Exceptional biting capacities of the Early Pleistocene fossil shrew Beremendia fissidens (Soricidae,Eulipotyphla, Mammalia): new taphonomic evidence

The discovery of small, very well-defined and perfectly preserved toothmarks on a humerus of a mole Talpa cf. europaea from level TE9 of Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos) with a chronology of the Early Pleistocene is extraordinary. In a previous paper, this bite was compared with current small carnivores such as Mustela nivalis molars and with fossil remains of Mustela palerminea and the soricid (Eulipotyphla and Mammalia) Beremendia fissidens with the purpose of identifying the predator. It was hypothesised that Beremendia fissidens could be the bite maker. However, it was not possible to rule out other predators due to the shortage of Beremendia fissidens remains. Recently, new fossil remains of this insectivore have been found in Sima del Elefante levels, allowing the upper dentition to be measured. These new data suggest that effectively Beremendia fissidens may have had the capacity to bite prey larger than itself, even though it did not possess morphological characteristics specialised for the consumption of small mammals. The addition of small vertebrates (like talpids) to complement a diet based on insects could have been a way of responding to the needs of the high metabolic rate characteristic of Beremendia fissidens.