Short communication: Note on the eomyid rodents from Eitensheim (Early Miocene, Germany)

In a study of the Eomyidae from the Upper Freshwater Molasse of Bavaria, Fahlbusch (1975: 85) concluded that a small collection of molars from Eitensheim is monospecific, and suggested that it belongs to a new, unnamed species of Keramidomys. However, Prieto (2010: tab. 1) regards Falbusch’s evaluation of the fossil as questionable and in need of a revision; problems with the assignment of the fossil have previously also been expressed by Bolliger (1992: 108). Especially interesting in this context is figure 9 in Fahlbusch (1975) that suggests the presence of two different genera of Eomyidae in the Eitensheim fossil assemblage. One of the molars definitely belongs to Keramidomys (Fahlbusch 1975: fig. 9d; Fig. 1 in this paper), whereas the systematic affinities of the other three teeth remain unresolved. If this is accurate, then the conception of the lower part of the Upper Freshwater Molasse biostratigraphy needs to be reconsidered because the first occurrence of Keramidomys defines the base of the OSM B in the South German local biostratigraphy (e.g., Heissig 1997). Details on the locality Eitensheim can be found in Fahlbusch (1964: 96). The fossil site is a brickyard carrier located at the southern end of the village of Eitensheim, on road 13 to Ingolstadt (Gradadt.Bl. 7133; R 4450700, H5408500; Elevation: around 395m). Below ~1.5 m of gastropod-enriched loess occur ~3 m of grey-greenish, fine sand and marls of the OSM. The small mammal-bearing fossiliferous layer, located approximately 0.5 m below the boundary to the loess, is composed of ~20 cm of soft, coaly sediments. In addition to eomyid rodents, Fahlbusch (1964) describes the cricetid rodents Megacricetodon bavaricus and M. aff. minor (one que