The Sardinian pika (''Prolagus sardus'') is an extinct species of
pika
A pika ( or ; archaically spelled pica) is a small, mountain-dwelling mammal found in Asia and North America. With short limbs, very round body, an even coat of fur, and no external tail, they resemble their close relative, the rabbit, but ...
that was
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
Corsica
Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
and neighbouring Mediterranean islands until its extinction likely in
Roman times
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–5 ...
. Unlike living pikas, which all belong to the
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial no ...
'' Ochotona,'' the Sardinian pika was the last surviving member of the genus ''
Prolagus
''Prolagus'' is an extinct genus of pika within the order Lagomorpha. Over 20 species of ''Prolagus'' have been named, beginning in the Early Miocene in Europe 20 million years ago, where it ranged widely for most of the epoch; by the end of th ...
,'' a genus of pika once widespread throughout western
Eurasia
Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...
and
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...
during the
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent ...
and
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58
The full skeletal structure of the Sardinian pika was reconstructed in 1967, thanks to the numerous finds of bones in
Corbeddu Cave
The Corbeddu cave is located in the territory of Oliena, municipality of the province of Nuoro, in Sardinia. In this cave found refuge the famous Sardinian bandit Giovanni Corbeddu Salis (1844-1898), from which it took its name.
The cave is abou ...
, which is near
Oliena
Oliena (, less correctly ; sc, Ulìana ) is a commune in the province of Nuoro, Sardinia, Italy.
History
The territory of Oliena has been inhabited since the Palaeolithic Era until today.
The first proofs about the above-mentioned presences ...
, Sardinia. Some years later, from these remains, the same researchers led by paleontologist Mary R. Dawson from the US were able to create a plaster reconstruction with good accuracy. The Sardinian pika was probably much stockier and more robust than extant species of pikas, and it probably resembled a sort of cross between a large wild rabbit and a pika. The first articulated skeletons of ''P. sardus'' were reported in 2016.
''Prolagus sardus'' weighed about 504-525 g. This is more than its ancestor '' Prolagus figaro'', which is the only other member of ''Prolagus'' that was found in Sardinia and weighed about 398-436 g, and is larger than most mainland species of ''
Prolagus
''Prolagus'' is an extinct genus of pika within the order Lagomorpha. Over 20 species of ''Prolagus'' have been named, beginning in the Early Miocene in Europe 20 million years ago, where it ranged widely for most of the epoch; by the end of th ...
.''
Compared to mainland species of ''Prolagus'', ''P. sardus'' has increased hypsodonty (high crowned teeth) and enamel folding complexity, as well as shifts in the positions of occlusal surface elements on the lower third
premolar
The premolars, also called premolar teeth, or bicuspids, are transitional teeth located between the canine and molar teeth. In humans, there are two premolars per quadrant in the permanent set of teeth, making eight premolars total in the mou ...
. These likely represent adaptions to the arid and open landscapes of the Corsica-Sardinia landmass. The Sardinian pika experienced anagenic evolution, with an increasing body size and shifting dental morphology over time.
Ecology
Abundant
fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
and
subfossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...
remains of ''P. sardus'' are known from several localities across
Corsica
Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
hint at the once broad geographical range of this ''Prolagus'' species: it lived from sea level up to at least 800 m (2,624 ft.) in a variety of
habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
s (grasslands, shrublands) whereby it could dig burrows. Its diet was strictly vegetarian. The abundance of mass accumulations of broken bones (
bone bed
A bone bed is any geological stratum or deposit that contains bones of whatever kind. Inevitably, such deposits are sedimentary in nature. Not a formal term, it tends to be used more to describe especially dense collections such as Lagerstätte. ...
s) suggest that the
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberP ...
was high. The Sardinian pika was likely preyed on by the two native species of terrestrial carnivores, the
Sardinian dhole
The Sardinian dhole (''Cynotherium sardous'') is an extinct insular canid which was endemic to what is now the Mediterranean islands of Sardinia (Italy) and Corsica (France), which were joined for much of the Pleistocene. It went extinct when h ...
, and
mustelid
The Mustelidae (; from Latin ''mustela'', weasel) are a family of carnivorous mammals, including weasels, badgers, otters, ferrets, martens, minks and wolverines, among others. Mustelids () are a diverse group and form the largest family in th ...
'' Enhydrictis galictoides,'' which were specialized for hunting small prey. Other likely predators include birds of prey such as the endemic owl species '' Bubo insularis''.
Evolution and extinction
The ancestor of the Sardinian pika, ''Prolagus figaro'', arrived in the
Corsica
Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
microcontinent
Continental crustal fragments, partly synonymous with microcontinents, are pieces of continents that have broken off from main continental masses to form distinct islands that are often several hundred kilometers from their place of origin.
Cau ...
at the early-late Pliocene boundary around 3.6 million years ago, likely due to an emergent land connection with Italy caused by a sea level drop. Amongst mainland species, the ''P. figaro-P. sardus'' lineage was previously thought to be most closely related to the species ''P. depereti'' known from the
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Messinian
The Messinian is in the geologic timescale the last age or uppermost stage of the Miocene. It spans the time between 7.246 ± 0.005 Ma and 5.333 ± 0.005 Ma (million years ago). It follows the Tortonian and is followed by the Zanclean, the fir ...
, the last stage of the
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent ...
, with well known remains from central Italy from the latest Miocene and early Pliocene. The oldest unambiguous remains of ''Prolagus sardus'' date back from the
Middle Pleistocene
The Chibanian, widely known by its previous designation of Middle Pleistocene, is an age in the international geologic timescale or a stage in chronostratigraphy, being a division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. Th ...
, a time when both islands were periodically connected due to
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
changes. Reassessment of palaeontological data has shown that the distinction made by early authors between two contemporaneous taxa (''P. sardus'' and ''P. corsicanus'') is probably unfounded, as the Sardinian pika exhibits only subtle anagenetic evolution of its anatomy and body size through time.
Humans first arrived in Corsica-Sardinia around 10,000 years
Before Present
Before Present (BP) years, or "years before present", is a time scale used mainly in archaeology, geology and other scientific disciplines to specify when events occurred relative to the origin of practical radiocarbon dating in the 1950s. Becaus ...
(BP). The presence of ''Prolagus'' facilitated the establishment of the first human communities of the islands. Jean-Denis Vigne found clear evidence that the Sardinian pika was hunted and eaten by people. He found that many of the Sardinian pikas' limb bones were broken and burnt at one end, suggesting that this animal had been roasted and eaten by the
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several par ...
colonists of Corsica.
The Sardinian pika became extinct in Corsica and Sardinia sometime after 810 BC, probably during
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
times due to agricultural practices, the introduction of predators (dogs, cats and small mustelids) and ecological competitors (rodents, rabbits and hares). Transmission of pathogens by rabbits and hares introduced to Sardinia and Corsica by the Romans may have also played a role in the species's extinction. Other endemic small mammals like the Corsican giant shrew, the Tyrrhenian field rat, and the Tyrrhenian vole, also disappeared from Corsica and Sardinia around the same time.
Historical references
The 2nd century BCE Greek historian
Polybius
Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail.
Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...
described in ''The Histories'' the presence of an animal in Corsica locally called the ''kyniklos'' which "when seen from a distance looks like a small hare, but when captured it differs much from a hare in appearance and taste" and which "lives for the most part under the ground". This animal may have been the Sardinian pika, because Corsica at that time was not characterized by the occurrence of any species of hare. The most recent zooarchaeological remains of pikas in Corsica were dated to either late pre-Roman or Roman times, between 348 BCE and 283 CE.
Survival of the Sardinian pika up into
modern history
The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is appli ...
has been hypothesised from the description of unknown mammals by later Sardinian authors; however, this interpretation remains dubious owing to anatomical discrepancies. The Medieval Italian poet Fazio Degli Uberti mentioned "a small animal" in Sardinia which was very timid and was called "Solifughi", which means "hiding from the sun", in his 1360 poem ''Dittamondo'' ('Song of the World'). In 1774,
Francesco Cetti
Francesco Cetti (9 August 1726 – 20 November 1778) was an Italian Jesuit priest, zoologist and mathematician.
Cetti was born in Mannheim in Germany, but his parents were natives of Como. He was educated in Lombardy and at the Jesuit college ...