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Genus Neomys (Mammalia, Eulipotyphla, Soricomorpha): history and range dynamics.
Pažitková, Barbora ; Horáček, Ivan (advisor) ; Vohralík, Vladimír (referee)
Based on numerous literary sources, the thesis reviews current knowledge of history and range dynamics of the genus Neomys, an indexing element of the west Palearctic mammal fauna. It provides a list of fossil records attributed to the extant genus Neomys and extinct clades composing the European records of tribe Nectogalini, and a survey of hypotheses on their phylogenetic relations. Particular attention is given to the genus Asoriculus which is generally considered as an ancestor of the Quaternary radiation of the clade represented in Europe with genera Nesiotites, Neomys and Macroneomys. The transition from Asoriculus to Neomys is expected to appear during the Q1 stage of the Early Pleistocene, more records identified as fossil species of the latter genus are reported from terminal stage of the Early Pleistocene (Q2). Nevertheless, their relations to extant species were not analysed and past history of the extant European taxa (fodiens, anomalus, milleri) and their range dynamics is despite of molecular data generally unclear. This fact reflects both scarcity of the fossil record and uncertainties regarding patterns of phenotype variation in particular species, their discrimination criteria and orientation of corresponding phylogenetic morphoclines. In these regards, the thesis pays special...
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