| Pliomys Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Cricetidae |
| Genus: | † Pliomys Méhely 1914 [1] |
| Species [2] | |
| |
Pliomys is an extinct genus of voles, subfamily Arvicolinae, tribe Pliomyini. [4] The genus is known from fossils found across Europe. [5] The earliest fossils date to the first half of the Early Pleistocene (or possibly Late Pliocene) assigned to the species P. simplictor. [6] One species, P. lenki (which is possibly synonymous with Pliomys coronensis), surviving to the end of the Late Pleistocene, until around 12,000 years ago in southern France and the Iberian Peninsula. [5] Morphological evidence and DNA sequences obtained from P. lenki suggests that its closest living relative is the genus Dinaromys with a single species native to the Balkans, with P. lenki estimated to have diverged from Dinaromys around 4 million years ago. Both genera are suggested to have originated from the fossil genus Propliomys. [6] P. lenki was generally associated with cold and temperate conditions showing a range of climatic tolerance, though it appears to have only lived in open habitats and was intolerant of forest, with many specimens also found in hilly or mountainous environments. [5]
