PONE-D-25-47590-->-->First of a Line or Last of a Dynasty? Parabos tigneresi and the Evolution of Eurasian Bovinae in the Early Pliocene-->-->PLOS ONE?>

Dear Dr. Sorbelli,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

The submitted manuscript represents a high-quality and valuable contribution to the understanding of Early Pliocene Bovinae in Europe, based on the remarkable material from Camp dels Ninots. It is a well-structured, rigorous, and clearly written study that significantly enriches current knowledge of the paleobiodiversity of this period and region.

The editorial process took longer than usual, mainly due to the difficulty in finding suitable and available reviewers with expertise in this specific field. Nevertheless, the received evaluation confirms the scientific merit of the work and highlights the strength of the analyses, the precision of the illustrations, and the clarity of the descriptions.

The reviewer emphasized the overall consistency and scientific rigor of the manuscript, as well as the up-to-date bibliography and the coherence between results and conclusions. Only minor adjustments and clarifications were suggested, as indicated in the annotated PDF. These mainly concern certain paleoenvironmental and biogeographical interpretations, which could be presented in a slightly more cautious manner—preferably framed as working hypotheses for future research rather than as definitive statements.

Recommendations:

1- Revise the discussion and conclusions to express the paleoenvironmental and biogeographical interpretations in a more tentative or exploratory tone.

2- Address the specific corrections and comments noted in the annotated PDF.

3- Perform a final language and consistency check to ensure clarity and uniform terminology throughout the manuscript.

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Wesley D. Colombo

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

Reviewer #1: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? -->?>

Reviewer #1: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available??>

The PLOS Data policy

Reviewer #1: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English??>

Reviewer #1: Yes

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Reviewer #1: A truly excellent and important piece of work that provides valuable information about the relatively unknown Bovinae of the Early Pliocene in Europe based on the impressive material from Camp dels Ninots. The descriptions are detailed and accurate, the comparisons comprehensive and thorough, the diagrams and visual material impeccable, as usual in works signed by the first author, the bibliography is fully up to date, and the conclusions are interesting and in complete harmony with the results. I have very few comments/corrections and suggestions to make (see annotated pdf). Some of the environmental/biozoogeographical interpretations may be somewhat exaggerated (see comments in pdf) and would be better formulated as working hypotheses for future studies.

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Reviewer #1: Yes: Dimitris S Kostopoulos

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Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: PONE-D-25-47590_reviewer 1-11-2025 DSK.pdf

First of a Line or Last of a Dynasty? Parabos tigneresi and the Evolution of Eurasian Bovinae in the Early Pliocene

PONE-D-25-47590R1

Dear Dr. Sorbelli,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

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Kind regards,

Wesley D. Colombo

Academic Editor

PLOS One

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Reviewers' comments: