Hi Adrienne,
Eitan Tchernov mention a variability in Mus in the Pleistocene of the Levant, much earlier than your specimens but which may be relevant. He described it as a chronocline in comparison to modern Mus populations.
The ref is Tchernov, E., 1968. Succession of rodent faunas during the upper Pleistocene of Israel. Paul Parey, Hamburg.
If you cannot get, let me know off list.
Cheers,
Miriam
*********************
Miriam Belmaker, PhD
Research Associate
Department of Anthropology
Harvard University
Peabody Museum room 57M
11 Divinity Ave.
Cambridge MA 02138
Phone 617 496 5006
Fax 617 496 8041
On Sep 3, 2010, at 8:00 AM, Adrienne Powell wrote:
Hi everyone,
I've been working on a small mammal assemblage from Norse deposits in South Uist and come across several housemice specimens with accessory mesiobuccal cusps on the lower M1. Has anyone else seen this? It isn't mentioned by Berry in his paper on epigenetic polymorphisms in wild Mus. I've uploaded pics of a few specimens to Zoobook:
http://zooarchaeology.ning.com/photo/photo/listForContributor?screenName=2134y5jiiaivsCheers,
Adrienne