The narrow-headed vole, collared lemming and common vole were the most abundant small mammal species across the Eurasian Late Pleistocene steppe-tundra environment. Previous ancient DNA studies of the collared lemming and common vole have revealed dynamic population histories shaped by climatic fluctuations. To investigate the extent to which species with similar adaptations share common evolutionary histories, we generated a dataset comprised the mitochondrial genomes of 139 ancient and 6 modern narrow-headed voles from several sites across Europe and northwestern Asia covering approximately the last 100 thousand years (kyr). We inferred Bayesian time-aware phylogenies using 11 radiocarbon-dated samples to calibrate the molecular clock. Divergence of the main mtDNA lineages across the three species occurred during marine isotope stages (MIS) 7 and MIS 5, suggesting a common response of species adapted to open habitat during interglacials. We identified several time-structured mtDNA lineages in European narrow-headed vole, suggesting lineage turnover. The timing of some of these turnovers was synchronous across the three species, allowing us to identify the main drivers of the Late Pleistocene dynamics of steppe- and cold-adapted species.

The narrow-headed vole, collared lemming and common vole were the most abundant small mammal species across the Eurasian Late Pleistocene steppe-tundra environment. Previous ancient DNA studies of the collared lemming and common vole have revealed dynamic population histories shaped by climatic fluctuations. To investigate the extent to which species with similar adaptations share common evolutionary histories, we generated a dataset comprised the mitochondrial genomes of 139 ancient and 6 modern narrow-headed voles from several sites across Europe and northwestern Asia covering approximately the last 100 thousand years (kyr). We inferred Bayesian time-aware phylogenies using 11 radiocarbon-dated samples to calibrate the molecular clock. Divergence of the main mtDNA lineages across the three species occurred during marine isotope stages (MIS) 7 and MIS 5, suggesting a common response of species adapted to open habitat during interglacials. We identified several time-structured mtDNA lineages in European narrow-headed vole, suggesting lineage turnover. The timing of some of these turnovers was synchronous across the three species, allowing us to identify the main drivers of the Late Pleistocene dynamics of steppe- and cold-adapted species.

We present the first record of the mustelid Trochictis from the Late Miocene (MN 9/10) of Germany, a partial mandible with p4, m1, and m2 from Eppelsheim. Trochictis peignei sp. nov. is characterised by the combination p4 with a distal accessory cuspid and a basal lingual enlargement, m1 with a length/width index larger than 2.5, a rounded lingual wall of the paraconid, an entoconulid present, the metaconid as high as the paraconid, and cuspules present on the posterior talonid edge, and m2 with a very reduced talonid. Comparison to similar sized Middle and Late Miocene mustelids and a stratocladistic analysis place T. peignei sp. nov. closest to T. narcisoi from MN 9 of Can Llobateras, T. depereti from several MN 6 to MN 7/8 European localities, and cf. Trochictis sp. from MN 9 of Rudabánya. We also suggest synonymy of T. carbonaria and T. artenensis and verify that m2 of Trochictis occasionally is double-rooted. The analysis does not corroborate a close relationship of Trochictis to Taxodon or the subfamily Ictonychinae, but can also not discard confidently such an assignment. With a body mass of about 3 kg, Trochictis peignei sp. nov. represents the hitherto smallest described carnivoran of the Eppelsheim Formation.

We present the first record of the mustelid Trochictis from the Late Miocene (MN 9/10) of Germany, a partial mandible with p4, m1, and m2 from Eppelsheim. Trochictis peignei sp. nov. is characterised by the combination p4 with a distal accessory cuspid and a basal lingual enlargement, m1 with a length/width index larger than 2.5, a rounded lingual wall of the paraconid, an entoconulid present, the metaconid as high as the paraconid, and cuspules present on the posterior talonid edge, and m2 with a very reduced talonid. Comparison to similar sized Middle and Late Miocene mustelids and a stratocladistic analysis place T. peignei sp. nov. closest to T. narcisoi from MN 9 of Can Llobateras, T. depereti from several MN 6 to MN 7/8 European localities, and cf. Trochictis sp. from MN 9 of Rudabánya. We also suggest synonymy of T. carbonaria and T. artenensis and verify that m2 of Trochictis occasionally is double-rooted. The analysis does not corroborate a close relationship of Trochictis to Taxodon or the subfamily Ictonychinae, but can also not discard confidently such an assignment. With a body mass of about 3 kg, Trochictis peignei sp. nov. represents the hitherto smallest described carnivoran of the Eppelsheim Formation.

Diprotodontia represents the largest and ecologically most distinct order of marsupials occurring in Australasian being highly divers in size, locomotion, habitat preferences, feeding, and activity pattern. The spatial orientation in the habitat and therefore the three-dimensional space is detected by the vestibular system of the inner ear, more precisely by the three semicircular canals. In this study, we investigated the bony labyrinth of diprotodontian and selected non-diprotodontian marsupial mammals of almost all genera with noninvasive micro-CT scanning and 3D-reconstructions. In principal component analyses, the subterranean taxon can be separated from gliding and saltatorial taxa, whereas arboreal species can be separated from saltatorial specimens. The highest PCA loadings of this functional distinction are clearly found in the diameter of the semicircular canals, whereas the overall shape (height, width, length) of the semicircular canals is less important. Additionally, the investigated arboreal and fossorial species of South America are nested in the morphospace of the Australasian taxa. Even if a phylogenetic signal in the anatomy of the bony labyrinth cannot be excluded entirely, the main functional morphological signal of the vestibular system is found in the diameter of the semicircular canals. With the large dataset of extant marsupial mammals analysed here, the locomotion mode of extinct taxa can be inferred in future studies independent of any evidence of postcranial material.