A reappraisal of Sarmatosminthus, the earliest European lophocricetine jerboa (Rodentia, Dipodidae), with comments on systematics and evolution of Neogene Lophocricetinae

 

Authors: Delinschi A, Badea D-D, Ratoi B, Sinitsa MV

Article in press: Received 22 February 2026; Accepted in revised form 8 July 2026; Online 16 August 2026

Keywords: Lophocricetinae, Sarmatosminthus, jerboas, Late Miocene, Eastern Europe,

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Abstract

The subfamily Lophocricetinae is a diverse group of fossil dipodids, with the earliest known records dating back to the late Oligocene and Early Miocene of Central Asia. Most members of the group are known from Asia, with only a few taxa documented from the Late Miocene of Eastern Europe. Currently, the earliest known genus of European lophocricetines is Sarmatosminthus, first described in 1981 from the Late Miocene of Moldova. The status and validity of the genus have remained elusive for decades, as it has been either neglected or synonymized with Heterosminthus. We examined the type material of Sarmatosminthus, as well as new lophocricetine material from Vallesian sites in Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine, and compared it with other lophocricetine taxa. We suggest that Sarmatosminthus is a valid genus characterized by moderately high-crowned cheek teeth with weak ridges; massive protostyle, reduced mesoloph, and the hypocone connected to the posterocone in M1; complete mesoloph of M2; and m1 with the hypoconid connected to a salient mesoconid and lacking the ectomesolophid and pseudomesolophid.