When moles became diggers: <i>Tegulariscaptor</i> gen. nov., from the early Oligocene of south Germany, and the evolution of talpid fossoriality

The systematics of <i>Geotrypus</i> is among the most debated within Talpidae, but the recent development of quantitative methods for shape analyses allows us to provide a thorough reconsideration of <i>Geotrypus</i> spp. In the present study, we perform a systematic revision of the species <i>Geotrypus minor</i> from the early Oligocene of Germany using two-dimensional geometric morphometrics on the humerus, and cladistic analyses using two different character matrices. Our results suggest a distinct generic allocation for this species based on its unique humeral shape. Cladistic analyses reveal that <i>G. minor</i> has closer phylogenetic relationships with urotrichine shrew-moles than with other <i>Geotrypus</i> species or highly fossorial moles. Quantitative methods applied in this study support qualitative observations and fully justify a new generic allocation. In light of these results, Tegulariscaptor gen. nov. is proposed to encompass the material previously assigned to <i>G. minor</i>. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:8A839F1E-0EC8-4799-B3AE-1A4E54A95F0E