Early Middle Pleistocene Ellobius (Rodentia, Cricetidae, Arvicolinae) from Armenia

A large mole vole from the early Middle Pleistocene of Armenia shows morphological features and hyposodonty intermediate between basal Early Pleistocene E. tarchancutensis and the late Middle Pleistocene to Recent southern mole vole E. lutescens. The occlusal morphology of the first lower molar is similar to Early Pleistocene forms but hypsodonty values do not overlap either with Early Pleistocene mole voles (higher in the described form) or with extant E. lutescens (lower in the described form); these features characterise the Armenian form as a new chronospecies Ellobius (Bramus) pomeli sp.n., ancestral to the extant southern mole vole. Three phyletic lineages leading to two extant Asian species and to Pleistocene North African group of mole voles are suggested within Ellobius (Bramus).