A new heterosoricid shrew from the lowermost Oligocene of Europe

The earliest Oligocene faunas of Europe are characterised by a large number of Asian immigrants. One of the classical sites that shows the faunal change after this so−called “Grande Coupure” is Hoogbutsel in Belgium (MP 21). Recently a new locality from the lowermost Oligocene was discovered in Belgium, Boutersem TGV. Here, we describe a new heterosoricid (Mammalia, Soricomorpha), Belgicasorex ramboeri gen. et sp. nov., from these lowermost Oligocene localities. We assume that, like the erinaceid Tetracus nanus Aymard, 1846 and the nyctitheriid Oligonyctia hoffmani Smith, 2004, Belgicasorex ramboeri was one of the Asian immigrants that entered Europe after the “Grande Coupure”.