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Carlisle E, Janis CM, Pisani D, Donoghue PCJ, Silvestro D. A timescale for placental mammal diversification based on Bayesian modeling of the fossil record. Curr Biol 2023; 33:3073-3082.e3. [PMID: 37379845 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.06.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Revised: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/30/2023]
Abstract
The timing of the placental mammal radiation has been the focus of debate over the efficacy of competing methods for establishing evolutionary timescales. Molecular clock analyses estimate that placental mammals originated before the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction, anywhere from the Late Cretaceous to the Jurassic. However, the absence of definitive fossils of placentals before the K-Pg boundary is compatible with a post-Cretaceous origin. Nevertheless, lineage divergence must occur before it can be manifest phenotypically in descendent lineages. This, combined with the non-uniformity of the rock and fossil records, requires the fossil record to be interpreted rather than read literally. To achieve this, we introduce an extended Bayesian Brownian bridge model that estimates the age of origination and, where applicable, extinction through a probabilistic interpretation of the fossil record. The model estimates the origination of placentals in the Late Cretaceous, with ordinal crown groups originating at or after the K-Pg boundary. The results reduce the plausible interval for placental mammal origination to the younger range of molecular clock estimates. Our findings support both the Long Fuse and Soft Explosive models of placental mammal diversification, indicating that the placentals originated shortly prior to the K-Pg mass extinction. The origination of many modern mammal lineages overlapped with and followed the K-Pg mass extinction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily Carlisle
- Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK.
| | - Christine M Janis
- Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Davide Pisani
- Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK; Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
| | - Philip C J Donoghue
- Bristol Palaeobiology Group, School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK.
| | - Daniele Silvestro
- Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland; Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland; Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, 413 19 Gothenburg, Sweden; Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, 413 19 Gothenburg, Sweden.
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2
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Monson TA, Boisserie J, Brasil MF, Clay SM, Dvoretzky R, Ravindramurthy S, Schmitt CA, Souron A, Takenaka R, Ungar PS, Yoo S, Zhou M, Zuercher ME, Hlusko LJ. Evidence of strong stabilizing effects on the evolution of boreoeutherian (Mammalia) dental proportions. Ecol Evol 2019; 9:7597-7612. [PMID: 31346425 PMCID: PMC6635932 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2019] [Revised: 04/25/2019] [Accepted: 04/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The dentition is an extremely important organ in mammals with variation in timing and sequence of eruption, crown morphology, and tooth size enabling a range of behavioral, dietary, and functional adaptations across the class. Within this suite of variable mammalian dental phenotypes, relative sizes of teeth reflect variation in the underlying genetic and developmental mechanisms. Two ratios of postcanine tooth lengths capture the relative size of premolars to molars (premolar-molar module, PMM), and among the three molars (molar module component, MMC), and are known to be heritable, independent of body size, and to vary significantly across primates. Here, we explore how these dental traits vary across mammals more broadly, focusing on terrestrial taxa in the clade of Boreoeutheria (Euarchontoglires and Laurasiatheria). We measured the postcanine teeth of N = 1,523 boreoeutherian mammals spanning six orders, 14 families, 36 genera, and 49 species to test hypotheses about associations between dental proportions and phylogenetic relatedness, diet, and life history in mammals. Boreoeutherian postcanine dental proportions sampled in this study carry conserved phylogenetic signal and are not associated with variation in diet. The incorporation of paleontological data provides further evidence that dental proportions may be slower to change than is dietary specialization. These results have implications for our understanding of dental variation and dietary adaptation in mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tesla A. Monson
- Department of Integrative BiologyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCalifornia
- Human Evolution Research CenterUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCalifornia
- Museum of Vertebrate ZoologyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCalifornia
- Anthropologisches Institut und MuseumUniversität ZürichZürichSwitzerland
| | | | - Marianne F. Brasil
- Department of Integrative BiologyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCalifornia
- Human Evolution Research CenterUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCalifornia
| | - Selene M. Clay
- Department of Integrative BiologyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCalifornia
- Department of Human GeneticsUniversity of ChicagoChicagoIllinois
| | - Rena Dvoretzky
- Department of Integrative BiologyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCalifornia
| | | | | | | | - Risa Takenaka
- Department of Integrative BiologyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCalifornia
- Museum of Vertebrate ZoologyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCalifornia
| | - Peter S. Ungar
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity of ArkansasFayettevilleArkansas
| | - Sunwoo Yoo
- Department of Integrative BiologyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCalifornia
| | - Michael Zhou
- Department of Integrative BiologyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCalifornia
| | | | - Leslea J. Hlusko
- Department of Integrative BiologyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCalifornia
- Human Evolution Research CenterUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCalifornia
- Museum of Vertebrate ZoologyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCalifornia
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3
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Guignard ML, Martinelli AG, Soares MB. The postcranial anatomy of Brasilodon quadrangularis and the acquisition of mammaliaform traits among non-mammaliaform cynodonts. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0216672. [PMID: 31075140 PMCID: PMC6510408 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2019] [Accepted: 04/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Brasilodon quadrangularis (Cynodontia, Probainognathia) is an iconic non-mammaliaform cynodont from the Late Triassic of Brazil (Riograndia Assemblage Zone, Candelária Sequence), being considered as the sister taxon of Mammaliaformes. Although its phylogenetic position is very important, several aspects of its postcranial anatomy remain unclear or unstudied. Here, we present a detailed description of the postcranial elements referred to Brasilodon, including previously mentioned specimens and new ones, which add relevant information about its postcranial morphology and provide a new insight into the anatomical transition between advanced non-mammaliaform cynodonts and early mammaliaforms. Functional and ecological implications are also investigated, based on the postcranial morphology and muscular reconstructions. The postcranium of Brasilodon differs from most non-mammaliaform cynodonts and presents similarities with tritylodontids, early mammaliaforms and extant therians, such as a ventrally oriented scapular glenoid facet, a distinct and ossified greater humeral tubercle, lack of ectepicondylar foramen, olecranon process, hemispherical humeral and femoral heads and a prominent intertrochanteric crest. The humeral torsion, the length of the deltopectoral crest, the large bicipital groove and the well-developed lesser tubercle, indicate that the forelimb of Brasilodon was hold in a semi-sprawling position, with well-developed adductor muscles to maintain the body off the ground. The short femoral neck and the strong medial projection of the femoral head indicate the femur was held in a more erect posture than in basal non-mammaliaform cynodonts. The anterodorsally projected iliac blade with reduced postacetabular process, reduction of the anterior part of the pubis, medially located lesser trochanter indicate a basically mammalian pattern of pelvic musculature, able to swing the femur in a nearly parasagittal plane.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgan L. Guignard
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Agronomia, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
- * E-mail:
| | - Agustin G. Martinelli
- CONICET-Sección Paleontología de Vertebrados, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ’Bernardino Rivadavia', Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Departamento de Paleontologia e Estratigrafia, Instituto de Geociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Agronomia, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
| | - Marina B. Soares
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Agronomia, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
- CONICET-Sección Paleontología de Vertebrados, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ’Bernardino Rivadavia', Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Jäger KRK, Luo ZX, Martin T. Postcranial Skeleton of Henkelotherium guimarotae (Cladotheria, Mammalia) and Locomotor Adaptation. J MAMM EVOL 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s10914-018-09457-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
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Chester SGB, Williamson TE, Silcox MT, Bloch JI, Sargis EJ. Skeletal morphology of the early Paleocene plesiadapiform Torrejonia wilsoni (Euarchonta, Palaechthonidae). J Hum Evol 2019; 128:76-92. [PMID: 30825983 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.12.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2018] [Revised: 12/04/2018] [Accepted: 12/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Plesiadapiforms, like other Paleogene mammals, are known mostly from fossil teeth and jaw fragments. The several families of plesiadapiforms known from partial skeletons have all been reconstructed as arborealists, but differences in postcranial morphology among these taxa indicate a diversity of positional behaviors. Here we provide the first detailed descriptions and comparisons of a dentally associated partial skeleton (NMMNH P-54500) and of the most complete dentary with anterior teeth (NMMNH P-71598) pertaining to Torrejonia wilsoni, from the early Paleocene (late Torrejonian To3 interval zone) of the Nacimiento Formation, San Juan Basin, New Mexico, USA. NMMNH P-54500 is the oldest known partial skeleton of a plesiadapiform and the only known postcrania for the Palaechthonidae. This skeleton includes craniodental fragments with all permanent teeth fully erupted, and partial forelimbs and hind limbs with some epiphyses unfused, indicating that this individual was a nearly fully-grown subadult. Analysis of the forelimb suggests mobile shoulder and elbow joints, a habitually flexed forearm, and capacity for manual grasping. The hip joint allowed abduction and lateral rotation of the thigh and provides evidence for frequent orthograde postures on large diameter supports. Other aspects of the hind limb suggest a habitually flexed thigh and knee with no evidence for specialized leaping, and mobile ankle joints capable of high degrees of inversion and eversion. Although it is likely that some variability exists within the group, analysis of this skeleton suggests that palaechthonids are most like paromomyids among plesiadapiforms, but retain more plesiomorphic postcranial features than has been documented for the Paromomyidae. These observations are congruent with craniodental evidence supporting palaechthonids and paromomyids as closely related within the Paromomyoidea. The skeleton of T. wilsoni also demonstrates that many regions of the postcranium were already well adapted for arboreality within the first few million years of the diversification of placental mammals following the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen G B Chester
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, 2900 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11210, USA; Department of Anthropology, Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Thomas E Williamson
- New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, 1801 Mountain Road, NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104-1375, USA
| | - Mary T Silcox
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Scarborough, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Jonathan I Bloch
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, 1659 Museum Road, Gainesville, FL 32611-7800, USA
| | - Eric J Sargis
- Department of Anthropology, Yale University, P. O. Box 208277, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Division of Vertebrate Paleontology, Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
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6
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Marigó J, Verrière N, Godinot M. Systematic and locomotor diversification of the Adapis group (Primates, Adapiformes) in the late Eocene of the Quercy (Southwest France), revealed by humeral remains. J Hum Evol 2018; 126:71-90. [PMID: 30583845 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2017] [Revised: 10/09/2018] [Accepted: 10/15/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Twenty humeral specimens from the old and new Quercy collections attributed to the fossil primates Adapis and Palaeolemur are described and analysed together. We provide a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the different humeri, revealing that high variability is present within the "Adapis group" sample. Six different morphotypes are identified, confirming that what has often been called "Adapis parisiensis" is a mix of different species that present different locomotor adaptations. Such a relatively high level of locomotor diversity is unique in the Paleogene primate fossil record. The humeral proportions of Adapis overlap with different groups of extant strepsirrhines and platyrrhines depending on the specimen, so the popular view of Adapis as a loris-like slow climbing primate does not apply to the whole sample presented here. Moreover, different humeral features traditionally associated with "Adapis parisiensis", such as the absence of a zona conoidea and a reduced brachioradialis flange, are variable depending on the sample studied. In addition, results of our analyses show that adapine and omomyid humeral morphology overlap extensively, leading us to question the accuracy of taxonomic attributions based on morphology of isolated humeri at localities where omomyids and adapines of similar size coexist. Finally, assuming our different morphotypes represent different species within two genera, we propose a phylogenetic hypothesis relating these morphotypes, which inhabited a small geographic area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judit Marigó
- Centre de Recherches sur la Paléobiodiversité et les Paléoenvironnements (CR2P, UMR 7207), Sorbonne Universités (MNHN, CNRS, UMPC-Paris 6), Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France; Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Nicole Verrière
- Centre de Recherches sur la Paléobiodiversité et les Paléoenvironnements (CR2P, UMR 7207), Sorbonne Universités (MNHN, CNRS, UMPC-Paris 6), Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
| | - Marc Godinot
- Centre de Recherches sur la Paléobiodiversité et les Paléoenvironnements (CR2P, UMR 7207), Sorbonne Universités (MNHN, CNRS, UMPC-Paris 6), Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France; Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL, Paris, France
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7
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Castro MC, Goin FJ, Ortiz-Jaureguizar E, Vieytes EC, Tsukui K, Ramezani J, Batezelli A, Marsola JCA, Langer MC. A Late Cretaceous mammal from Brazil and the first radioisotopic age for the Bauru Group. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2018; 5:180482. [PMID: 29892465 PMCID: PMC5990825 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.180482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2018] [Accepted: 04/23/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
In the last three decades, records of tribosphenidan mammals from India, continental Africa, Madagascar and South America have challenged the notion of a strictly Laurasian distribution of the group during the Cretaceous. Here, we describe a lower premolar from the Late Cretaceous Adamantina Formation, São Paulo State, Brazil. It differs from all known fossil mammals, except for a putative eutherian from the same geologic unity and Deccanolestes hislopi, from the Maastrichtian of India. The incompleteness of the material precludes narrowing down its taxonomic attribution further than Tribosphenida, but it is larger than most coeval mammals and shows a thin layer of parallel crystallite enamel. The new taxon helps filling two major gaps in the fossil record: the paucity of Mesozoic mammals in more northern parts of South America and of tribosphenidans in the Cretaceous of that continent. In addition, high-precision U-Pb geochronology provided a post-Turonian maximal age (≤87.8 Ma) for the type stratum, which is overlain by the dinosaur-bearing Marília Formation, constraining the age of the Adamantina Formation at the site to late Coniacian-late Maastrichtian. This represents the first radioisotopic age for the Bauru Group, a key stratigraphic unit for the study of Cretaceous tetrapods in Gondwana.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariela C. Castro
- Laboratório de Paleontologia, FFCLRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto-SP 14040-901, Brazil
| | - Francisco J. Goin
- División Paleontología Vertebrados, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque S/N°, B1900FWA La Plata, Argentina
- CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Edgardo Ortiz-Jaureguizar
- LASBE, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque S/N°, B1900FWA La Plata, Argentina
- CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - E. Carolina Vieytes
- División Zoología Vertebrados, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque S/N°, B1900FWA La Plata, Argentina
- CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Kaori Tsukui
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Jahandar Ramezani
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Alessandro Batezelli
- Department of Geology and Natural Resources, IG, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas-SP, Brazil
| | - Júlio C. A. Marsola
- Laboratório de Paleontologia, FFCLRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto-SP 14040-901, Brazil
| | - Max C. Langer
- Laboratório de Paleontologia, FFCLRP, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto-SP 14040-901, Brazil
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8
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A comparative analysis of infraorbital foramen size in Paleogene euarchontans. J Hum Evol 2017; 105:57-68. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.01.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2016] [Revised: 01/19/2017] [Accepted: 01/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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9
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Manz CL, Chester SGB, Bloch JI, Silcox MT, Sargis EJ. New partial skeletons of Palaeocene Nyctitheriidae and evaluation of proposed euarchontan affinities. Biol Lett 2015; 11:20140911. [PMID: 25589486 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2014.0911] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Small-bodied, insectivorous Nyctitheriidae are known in the Palaeogene fossil record almost exclusively from teeth and fragmentary jaws and have been referred to Eulipotyphla (shrews, moles and hedgehogs) based on dental similarities. By contrast, isolated postcrania attributed to the group suggest arboreality and a relationship to Euarchonta (primates, treeshrews and colugos). Cretaceous-Palaeocene adapisoriculid insectivores have also been proposed as early euarchontans based on postcranial similarities. We describe the first known dentally associated nyctitheriid auditory regions and postcrania, and use them to test the proposed relationship to Euarchonta with cladistic analyses of 415 dental, cranial and postcranial characteristics scored for 92 fossil and extant mammalian taxa. Although nyctitheriid postcrania share similarities with euarchontans likely related to arboreality, results of cladistic analyses suggest that nyctitheriids are closely related to Eulipotyphla. Adapisoriculidae is found to be outside of crown Placentalia. These results suggest that similarities in postcranial morphology among nyctitheriids, adapisoriculids and euarchontans represent separate instances of convergence or primitive retention of climbing capabilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carly L Manz
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA Department of Geological Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Stephen G B Chester
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, City University of New York, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY 11210, USA New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP), New York, NY 10024, USA
| | - Jonathan I Bloch
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Mary T Silcox
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M1C 1A4
| | - Eric J Sargis
- Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA Division of Vertebrate Paleontology, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
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10
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Quantitative inferences on the locomotor behaviour of extinct species applied to Simocyon batalleri (Ailuridae, Late Miocene, Spain). THE SCIENCE OF NATURE - NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN 2015; 102:30. [DOI: 10.1007/s00114-015-1280-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2014] [Revised: 04/29/2015] [Accepted: 05/02/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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11
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Oldest known euarchontan tarsals and affinities of Paleocene Purgatorius to Primates. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2015; 112:1487-92. [PMID: 25605875 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1421707112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Earliest Paleocene Purgatorius often is regarded as the geologically oldest primate, but it has been known only from fossilized dentitions since it was first described half a century ago. The dentition of Purgatorius is more primitive than those of all known living and fossil primates, leading some researchers to suggest that it lies near the ancestry of all other primates; however, others have questioned its affinities to primates or even to placental mammals. Here we report the first (to our knowledge) nondental remains (tarsal bones) attributed to Purgatorius from the same earliest Paleocene deposits that have yielded numerous fossil dentitions of this poorly known mammal. Three independent phylogenetic analyses that incorporate new data from these fossils support primate affinities of Purgatorius among euarchontan mammals (primates, treeshrews, and colugos). Astragali and calcanei attributed to Purgatorius indicate a mobile ankle typical of arboreal euarchontan mammals generally and of Paleocene and Eocene plesiadapiforms specifically and provide the earliest fossil evidence of arboreality in primates and other euarchontan mammals. Postcranial specializations for arboreality in the earliest primates likely played a key role in the evolutionary success of this mammalian radiation in the Paleocene.
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12
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Meng J. Mesozoic mammals of China: implications for phylogeny and early evolution of mammals. Natl Sci Rev 2014. [DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwu070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
All Mesozoic mammaliaforms reported from China are briefly documented herein. These forms can be divided into at least five major assemblages: Lufeng, Yanliao (Daohugou), Jehol, Fuxin and Bayan Mandahu, ranging from the Early Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous periods. Although the temporal and geographic distributions of these mammaliaforms are not dense, the records do reveal a pattern that is generally consistent with patterns that have been recognized globally. The initial stage of mammalian evolution was represented by stem mammaliaforms or primitive ‘triconodonts’ from the Lufeng. This was followed by the Middle-Late Jurassic Yanliao episode that showed a high diversity and disparity of mammaliaforms in which terrestrial, swimming, arboreal and gliding species were present. The disparity, at least in molar morphology and types of locomotion, decreased but the diversity persisted into the Cretaceous, a period that was dominated by eutriconodontans, multituberculates and trechnotherians. The superb specimens from nearly all major groups of Mesozoic mammals in China provided a great amount of information that contributed to our understanding on some major issues in phylogeny and the early evolution of mammals, such as divergences of mammals and the evolution of the mammalian middle ear. A hypothesis on the transformation of the allotherian tooth pattern is proposed as an example to illustrate the potential for future studies of mammalian evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin Meng
- Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China
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13
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Springer MS, Meredith RW, Janecka JE, Murphy WJ. The historical biogeography of Mammalia. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2011; 366:2478-502. [PMID: 21807730 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2011.0023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Palaeobiogeographic reconstructions are underpinned by phylogenies, divergence times and ancestral area reconstructions, which together yield ancestral area chronograms that provide a basis for proposing and testing hypotheses of dispersal and vicariance. Methods for area coding include multi-state coding with a single character, binary coding with multiple characters and string coding. Ancestral reconstruction methods are divided into parsimony versus Bayesian/likelihood approaches. We compared nine methods for reconstructing ancestral areas for placental mammals. Ambiguous reconstructions were a problem for all methods. Important differences resulted from coding areas based on the geographical ranges of extant species versus the geographical provenance of the oldest fossil for each lineage. Africa and South America were reconstructed as the ancestral areas for Afrotheria and Xenarthra, respectively. Most methods reconstructed Eurasia as the ancestral area for Boreoeutheria, Euarchontoglires and Laurasiatheria. The coincidence of molecular dates for the separation of Afrotheria and Xenarthra at approximately 100 Ma with the plate tectonic sundering of Africa and South America hints at the importance of vicariance in the early history of Placentalia. Dispersal has also been important including the origins of Madagascar's endemic mammal fauna. Further studies will benefit from increased taxon sampling and the application of new ancestral area reconstruction methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark S Springer
- Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
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14
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A radiation of arboreal basal eutherian mammals beginning in the Late Cretaceous of India. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2011; 108:16333-8. [PMID: 21930906 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1108723108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
India's Late Cretaceous fossil mammals include the only undisputed pre-Tertiary Gondwanan eutherians, such as Deccanolestes. Recent studies have suggested a relationship between Deccanolestes and African and European Paleocene adapisoriculids, which have been variably identified as stem euarchontans, stem primates, lipotyphlan insectivores, or afrosoricids. Support for a close relationship between Deccanolestes and any of these placental mammal clades would be unique in representing a confirmed Mesozoic record of a placental mammal. However, some paleogeographic reconstructions place India at its peak isolation from all other continents during the latest Cretaceous, complicating reconstructions of the biogeographic history of the placental radiation. Recent fieldwork in India has recovered dozens of better-preserved specimens of Cretaceous eutherians, including several new species. Here, we incorporate these new specimens into an extensive phylogenetic analysis that includes every clade with a previously hypothesized relationship to Deccanolestes. Our results support a robust relationship between Deccanolestes and Paleocene adapisoriculids, but do not support a close affinity between these taxa and any placental clade, demonstrating that Deccanolestes is not a Cretaceous placental mammal and reinforcing the sizeable gap between molecular and fossil divergence time estimates for the placental mammal radiation. Instead, our expanded data push Adapisoriculidae, including Deccanolestes, into a much more basal position than in earlier analyses, strengthening hypotheses that scansoriality and arboreality were prevalent early in eutherian evolution. This comprehensive phylogeny indicates that faunal exchange occurred between India, Africa, and Europe in the Late Cretaceous-Early Paleocene, and suggests a previously unrecognized ∼30 to 45 Myr "ghost lineage" for these Gondwanan eutherians.
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