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Huggenberger S, Leidenberger S, Oelschläger HHA. Asymmetry of the nasofacial skull in toothed whales (Odontoceti). J Zool (1987) 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- S. Huggenberger
- Department II of Anatomy University of Cologne Cologne Germany
| | - S. Leidenberger
- Swedish Species Information Centre/ArtDatabanken Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala Sweden
| | - H. H. A. Oelschläger
- Department of Anatomy III (Dr. Senckenbergische Anatomie) Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main Germany
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52
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Lambert O. Evolution: Fossil Ears and Underwater Sonar. Curr Biol 2016; 26:R758-60. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.06.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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53
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Churchill M, Martinez-Caceres M, de Muizon C, Mnieckowski J, Geisler J. The Origin of High-Frequency Hearing in Whales. Curr Biol 2016; 26:2144-9. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2016] [Revised: 05/31/2016] [Accepted: 06/01/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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54
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Cranial symmetry in baleen whales (Cetacea, Mysticeti) and the occurrence of cranial asymmetry throughout cetacean evolution. Naturwissenschaften 2015; 102:58. [PMID: 26336812 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-015-1309-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2014] [Revised: 08/20/2015] [Accepted: 08/21/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Odontoceti and Mysticeti (toothed and baleen whales) originated from Eocene archaeocetes that had evolved from terrestrial artiodactyls. Cranial asymmetry is known in odontocetes that can hear ultrasound (>20,000 Hz) and has been linked to the split function of the nasal passage in breathing and vocalization. Recent results indicate that archaeocetes also had asymmetric crania. Their asymmetry has been linked to directional hearing in water, although hearing frequencies are still under debate. Mysticetes capable of low-frequency and infrasonic hearing (<20 Hz) are assumed to have symmetric crania. This study aims to resolve whether mysticete crania are indeed symmetric and whether mysticete cranial symmetry is plesiomorphic or secondary. Cranial shape was analyzed applying geometric morphometrics to three-dimensional (3D) cranial models of fossil and modern mysticetes, Eocene archaeocetes, modern artiodactyls, and modern odontocetes. Statistical tests include analysis of variance, principal components analysis, and discriminant function analysis. Results suggest that symmetric shape difference reflects general trends in cetacean evolution. Asymmetry includes significant fluctuating and directional asymmetry, the latter being very small. Mysticete crania are as symmetric as those of terrestrial artiodactyls and archaeocetes, without significant differences within Mysticeti. Odontocete crania are more asymmetric. These results indicate that (1) all mysticetes have symmetric crania, (2) archaeocete cranial asymmetry is not conspicuous in most of the skull but may yet be conspicuous in the rostrum, (3) directional cranial asymmetry is an odontocete specialization, and (4) directional cranial asymmetry is more likely related to echolocation than hearing.
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55
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Braga J, Loubes JM, Descouens D, Dumoncel J, Thackeray JF, Kahn JL, de Beer F, Riberon A, Hoffman K, Balaresque P, Gilissen E. Disproportionate Cochlear Length in Genus Homo Shows a High Phylogenetic Signal during Apes' Hearing Evolution. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0127780. [PMID: 26083484 PMCID: PMC4471221 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2014] [Accepted: 04/18/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Changes in lifestyles and body weight affected mammal life-history evolution but little is known about how they shaped species’ sensory systems. Since auditory sensitivity impacts communication tasks and environmental acoustic awareness, it may have represented a deciding factor during mammal evolution, including apes. Here, we statistically measure the influence of phylogeny and allometry on the variation of five cochlear morphological features associated with hearing capacities across 22 living and 5 fossil catarrhine species. We find high phylogenetic signals for absolute and relative cochlear length only. Comparisons between fossil cochleae and reconstructed ape ancestral morphotypes show that Australopithecus absolute and relative cochlear lengths are explicable by phylogeny and concordant with the hypothetized ((Pan,Homo),Gorilla) and (Pan,Homo) most recent common ancestors. Conversely, deviations of the Paranthropus oval window area from these most recent common ancestors are not explicable by phylogeny and body weight alone, but suggest instead rapid evolutionary changes (directional selection) of its hearing organ. Premodern (Homo erectus) and modern human cochleae set apart from living non-human catarrhines and australopiths. They show cochlear relative lengths and oval window areas larger than expected for their body mass, two features corresponding to increased low-frequency sensitivity more recent than 2 million years ago. The uniqueness of the “hypertrophied” cochlea in the genus Homo (as opposed to the australopiths) and the significantly high phylogenetic signal of this organ among apes indicate its usefulness to identify homologies and monophyletic groups in the hominid fossil record.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. Braga
- Hominid Evolutionary Biology, AMIS-UMR 5288 CNRS, University of Toulouse (Paul Sabatier), Toulouse, France
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- * E-mail:
| | - J-M. Loubes
- Statistics and Probabilities Team, Institute of Mathematics of Toulouse, UMR 5219 CNRS-Université de Toulouse (Paul Sabatier), Toulouse, France
| | - D. Descouens
- Hominid Evolutionary Biology, AMIS-UMR 5288 CNRS, University of Toulouse (Paul Sabatier), Toulouse, France
| | - J. Dumoncel
- Hominid Evolutionary Biology, AMIS-UMR 5288 CNRS, University of Toulouse (Paul Sabatier), Toulouse, France
| | - J. F. Thackeray
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - J-L. Kahn
- Institut d'Anatomie Normale et Pathologique, Faculté de Médecine de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - F. de Beer
- South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, Pelindaba, North West Province, South Africa
| | - A. Riberon
- Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique, UMR 5174 CNRS, University of Toulouse (Paul Sabatier), Toulouse, France
| | - K. Hoffman
- South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, Pelindaba, North West Province, South Africa
| | - P. Balaresque
- Hominid Evolutionary Biology, AMIS-UMR 5288 CNRS, University of Toulouse (Paul Sabatier), Toulouse, France
| | - E. Gilissen
- Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium and Laboratory of Histology and Neuropathology, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
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56
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Marx FG, Fordyce RE. Baleen boom and bust: a synthesis of mysticete phylogeny, diversity and disparity. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2015; 2:140434. [PMID: 26064636 PMCID: PMC4448876 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.140434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2014] [Accepted: 03/03/2015] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
A new, fully dated total-evidence phylogeny of baleen whales (Mysticeti) shows that evolutionary phases correlate strongly with Caenozoic modernization of the oceans and climates, implying a major role for bottom-up physical drivers. The phylogeny of 90 modern and dated fossil species suggests three major phases in baleen whale history: an early adaptive radiation (36-30 Ma), a shift towards bulk filter-feeding (30-23 Ma) and a climate-driven diversity loss around 3 Ma. Evolutionary rates and disparity were high following the origin of mysticetes around 38 Ma, coincident with global cooling, abrupt Southern Ocean eutrophication and the development of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). Subsequently, evolutionary rates and disparity fell, becoming nearly constant after approximately 23 Ma as the ACC reached its full strength. By contrast, species diversity rose until 15 Ma and then remained stable, before dropping sharply with the onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciation. This decline coincided with the final establishment of modern mysticete gigantism and may be linked to glacially driven variability in the distribution of shallow habitats or an increased need for long-distance migration related to iron-mediated changes in glacial marine productivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix G. Marx
- Department of Geology, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
- Department of Geology and Palaeontology, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba 305-0005, Japan
| | - R. Ewan Fordyce
- Department of Geology, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
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57
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Tanaka Y, Fordyce RE. Fossil dolphin Otekaikea marplesi (latest Oligocene, New Zealand) expands the morphological and taxonomic diversity of Oligocene cetaceans. PLoS One 2014; 9:e107972. [PMID: 25250733 PMCID: PMC4176723 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0107972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2014] [Accepted: 08/08/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The Oligocene Epoch was a time of major radiation of the Odontoceti (echolocating toothed whales, dolphins). Fossils reveal many odontocete lineages and considerable structural diversity, but whether the clades include some crown taxa or only archaic groups is contentious. The New Zealand fossil dolphin "Prosqualodon" marplesi (latest Oligocene, ≥23.9 Ma) is here identified as a crown odontocete that represents a new genus, Otekaikea, and adds to the generic diversity of Oligocene odontocetes. Otekaikea marplesi is known only from the holotype, which comprises a partial skeleton from the marine Otekaike Limestone of the Waitaki Valley. Otekaikea marplesi was about 2.5 m long; it had procumbent anterior teeth, and a broad dished face for the nasofacial muscles implicated in production of echolocation sounds. The prominent condyles and unfused cervical vertebrae suggest a flexible neck. A phylogenetic analysis based on morphological features places Otekaikea marplesi in the extinct group Waipatiidae, within the clade Platanistoidea. The phylogeny implies an Oligocene origin for the lineage now represented by the endangered Ganges River dolphin (Platanista gangetica), supporting an Oligocene history for the crown Odontoceti.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoshihiro Tanaka
- Department of Geology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- * E-mail:
| | - R. Ewan Fordyce
- Department of Geology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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