Daniela C. Kalthoff

Swedish Museum of Natural History · Department of Zoology

A striking difference between xenarthrans and other mammals is the complete loss of tooth enamel in all members but the earliest armadillos. However, sloth and armadillo teeth show structured wear facets, which in all other mammals are formed by tooth enamel. How is that possible? Here, I report about an analysis of fossil and recent xenarthran den...

Stereoscopic microwear and 3D surface texture analyses on the cheek teeth of ten Upper Triassic to Lower Cretaceous tritylodontid (Mammaliamorpha) taxa of small/medium to large body size suggest that all were generalist feeders and none was a dietary specialist adapted to herbivory. There was no correspondence between body size and food choice. Ste...

In Asia, the first find of an eomyid rodent was reported almost one century after the first studies of the family Eomyidae in North America and Europe. Since then, eomyid rodents have been increasingly found in Asia particularly over the past two decades. Here, we review the Asian record of this family at the genus level. Currently, 22 species with...

The enamel microstructure of fossil and extant Geomyoidea (Geomyidae, Heteromyidae) lower incisors incorporates three‐ or two‐layered schmelzmusters with uniserial, transverse Hunter‐Schreger bands having parallel and perpendicular or exclusively perpendicular oriented interprismatic matrix. Phylogenetically, these schmelzmusters are regarded as mo...

The lower incisor enamel microstructure of the fossil rodent family Eomyidae was believed to be three‐layered and highly derived but rather uniform throughout the clade. Here, we describe a new four‐layered schmelzmuster in Eomyidae consisting of a three‐fold portio interna with longitudinal oriented, uniserial Hunter‐Schreger bands and a one‐fold...

Background The international Dog10K project aims to sequence and analyze several thousand canine genomes. Incorporating 20 × data from 1987 individuals, including 1611 dogs (321 breeds), 309 village dogs, 63 wolves, and four coyotes, we identify genomic variation across the canid family, setting the stage for detailed studies of domestication, beha...

The black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis L.) is a critically endangered species historically distributed across sub-Saharan Africa. Hunting and habitat disturbance have diminished both its numbers and distribution since the 19th century, but a poaching crisis in the late 20th century drove them to the brink of extinction. Genetic and genomic assessme...

Mazama simplicicornis argentina is the name that was given to describe a gray brocket collected by Lönberg in 1919 in the central Chaco region of Argentina. Subsequent authors, based on morphological similarities, considered this name to be a synonym for the species Subulo gouazoubira Fischer, 1814 from Paraguay. In the absence of genetic analyses...

The blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus) is the only large African mammal species to have become extinct in historical times, yet no nuclear genomic information is available for this species. A recent study showed that many alleged blue antelope museum specimens are either roan (H. equinus) or sable (H. niger) antelopes, further reducing the pos...

The blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus) is the only large African mammal species to have become extinct in historical times, yet no nuclear genomic information is available for this species. A recent study showed that many alleged blue antelope museum specimens are either roan (H. equinus) or sable (H. niger) antelopes, further reducing the pos...

Examples of photoluminescence (PL) are being reported with increasing frequency in a wide range of organisms from diverse ecosystems. However, the chemical basis of this PL remains poorly defined, and our understanding of its potential ecological function is still superficial. Among mammals, recent analyses have identified free-base por-phyrins as...

The blue antelope ( Hippotragus leucophaeus ) is the only large African mammal to have become extinct in historical times, yet no nuclear genomic information is available for this species. A recent study showed that many alleged blue antelope museum specimens are either roan ( H. equinus ) or sable ( H. niger ) antelopes, further reducing the possi...

Analyzing the δ 2 H values in individual amino acids of proteins extracted from vertebrates, we unexpectedly found in some samples, notably bone collagen from seals, more than twice as much deuterium in proline and hydroxyproline residues than in seawater. This corresponds to at least 4 times higher δ 2 H than in any previously reported biogenic sa...

Analysing the δ2H in individual amino acids of proteins extracted from vertebrates, we unexpectedly found in some samples, notably bone collagen from seals, more than twice as much deuterium in proline and hydroxyproline residues than in seawater. This corresponds to at least four times higher δ2H than in any previously reported biogenic sample. We...

Following the advent of industrial-scale antibiotic production in the 1940s,¹ antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been on the rise and now poses a major global health threat in terms of mortality, morbidity, and economic burden.²,³ Because AMR can be exchanged between humans, livestock, and wildlife, wild animals can be used as indicators of human-a...

Information on genetic variation within and among populations is relevant for a broad range of topics in biology. We use a combination of mitochondrial and nuclear microsatellite markers to evaluate genetic variation within and between two populations of bat-eared foxes (Otocyon megalotis Desmarest, 1822) in South Africa. The bat-eared fox is a sma...

Large vertebrates are extremely sensitive to anthropogenic pressure, and their populations are declining fast. The white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) is a paradigmatic case: this African megaherbivore suffered a remarkable decline in the last 150 years due to human activities. Its subspecies, the northern (NWR) and the southern white rhinoceros...

Spectacular photoluminescence (PL) phenomena have been increasingly reported in various organisms from diverse ecosystems. However, the chemical basis of this PL remains poorly defined, and its potential ecological function is still blurry, especially in mammals. Here we used state-of-the-art spectroscopy and multispectral imaging techniques to doc...

Spectacular photoluminescence (PL) phenomena have been increasingly reported in various organisms from diverse ecosystems. However, the chemical basis of this PL remains poorly defined, and its potential ecological function is still blurry, especially in mammals. Here we used state-of-the-art spectroscopy and multispectral imaging techniques to doc...

Examples of photoluminescence (PL) are being reported with increasing frequency in a wide range of organisms from diverse ecosystems. However, the chemical basis of this PL remains poorly defined, and our understanding of its potential ecological function is still superficial. Amongst mammals, recent analyses have identified free-base porphyrins as...

Native to southern Africa, the blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus) is the only large African mammal species known to have become extinct in historical times. However, it was poorly documented prior to its extinction ~ 1800 AD, and many of the small number of museum specimens attributed to it are taxonomically contentious. This places limitation...

Information about analyzed specimens - Blue antelopes (Hippotragus leucophaeus)

Following the advent of industrial-scale antibiotics production in the 1940s, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been on the rise and now poses a major global health threat. Because AMR can be exchanged between humans, livestock and wildlife, evaluating the potential of wild animals to act as AMR reservoirs is essential. We used shotgun metagenomic...

Modern baleen whales have no adult teeth, whereas dolphins and porpoises have a homodont and polydont dentition, with simplified enamel microstructure. However, archaic cetaceans (archaeocetes and early mysticetes and odontocetes) had a complex and ornamented dentition, with complex enamel microstructure as in terrestrial mammals. This study descri...

Notoungulates are an extinct clade of South American mammals, comprising a large diversity of body sizes and skeletal morphologies, and including taxa with highly specialized dentitions. The evolutionary history of notoungulates is characterized by numerous dental convergences, such as continuous growth of both molars and incisors, which repeatedly...

Large vertebrates are extremely sensitive to anthropogenic pressure, and their populations are declining fast. The white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) is a paradigmatic case: this African megaherbivore suffered a remarkable population reduction in the last 150 years due to human activities. The two white rhinoceros subspecies, the northern (NWR)...

S1 Table. Specimen details of the tritylodontid taxa analysed. Country codes refer to ISO 3166-1 alpha-2. Abbreviations: L, large-bodied; M, medium-bodied; pc, lower postcanine; PC, upper postcanine; S, small-bodied. Acronyms to museum collections: BRSUG: Geology Museum, University of Bristol, Bristol, GB; FMNH: Finnish Museum of Natural History, H...

S1 Fig. Examples of tooth morphology and wear facets in Tritylodontidae. (a) Skull of Oligokyphus sp. (MCZ 8843) in ventral view. This specimen was excluded from analysis because of postmortem alterations on the wear facets. (b) and (c) Wear facets (on high-resolution casts) of lower postcanines of Kayentatherium wellesi (MCZ 8811). In all three im...

S2 Table. ANOVA test results of tritylodontid species with N ≥ 2. Numerical parameters of stereoscopic microwear (small pits, large pits, fine scratches, and coarse scratches) and parameters of 3D surface texture (pit void volume, peak density, peak curvature, and dale area) are shown. Significant p-values are in bold.

S3 Table. PCA variances and loadings of the significant parameter variables for stereoscopic microwear and 3D surface texture. Abbreviations (as ordered in table): SP = small pits; LP = large pits; FS = fine scratches; CS = coarse scratches; Spd_rank = peak density (rank-transformed); Spc_rank = arithmetic mean peak curvature (rank-transformed); Sd...

S4 Table. Key characters of major, widely distributed, Mesozoic plant groups

Fossil rodents are generally scarce in the Miocene of Japan. However, as much as three taxa of eomyid rodents had been reported from the early Miocene Nakamura Formation (ca. 18.5 Ma) in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan. In this study, we revisit one of them-the small-sized taxon-and assign this material to a new genus, Japaneomys, which is so far kn...

We here establish a new mammaliaform genus and species, Galulatherium jenkinsi (Mammalia), from the Upper Cretaceous Galula Formation in the Rukwa Rift Basin of southwestern Tanzania. This represents the first named taxon of a mammaliaform from the entire Late Cretaceous of continental Afro-Arabia, an interval of 34 million years. Preliminary study...

Recently, dental microwear analysis has been successfully employed to xenarthran teeth. Here, we present new data on use wear features on 16 molariforms of Orophodon hapaloides and Octodontotherium grande. These taxa count among the earliest sloths and are known from the Deseadan SALMA (late Oligocene). Modern phylogenetic analyses classify Octodon...

Species and populations are disappearing at an alarming rate as a direct result of human activities. Loss of genetic diversity associated with population decline directly impacts species' long-term survival. Therefore, preserving genetic diversity is of considerable conservation importance. However, to assist in conservation efforts, it is importan...

Microscopic scars on the occlusal surfaces are used to garner information on feeding ecology in extinct and extant mammals. Typically, only one of three established techniques (stereomicroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, or confocal microscopy) is applied at a time. Here, we used both stereomicroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to e...

Dental wear facets on the occlusal surface of premolars and molars are traces of their main function, the mastication and therefore reflect masticatory movements and also paramasticatory (i.e. non-dietary use of teeth) behavior. Here we present the Modular Wear Facet Nomenclature applicable to most mammalian dentitions. Topographic positions of wea...

The black rhinoceros is again on the verge of extinction due to unsustainable poaching in its native range. Despite a wide historic distribution, the black rhinoceros was traditionally thought of as depauperate in genetic variation, and with very little known about its evolutionary history. This knowledge gap has hampered conservation efforts becau...

Recent palaeogenetic studies indicate a highly dynamic history in collared lemmings (Dicrostonyx spp.), with several demographical changes linked to climatic fluctuations that took place during the last glaciation. At the western range margin of D. torquatus, these changes were characterized by a series of local extinctions and recolonizations. How...

Cricetid rodents have a very high reproductive capacity and usually a short life span, measured in months rather than years. Many of them are also non-gregarious, searching for new resources outside the confines of their present habitat. These features provide cricetid rodents with valuable attributes as agents of historical biology. We describe a...

Gorillas living in western central Africa (Gorilla gorilla) are morphologically and genetically distinguishable from those living in eastern central Africa (Gorilla beringei). Genomic analyses show eastern gorillas experienced a significant reduction in population size during the Pleistocene subsequent to geographical isolation from their western c...

A new early Miocene large castorid, Minocastor godai gen. et sp. nov., from the Dota locality, Gifu Prefecture in central Japan, is described on the basis of dentaries and teeth. The material comes from the Kani basin, where limnofluviatile clay and sandstones of the Nakamura Formation (Mizunami Group) are exposed on the southern (left) bank of the...

Xenarthran teeth (unique among most mammals in their lack of an outer enamel layer and being composed instead of orthodentine, vasodentine, and sometimes cementum) have recently been subject to a number of microstructure and microwear analyses. In this context, we here present new data on microwear patterns in the giant ground sloth, Megatherium am...

X-ray CT of an Asian elephant's skull suggest that elephants do not have a labyrinthine 3(rd) mobile window. This excludes the concept that elephants benefit from enhancement of bone conducted vibration by an extra opening of the labyrinth. This finding does not, however, exclude that elephants use bone conducted hearing for seismic detection, nor...

Xenarthran teeth are rootless and continuously growing. They lack an outer enamel layer and consist instead of a combination of 2 generally different varieties of dentine with or without an outer collar of cementum. This dental make-up is unique among mammals. In the last decade, xenarthran teeth have been subject to a number of studies regarding m...

The Pleistocene glacial cycles resulted in significant changes in species distributions, and it has been discussed whether this caused increased rates of population divergence and speciation. One species that is likely to have evolved during the Pleistocene is the Norwegian lemming (Lemmus lemmus). However, the origin of this species, both in terms...

Tritylodontids are small to medium-sized, mainly terrestrial synapsids, which ranged from the Late Triassic until late Early Cretaceous and are highly abundant in many localities. They possess several mammal-like characters of which their multi-rooted, multi-cusped molariform teeth with precise occlusion are the most remarkable. The combination of...

Pampatheres are extinct, large-bodied cingulates, which share morphological characters with both armadillos and glyptodonts but are considered to be more closely related to the latter. The osteoderm histology of six pampathere taxa was examined and compared to the histology of other cingulate osteoderms. This study investigates the development and...

The early Eocene genus Tubulodon (Epoicotheriidae) from Wyoming is one of a few primitive genera of the Palaeanodonta that retained tooth enamel. Contemporary Palaeanodon lacked enamel, as presumably did all metacheiromyid palaeanodonts and some derived epoicotheriids. The enamel of Tubulodon is relatively thin and therefore often transparent. Thus...

Die Gattung Tubulodon (Epoicotheriidae) aus dem Untereozän von Wyoming ist eine der wenigen primitiven Vertreter innerhalb der Palaeanodonta, die Zahnschmelz aufweisen. Der Schmelz von Tubulodon ist relativ dünn und daher oft durchscheinend. Diese Eigenschaften machen es möglich, ungewöhnliche, röhrenförmige Strukturen im darunterliegenden Dentin z...

The Neanderthal is located in the Bergisches Land (Germany) and - as being the type locality of Homo neanderthalensis - is certainly one of the most famous fossil sites in the world. Aside from the human remains, a re-excavation of the cave sediments yielded many fossils from a variety of large and small vertebrates. However, the fact that the foss...

The early Eocene genus Tubulodon (Epoicotheriidae) from Wyoming is one of a few primitive genera of the Palaeanodonta that retained tooth enamel. The enamel of Tubulodon is relatively thin and therefore often transparent. Thus, unusual tubes in the orthodentine are often visible. These tubes were initially interpreted as primary dental structures,...

The cheek teeth of Ectoganus and Stylinodon, the most derived genera of Taeniodonta following recent phylogenies, show various morphological and microstructural characteristics that are unusual for herbivores of their size. Their continuously growing premolars and molars have blunt occlusal surfaces without shearing facets and enamel is restricted...

Members of the superorder Xenarthra (comprising sloths, armadillos, anteaters and their extinct relatives) are different from other mammals in many ways and one of the most striking features ¬is the total loss of tooth enamel in all members but the earliest armadillos. However, sloths (and armadillo) teeth show structured wear facets, even with sha...

The Paleogene lagomorph record in Europe is based exclusively on dental remains—with the exception of an undetermined skeleton from the Late Oligocene oil shale locality of Rott, Germany (Paleogene Mammal Unit MP 30). The specimen described here was excavated from the Late Oligocene oil shales of the Enspel locality in the Westerwald, Germany. Thes...

The paleodietary ecology of Late Pleistocene ungulate faunas of the Mammoth Steppe ecosystem was investigated at Fairbanks (Alaska) and Brown Bank (North Sea) through dental mesowear and microwear analysis. The purpose of the study is to address questions concerning the paleoecology of the Mammoth Steppe, an ecosystem that has no extant analog. Den...

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Giant ground sloth teeth lack tooth enamel as this is typical for all toothed xenarthrans. Xenarthrans have developed continuously growing teeth with a composition of different dentine types and of cementum. They actively chew their food and therefore need tooth relief. Resistant rims are generally formed by orthodentine. A broad scanning electron...

Paleogene Hasen sind aus Europa ausschließlich durch isolierte Zahnreste belegt. Einzige Ausnahme ist ein unbestimmtes Skelett aus der oberoligozänen Fossillagerstätte Rott bei Bonn (Paläogene Säugetierzone MP 30). Der hier beschriebene Neufund stammt aus der etwas älteren Ölschieferlagerstätte Enspel, die vor allem durch den Fund eines gleitfliege...

The Paleogene lagomorph record in Europe is based exclusively on dental remains with the exception of an undetermined skeleton from the late Oligocene oil shale locality Rott, Germany (Paleogene Mammal Unit MP 30). A new find was excavated from the Late Oligocene oil shales of Enspel in the Westerwald, Germany. These crater lake deposits are famous...

Sloths are one of the few mammal taxa whose cheek teeth lack the hard, protective enamel cover and are made up mainly of the softer, porous dentine. However, sloth teeth show functionally structured wear facets, even with sharp cutting blades, like other mammals. How is that possible? As one of the characteristics of toothed xenarthrans, sloths (as...

Redeposited loess sediments from a Pleistocene crater filling in the Neuwied Basin (western Germany) yielded a small mammal fauna mainly composed of arvicoline rodents. The occurrence of rare faunal elements such as Sorex minutissimus, Sicista subtilis, and a species of Microtus (Terricola) is remarkable. Based on the evolutionary level of Arvicola...

The schmelzmuster of molars and incisors was studied in various taxonomic groups of fossil Mongolian rodents, which derived mainly from the joint Austrian-Mongolian expedition of the years 1995 to 1997 (FWF-Project: P-10505-GEO). The first-time joint discussion of molar and incisor enamel microstructure corroborated their independent evolution. In...

Stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen are valuable proxies to reconstruct animal diets and ecology, as well as environmental and climatic conditions. They have been applied successfully in numerous studies to reconstruct feeding behaviour and food webs from the isotopic composition of skeletal remains of both extant and fossil mammals and...

From Early Oligocene times on, hamsters occur in the European faunas as immigrants from Asia and play thereafter an important role in biostratigraphic zonation. In the past two decades, no less than three different classifications have been proposed for these groups, which consist of the Paracricetodontinae, Eucricetodontinae, and Pseudocricetodont...

From Early Oligocene times on, hamsters occur in the European faunas as immigrants from Asia and play thereafter an important role in biostratigraphic zonation. In the past two decades, no less than three different classifications have been proposed for these groups, which consist of the Paracricetodontinae, Eucricetodontinae, and Pseudocricetodont...

Four eomyid taxa have been recognized in the early Arikareean Ridgeview local fauna (c. 29 Ma; ≈MP 24) based on 106 partial to complete maxillaries and mandibular rami and with cheek teeth; consenquently, the mandibular morphology is known for all species. Three taxa represent an endemic radiation of the North American Adjidaumo clade. Leptodontomy...

The preserved soft parts of a new specimen of Heterohyus nanus from Messel show a clearly visible and distinct tuft at the end of an otherwise scarcely hairy tail. Such a tail tuft often is linked to a saltatory locomotion in extant terrestrial smaller mammals. In the skeleton of Heterohyus nanus, however, no special adaptation to jumping or hoppin...

We describe a new species of the rare and enigmatic cricetid genus Karydomys from the middle Miocene Ville Formation of the Hambach lignite mine in north-west Germany. The locality Hambach 6C has yielded the first substantial records of Karydomys from central Europe. For the first time, all molar positions are well-documented, including the previou...

Redeposited loess sediments from a Pleistocene crater filling in the Neuwied Basin (western Germany) yielded a small mammal fauna mainly composed of arvicoline rodents. The occurrence of rare faunal elements such as Sorex minutissimus, Sicista subtilis, and a species of Microtus (Terricola) is remarkable. Based on the evolutionary level of Arvicola...

This paper provides an extensive SEM survey of incisor enamel microstructure of myomorph rodents. Among the approximately 200 species from 130 fossil and recent genera, Eurasian hamster like rodents and related groups are represented best because they are important for biostratigraphic zonation in the continental Tertiary of Europe. The first true...

This paper provides an extensive SEM survey of incisor enamel microstructure of myomorph rodents. Among the approximately 200 species from 130 fossil and recent genera, Eurasian hamster like rodents and related groups are represented best because they are important for biostratigraphic zonation in the continental Tertiary of Europe. The first true...

This is a study of rich new finds of the genus Marmota from Late Pleistocene loess deposits of the Neuwied and Mainz basins. For the first time these finds repre-sent an adequate basis to evaluate the taxonomic status of Late Pleistocene mar-mots outside the Alps. In the Middle Rhi-ne Region two species could be distinguis-hed: firstly the relative...

A fauna composed mostly of small mammals was recently recovered from the Late Pleistocene archaeological excavation site at Kettig in the Neuwied Basin. Nine genera with 13 species could be identified, including Soricidae, Talpidae, Vespertilionidae, Mustelidae, Arvicolinae, Murinae, and Cricetinae. The ecological preferences of the species range f...

In: Mémoires et Travaux de l’Institut de Montpellier de l’École Pratique des Hautes Études 21:769–805.