First afrosoricid out of Africa: an example of Pliocene ‘tourism’ in Europe

Abstract

The afrosoricids are an endemic order exclusively from Africa with a very scarce fossil record. In this work, we present the first record outside this continent. The “otter shrew” Europotamogale melkarti n. gen. n. sp. was found in the Moreda 3 karstic fill site in Granada (Spain), of MN15 age (mid-Pliocene). This new taxon confirms the semiaquatic faunal interchange between Europe and Africa. We hypothesize that this tenrecid, representative of a family frequently present in the Central African faunas, migrated to the north of the continent via the Sahabi river system that connected North and Central Africa. Europotamogale n. gen. is the first known afrosoricid that migrated between the two continents. It was present in Europe for a very short time (as a ‘tourist genus’). To date, this phenomenon has only been described in genera of European origin, such as the pika Prolagus or the mouse Apodemus.