a robust and informative tool for resolving Arvicola systematics and for reconstructing evolutionary and palaeoenvironmental patterns in the Pleistocene of Europe.
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BibTeX
@article{desclaux2026geometric,
title = {{2D geometric morphometrics reveals temporal patterns in the evolution of modern and Pleistocene Arvicola (Rodentia, Cricetidae) in Europe}},
author = {Emmanuel Desclaux and Amanda Lindahl and Daniela C Kalthoff and Oleksandr Kovalchuk and Alejandro Centeno-Cuadros and Jacinto Román and Mikel Arlegi and Andion Arteaga-Brieba and Zoltán Barkaszi and Jessica Cohen and Alban Defleur and Mónica Fernández-García and Damien Flas and Karl Frafjord and Monika Vlasta Knul and Arturo de Lombera-Hermida and Ahmad Mahmoudi and Boyan Milchev and Adam Nadachowski and Piroska Pazonyi and Iván Rey-Rodríguez and Xosé Pedro Rodríguez-Álvarez and Vincent Bonhomme and Vincent Bonhomme and Lové Dalén and John R Stewart},
journal = {Palaeontologia Electronica},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.26879/1683},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05747227v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-SA 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - 2D geometric morphometrics reveals temporal patterns in the evolution of modern and Pleistocene Arvicola (Rodentia, Cricetidae) in Europe
AU - Emmanuel Desclaux
AU - Amanda Lindahl
AU - Daniela C Kalthoff
AU - Oleksandr Kovalchuk
AU - Alejandro Centeno-Cuadros
AU - Jacinto Román
AU - Mikel Arlegi
AU - Andion Arteaga-Brieba
AU - Zoltán Barkaszi
AU - Jessica Cohen
AU - Alban Defleur
AU - Mónica Fernández-García
AU - Damien Flas
AU - Karl Frafjord
AU - Monika Vlasta Knul
AU - Arturo de Lombera-Hermida
AU - Ahmad Mahmoudi
AU - Boyan Milchev
AU - Adam Nadachowski
AU - Piroska Pazonyi
AU - Iván Rey-Rodríguez
AU - Xosé Pedro Rodríguez-Álvarez
AU - Vincent Bonhomme
AU - Vincent Bonhomme
AU - Lové Dalén
AU - John R Stewart
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/09
JO - Palaeontologia Electronica
DO - 10.26879/1683
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05747227v1
AB - This study applies a comprehensive two-dimensional (2D) geometric morphometric framework to investigate dental morphological variation in modern and Pleistocene populations of the genus Arvicola. A reference dataset of 390 first lower molars (m/1) representing four extant species (A. amphibius, A. sapidus, A. italicus, and A. persicus) was analysed using Elliptic Fourier Analysis combined with multivariate statistics (PCA, MANOVA, LDA, CDA, Random Forest, and Mahalanobis distances). All modern species of Arvicola exhibit highly significant morphological differences, demonstrating that m/1 outlines shape reliably discriminates species-specific variation. This validated classification framework was applied to fossil assemblages from five well-dated localities spanning the late Middle Pleistocene to Upper Pleistocene (MIS 6 to MIS 3). The MIS 6 assemblage from Lazaret Cave displays a heterogenous and intermediate morphospace distribution, reflecting the presence of archaic lineages attributed to Arvicola ex gr. cantianus/amphibius and Arvicola ex gr. cantianus/sapidus. By MIS 5.5 (Baume Moula-Guercy), Arvicola amphibius-like morphologies dominate, although several specimens retain plesiomorphic traits. In contrast, MIS 3 assemblages (Abauntz Cave, Cova Eirós, and Trou Al'Wesse) exhibit predominantly modern morphologies, with high classification agreement (up to 100%) and clear species-level assignment. A temporal trend emerges in which discrimination accuracy and morphological distinctiveness increase from the late Middle Pleistocene to MIS 3, documenting the evolutionary transition from archaic Arvicola forms to fully differentiated modern species. The results further suggest a complex biogeographic history of Arvicola sapidus, involving multiple Middle and early Late Pleistocene dispersal events into Western Europe. Overall, this study demonstrates that 2D outline-based geometric morphometrics of the m/1 is a robust and informative tool for resolving Arvicola systematics and for reconstructing evolutionary and palaeoenvironmental patterns in the Pleistocene of Europe.
SN - 1094-8074
SN - 1094-8074
ER -