Synaptomys australis, the Florida bog lemming, is an extinct species of bog lemming that occurred in Florida during the Late Pleistocene.
| Synaptomys australis Temporal range: Pleistocene
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Cricetidae |
| Subfamily: | Arvicolinae |
| Genus: | Synaptomys |
| Species: | †S. australis
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| Binomial name | |
| †Synaptomys australis (Simpsons, 1928)[1]
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Taxonomy
editAlthough the bog lemmings are not indigenous to Florida at the present time, remains are known there from the Pleistocene, indicating the range of these normally cold-adapted rodents extended further south during glaciation events.[2] The Florida bog lemming was described from a lower jaw collected from Pleistocene deposits in 1928.[3] Its taxonomic status as a full species has been questioned however, with some researchers considering it a prehistoric race of the southern bog lemming.[4][5]
Description
editThe Florida bog lemming was slightly larger than the living southern bog lemming.[4] It went extinct around 12,000 BP, as a result of glacial retreat and the return of very warm temperatures.
References
edit- ^ "Synaptomys australis". Fossilworks.
- ^ Brodkorb, Pierce (1959). "The Pleistocene avifauna of Arredondo, Florida". Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences. 4 (9): 269–291.
- ^ Olsen, Stanley J. (November 1958). "The Bog Lemming from the Pleistocene of Florida". Journal of Mammalogy. 39 (4): 537–540. doi:10.2307/1376792. JSTOR 1376792.
- ^ a b Repenning, Charles A.; Grady, Frederick (1988). "The microtine rodents of the Cheetah Room fauna, Hamilton Cave, West Virginia, and the spontaneous origin of Synaptomys". Bulletin 1853. doi:10.3133/b1853.
- ^ Martin, Robert A.; Duobinis-Gray, Leon; Crockett, Christopher P. (2003). "A new species of early Pleistocene Synaptomys (Mammalia, Rodentia) from Florida and its relevance to southern bog lemming origins". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 23 (4): 917–936. doi:10.1671/2291-16. S2CID 86823093.
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