Majorcan giant dormouse

The Majorcan giant dormouse (Hypnomys morpheus) is an extinct animal from the Balearic Islands of Majorca and Mallorca, Spain. It is considered an example of island gigantism. The closest extant relative is considered to be the genus Eliomys, which includes the garden dormouse,[1] which was confirmed by a mitochondrial DNA analysis in 2020.[2] It is believed to have been omnivorous, with a generalist diet and with an ability to eat hard foods.[3] Its limb bones are robust and dissimilar in morphology to extant Gliridae, suggesting an unusual form of locomotion, with the proportions being closest to that of the Gran Canaria giant rat. It may have been terrestrial rather than arboreal, and it has been suggested that it had fossorial capabilities.[4] The arrival of humans on the island is believed to have been a major factor in its extinction.[5] H. morpheus was described by the palaeontologist Dorothea Bate in 1919. A 2011 study estimated its body weight as between 173 and 284 g, with a head and body length of 179 mm and a total body length of 295 mm.[4]

Majorcan giant dormouse
Temporal range: Middle Pleistocene – Early Holocene
Hypnomys morpheus skeleton covered by flowstone in a cave
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Gliridae
Genus: †Hypnomys
Species:
†H. morpheus
Binomial name
†Hypnomys morpheus
Bate, 1919
Synonyms

Eliomys morpheus

Life restoration
Skull and dentary in various views

See also

References
  1. MC McKenna and SK Bell "Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level" 1997 Columbia University Press, New York ISBN 0231110138.
  2. Bover, Pere; Mitchell, Kieren J.; Torres‐Roig, Enric; Llamas, Bastien; Thomson, Vicki A.; Alcover, Josep Antoni; Agustí, Jordi; Cooper, Alan; Pons, Joan (February 2020). "Ancient DNA from an extinct Mediterranean micromammal— Hypnomys morpheus (Rodentia: Gliridae)—Provides insight into the biogeographic history of insular dormice". Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research. 58 (1): 427–438. doi:10.1111/jzs.12343. ISSN 0947-5745.
  3. Hautier, Lionel; Bover, Pere; Alcover, Josep Antoni & Michaux, Jacques (2009). "Mandible morphometrics, dental microwear pattern, and paleobiology of the extinct Balearic dormouse Hypnomys morpheus". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 54 (2): 181. doi:10.4202/app.2008.0001.
  4. Bover, Pere; Alcover, Josep A.; Michaux, Jacques J.; Hautier, Lionel & Hutterer, Rainer (2010). "Body shape and life style of the extinct Balearic dormouse Hypnomys (Rodentia, Gliridae): new evidence from the study of associated skeletons". PLoS ONE. 5 (12): e15817. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0015817. PMC 3013122. PMID 21209820.
  5. Bover, Pere; Alcover, Josep Antoni (2007). "Extinction of the autochthonous small mammals of Mallorca (Gymnesic Islands, Western Mediterranean) and its ecological consequences". Journal of Biogeography. 35 (6): 1112. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2007.01839.x.
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