Early Pleistocene zapodid rodents from the Java Local Fauna of north-central South Dakota

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Abstract
Zapodid rodents are described from the early Pleistocene Java Local Fauna, Walworth County, South Dakota. The fauna includes a new species of Zapus related to the extinct Z. sandersi. The fossil record of Zapus is briefly reviewed, and the M1s of Z. rinkeri and an undescribed species from the Wendell Fox Pasture Local Fauna are illustrated for the first time. Zapus trinotatus and Z. princeps probably represent a clade distinct from other Zapus species, but relationships among the remaining species are difficult to determine. Two additional zapodids represent new genera and species. One appears to be remotely related to the Pliocene Pliozapus or Protozapus and the other is a tiny, presumably carnivorous sicistine linked to Old World striped mice of the genus Sicista. This is the first record of a Pleistocene sicistine from North America.