Oryctolagus giberti n. sp (Lagomorpha, Mammalia) from the Lower Pleistocene of Cueva Victoria (Murcia, Spain)

A new species of leporid (Lagomorpha, Mammalia) is described based on the material from the Lower Pleistocene of Cueva Victoria (Murcia, Spain). This species, named Oryctolagus giberti n. sp., presents several intermediate characters between the first known representative of the genus, O. laynensis, from the Middle Pliocene of Spain, and the modem European rabbit (O. cuniculus), specially at the level of the palate, the mandible, the third lower premolar, the ulna, the coxal and the femur. In this respect, Otyctolagus giberti n. sp. is a firm candidate to occupy the vacant phylogenetic place between these two species. It also questions the results of molecular studies that date the divergence of groups A and B of Oryctolagus cuniculus at about 2 Myr ago.