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We acknolwedge the work of the associated editor, Lorenzo Rook, and of both reviewers, specially reviewer 1, who has largely imporved the quality of this manuscreipt from previous versions. This work was supported by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (MICINN/FEDER), Spain, Grant Number: CGL2016-75109-P; the Palarq Foundation, Spain; and the Comunidad Autonoma de la Region de Murcia, Spain, Grant Number: ARQ115/2018 (Subvencion para la Investigacion e Intervencion en el Patrimonio Arqueologico y Paleontologico de la Region de Murcia). We are grateful to colleagues for their contribution during field campaigns, and the Town Hall of Abanilla for their support. The Comunidad Autonoma de la Region de Murcia allowed and supported the field work. AV is also funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and FEDER/EU (Research Projects PGC2018-094122-B-100 and PID2020-116220GB-100), the Government of Aragon (Group ref. E33_20R), and the Research Group UCM 910607. PP is beneficiary of a postdoctoral fellowship from the Argentinian Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET). The "Juan de la Cierva Formacion" program (FJCI-2017-32157), from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, funds DGM.

Analysis of institutional authors

Huguet, RosaAuthorVallverdú, JosepAuthorAgusti, JordiAuthor

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2D Geometric morphometrics of the first lower molar of the genus Meles Brisson, 1762 including new badger evidence from the Lower Pleistocene Quibas site (Murcia, Spain)

Publicated to:Comptes Rendus Palevol. 22 (7): 91-107 - 2023-03-16 22(7), DOI: 10.5852/cr-palevol2023v22a7

Authors: Rosas, Antonio; Soler-Fajardo, Ana; Garcia-Tabernero, Antonio; Huguet, Rosa; Vallverdu, Josep; Fidalgo, Dario; Galli, Emilia; Pinero, Pedro; Agusti, Jordi; Valenciano, Alberto; Garcia-Martinez, Daniel

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Abstract

Badgers belong to the genus Meles Brisson, 1762, which comprise four extant species (M. anakuma Temminck, 1844, M. leucurus (Hodgson, 1847), M. canescens Blanford, 1875, and M. meles (Linnaeus, 1758)). The genus is included in the subfamily Melinae Bonaparte, 1838, a polyphyletic group of Eurasian mustelids whose evolutionary relationships need further clarification. The evolutive relationships of the genus are complex and far from being resolved. This work aims to describe a nearly 1 Ma unpublished badger mandible from the Sierra de Quibas (Murcia) and to help clarify the evolutionary patterns of Euroasiatic badgers. To this end, we used 2D geometric morphometric techniques to measure 57 landmarks and semilandmarks in 79 first lower molars (m1) of Meles, ranging from Pleistocene to extant species. Our results show evidence for differentiating between primitive badgers and living species of Meles. The new m1 of Meles from the Quibas site is more gracile (relatively narrower and longer) than the other Eurasian extinct species, and shows that this specimen can be placed in the subspecies M. meles meles (Linnaeus, 1758). Our results also show that the denomination of M. meles atavus Kormos, 1914 as a related subspecies with a primitive morphology is morphologically supported. Therefore, we conclude that the living subspecies of badger M. meles meles was already differentiated in the south of the Iberian Peninsula at around 1 Ma, but some primitive remnant populations persisted in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, for which we recognize the subspecies M. meles atavus.

Keywords

2d geometric2d geometric morphometricsBadgersCarnivoraCraniological charactersEuropean badgerEvolutionFossil remainsIberian peninsulaLower first molarMorphometrics.MustelidaeOrcePlioceneSexual-dimorphismTaxonomic status

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Comptes Rendus Palevol due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2023, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Paleontology. Notably, the journal is positioned en el Cuartil Q3 for the agency WoS (JCR) in the category Paleontology.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 4.92, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions May 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-05-29, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 2
  • Scopus: 3

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-05-29:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 4.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 4 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 7.95.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 10 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/imarina9295158

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Portugal; South African Republic.