Fossil Of ‘Giant’ Shrew Nearly One Million Years Old Found In Spain

Morphometric and phylogenetic analyses of the fossilised remains of the jaws and teeth of a shrew discovered in a deposit in Gran Dolina de Atapuerca, in Burgos, have shown this to be a new species (Dolinasorex glyphodon) that has not previously been described. The extinct animal had red teeth, was large in size compared with mammals of the same family, and was more closely related to Asian than European shrews.

Researchers from the University of Zaragoza (UNIZAR) have discovered fossils in the TD4, TD5 and TD6 levels of the Gran Dolina deposit in Burgos that date to between 780,000 and 900,000 years ago, and have shown that these belong to a new genus and species of shrew (Dolinasorex glyphodon), from the Soricidae family (small insect-eating mammals).

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