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Crichton AI, Beck RMD, Couzens AMC, Worthy TH, Camens AB, Prideaux GJ. A probable koala from the Oligocene of central Australia provides insights into early diprotodontian evolution. Sci Rep 2023; 13:14521. [PMID: 37666885 PMCID: PMC10477348 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-41471-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2023] [Accepted: 08/27/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Diprotodontians are the morphologically and ecologically most diverse order of marsupials. However, an approximately 30-million-year gap in the Australian terrestrial vertebrate fossil record means that the first half of diprotodontian evolution is unknown. Fossil taxa from immediately either side of this gap are therefore critical for reconstructing the early evolution of the order. Here we report the likely oldest-known koala relatives (Phascolarctidae), from the late Oligocene Pwerte Marnte Marnte Local Fauna (central Australia). These include coeval species of Madakoala and Nimiokoala, as well as a new probable koala (?Phascolarctidae). The new taxon, Lumakoala blackae gen. et sp. nov., was comparable in size to the smallest-known phascolarctids, with body-mass estimates of 2.2-2.6 kg. Its bunoselenodont upper molars retain the primitive metatherian condition of a continuous centrocrista, and distinct stylar cusps B and D which lacked occlusion with the hypoconid. This structural arrangement: (1) suggests a morphocline within Phascolarctidae from bunoselenodonty to selenodonty; and (2) better clarifies the evolutionary transitions between molar morphologies within Vombatomorphia. We hypothesize that the molar form of Lumakoala blackae approximates the ancestral condition of the suborder Vombatiformes. Furthermore, it provides a plausible link between diprotodontians and the putative polydolopimorphians Chulpasia jimthorselli and Thylacotinga bartholomaii from the early Eocene Tingamarra Local Fauna (eastern Australia), which we infer as having molar morphologies consistent with stem diprotodontians.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arthur I Crichton
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, 5042, Australia.
| | - Robin M D Beck
- School of Science, Engineering and Environment, University of Salford, Salford, England
| | - Aidan M C Couzens
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Trevor H Worthy
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, 5042, Australia
| | - Aaron B Camens
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, 5042, Australia
| | - Gavin J Prideaux
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, 5042, Australia
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2
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Beck RM, Voss RS, Jansa SA. Craniodental Morphology and Phylogeny of Marsupials. BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 2022. [DOI: 10.1206/0003-0090.457.1.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Robin M.D. Beck
- School of Science, Engineering and Environment University of Salford, U.K. School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences University of New South Wales, Australia Division of Vertebrate Zoology (Mammalogy) American Museum of Natural History
| | - Robert S. Voss
- Division of Vertebrate Zoology (Mammalogy) American Museum of Natural History
| | - Sharon A. Jansa
- Bell Museum and Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior University of Minnesota
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3
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Abello MA, Martin GM, Cardoso Y. Review of the extinct ‘shrew-opossums’ (Marsupialia: Caenolestidae), with descriptions of two new genera and three new species from the Early Miocene of southern South America. Zool J Linn Soc 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
We present a systematic review of the extinct species included in the family Caenolestidae, one of the few South American metatherian groups that has survived to the present. We perform a cladistic analysis based on a data matrix consisting of all extant and extinct species that have been referred to this family, 100 morphological characters and two sets of molecular data (cytochrome b and cytochrome c oxidase I). Morphological and molecular data were analysed separately and in combination, under maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood methods. As a result, caenolestids are recovered as a monophyletic group within which we formally recognize three new taxa: Caenolestoides miocaenicus gen. & sp. nov., Gaimanlestes pascuali gen. & sp. nov. and Stilotherium parvum sp. nov. from the Early Miocene of Patagonia, Argentina. Stilotherium is the earliest diverging lineage of caenolestids followed by Gaimanlestes, while C. miocaenicus was recovered as the extinct species most closely related to extant caenolestids.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Alejandra Abello
- Laboratorio de Sistemática y Biología Evolutiva (LASBE), Unidades de investigación Anexo Museo, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo (UNLP). La Plata, Argentina
| | - Gabriel M Martin
- Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica (CIEMEP), CONICET – UNPSJB, Roca, y Laboratorio de Investigaciones en Evolución y Biodiversidad (LIEB), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Ciencias de la Salud, UNPSJB, Chubut, Argentina
| | - Yamila Cardoso
- Laboratorio de Sistemática y Biología Evolutiva (LASBE), Unidades de investigación Anexo Museo, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo (UNLP). La Plata, Argentina
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4
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Oliveira ÉV, Carneiro LM, Goin FJ. A new derorhynchid (Mammalia, Metatheria) from the early Eocene Itaboraí fauna of Brazil with comments on its affinities. AN ACAD BRAS CIENC 2021; 93:e20201554. [PMID: 34378646 DOI: 10.1590/0001-3765202120201554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2020] [Accepted: 02/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
A new early Eocene, small-sized metatherian from the Itaboraí fauna is described. The new taxon is recognized on the basis of an incomplete dentary recovered from fissure fillings in the travertine limestones from the Itaboraí Basin, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The phylogenetic analysis placed the new genus and species as the sister taxon of Derorhynchus, undescribed Derorhynchidae, and Coona plus Pauladelphys. When compared to Derorhynchus, the new taxon exhibits a shorter dentary, in which the first lower premolar is not separated from the second by a diastema, and shows second and third lower molars with subequal trigonid and talonid width (in Derorhynchus the talonids are wider than the trigonids). This new taxon shows some plesiomorphic traits when compared with the remaining derorhynchids, such as the shallower dentary (less than 1.5 mm), and conical entoconids rather than flattened in shape. The combination of very small size (~13-20g), sharp crests, tall and slender cuspids, broad talonid basins, as well as trigonid taller than the talonid is suggestive of an insectivorous diet for the new taxon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Édison Vicente Oliveira
- PPGEOC, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geociências, Departamento de Geologia, Centro de Tecnologia e Geociências, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Acadêmico Hélio Ramos, s/n, Cidade Universitária, 50740-530, Recife, PE, Brazil.,Paleolab, Laboratório de Paleontologia, Departamento de Geologia, Centro de Tecnologia e Geociências, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Acadêmico Hélio Ramos, s/n, Cidade Universitária, 50740-530, Recife, PE, Brazil
| | - Leonardo M Carneiro
- PPGEOC, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geociências, Departamento de Geologia, Centro de Tecnologia e Geociências, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Acadêmico Hélio Ramos, s/n, Cidade Universitária, 50740-530, Recife, PE, Brazil.,Laboratório de Paleontologia e Paleoecologia da Sociedade de História Natural, Travessa Florêncio Augusto Chagas nº 8B, 2560-230 Torres Vedras, Portugal
| | - 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
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5
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Prevosti FJ, Romano CO, Forasiepi AM, Hemming S, Bonini R, Candela AM, Cerdeño E, Madozzo Jaén MC, Ortiz PE, Pujos F, Rasia L, Schmidt GI, Taglioretti M, MacPhee RDE, Pardiñas UFJ. New radiometric 40Ar- 39Ar dates and faunistic analyses refine evolutionary dynamics of Neogene vertebrate assemblages in southern South America. Sci Rep 2021; 11:9830. [PMID: 33972595 PMCID: PMC8110973 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-89135-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2021] [Accepted: 04/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The vertebrate fossil record of the Pampean Region of Argentina occupies an important place in South American vertebrate paleontology. An abundance of localities has long been the main basis for constructing the chronostratigraphical/geochronological scale for the late Neogene-Quaternary of South America, as well as for understanding major patterns of vertebrate evolution, including the Great American Biotic Interchange. However, few independently-derived dates are available for constraining this record. In this contribution, we present new 40Ar/39Ar dates on escorias (likely the product of meteoric impacts) from the Argentinean Atlantic coast and statistically-based biochronological analyses that help to calibrate Late Miocene-Pliocene Pampean faunal successions. For the type areas of the Montehermosan and Chapadmalalan Ages/Stages, our results delimit their age ranges to 4.7-3.7 Ma and ca. 3.74-3.04 Ma, respectively. Additionally, from Buenos Aires Province, dates of 5.17 Ma and 4.33 Ma were recovered for "Huayquerian" and Montehermosan faunas. This information helps to better calibrate important first appearances of allochthonous taxa in South America, including one of the oldest records for procyonids (7.24-5.95 Ma), cricetids (6.95-5.46 Ma), and tayassuids (> 3.74 Ma, oldest high-confidence record). These results also constrain to ca. 3 Ma the last appearances of the autochthonous sparassodonts, as well as terror birds of large/middle body size in South America. South American faunal turnover during the late Neogene, including Late Pliocene extinctions, is interpreted as a consequence of knock-on effects from global climatic changes and initiation of the icehouse climate regime.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco J Prevosti
- Museo de Ciencias Antropológicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de La Rioja (UNLaR), Av. Luis M. de La Fuente S/N, 5300, La Rioja, Argentina.
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| | - Cristo O Romano
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Grupo Paleobiología y Paleoecología, IANIGLA, CCT-CONICET-Mendoza, 5500, Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Analía M Forasiepi
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Grupo Paleobiología y Paleoecología, IANIGLA, CCT-CONICET-Mendoza, 5500, Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Sidney Hemming
- Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, University of Columbia-Earth Institute, Palisades, NY, 10964-8000, USA
| | - Ricardo Bonini
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Instituto de Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano (INCUAPA), CONICET, 7400, Olavarría, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Adriana M Candela
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
- División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, 1900, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Esperanza Cerdeño
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Grupo Paleobiología y Paleoecología, IANIGLA, CCT-CONICET-Mendoza, 5500, Mendoza, Argentina
| | - M Carolina Madozzo Jaén
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
- INSUGEO-Facultad de Ciencias Naturales E IML, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, 4000, San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina
- Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, 9100, Trelew, Chubut, Argentina
| | - Pablo E Ortiz
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
- INSUGEO-Facultad de Ciencias Naturales E IML, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, 4000, San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina
| | - François Pujos
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Grupo Paleobiología y Paleoecología, IANIGLA, CCT-CONICET-Mendoza, 5500, Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Luciano Rasia
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
- División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, 1900, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Gabriela I Schmidt
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Laboratorio de Paleontología de Vertebrados, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Transferencia Tecnológica a La Producción (CONICET-Prov. ER-UADER), 3105, Diamante, Entre Ríos, Argentina
| | - Matias Taglioretti
- Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturales "Lorenzo Scaglia", 7600, Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Observatorio Patrimonio Arqueológico y Paleontológico (OPAP), Litoral Atlántico Norte (LAN), 7600, Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Geología Costera y Paleoecología-IGCYC FCEYN/CIC-Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, 7600, Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Ross D E MacPhee
- Department of Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, 10024-5102, USA
| | - Ulyses F J Pardiñas
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Instituto de Diversidad y Evolución Austral (IDEAUS), CENPAT, CONICET, 9120, Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina
- Associate Researcher of the Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INABIO), Quito, Ecuador
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6
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Chornogubsky L. Interrelationships of Polydolopidae (Mammalia: Marsupialia) from South America and Antarctica. Zool J Linn Soc 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Polydolopidae is a family of Palaeogene marsupials recorded from outcrops in southern South America and the Antarctic Peninsula. They are mostly represented by skull fragments or maxillary, dentary and molar remains. A taxonomic and systematic revision is carried out with the inclusion of a phylogenetic analysis encompassing almost every polydolopid species and five marsupial species found to be related to them in previous analyses (Bonapartherium hinakusijum, Epidolops ameghinoi, Microbiotherium tehuelchum, Prepidolops didelphoides and Roberthoffstetteria nationalgeographica). The Polydolopidae was recovered as a monophyletic group, even though no resolution about its sister-group can be found. The following genera are recovered: Antarctodolops, Amphidolops, Archaeodolops, Eudolops, Hypodolops gen. nov., Kramadolops, Pliodolops, Pseudolops and two unidentified genera (Gen. et sp. indet 1 and 2). One genus and three new species are recognized. The family appeared at the beginning of the Palaeocene and disappeared during the Early Oligocene. The extinction of the group could be related to climatic deterioration in the Early Oligocene, when temperature and the humidity dropped, provoking desertification in the region where Polydolopids evolved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Chornogubsky
- CONICET, Sección Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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7
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Brocklehurst N, Benevento GL. Dental characters used in phylogenetic analyses of mammals show higher rates of evolution, but not reduced independence. PeerJ 2020; 8:e8744. [PMID: 32231876 PMCID: PMC7100591 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.8744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2019] [Accepted: 02/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Accurate reconstructions of phylogeny are essential for studying the evolution of a clade, and morphological characters are necessarily used for the reconstruction of the relationships of fossil organisms. However, variation in their evolutionary modes (for example rate variation and character non-independence) not accounted for in analyses may be leading to unreliable phylogenies. A recent study suggested that phylogenetic analyses of mammals may be suffering from a dominance of dental characters, which were shown to have lower phylogenetic signal than osteological characters and produced phylogenies less congruent with molecularly-derived benchmarks. Here we build on this previous work by testing five additional morphological partitions for phylogenetic signal and examining what aspects of dental and other character evolution may be affecting this, by fitting models of discrete character evolution to phylogenies inferred and time calibrated using molecular data. Results indicate that the phylogenetic signal of discrete characters correlate most strongly with rates of evolution, with increased rates driving increased homoplasy. In a dataset covering all Mammalia, dental characters have higher rates of evolution than other partitions. They do not, however, fit a model of independent character evolution any worse than other regions. Primates and marsupials show different patterns to other mammal clades, with dental characters evolving at slower rates and being more heavily integrated (less independent). While the dominance of dental characters in analyses of mammals could be leading to inaccurate phylogenies, the issue is not unique to dental characters and the results are not consistent across datasets. Molecular benchmarks (being entirely independent of the character data) provide a framework for examining each dataset individually to assess the evolution of the characters used.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neil Brocklehurst
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Gemma Louise Benevento
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
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8
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Abello MA, Candela AM. Paleobiology of Argyrolagus (Marsupialia, Argyrolagidae): an astonishing case of bipedalism among South American mammals. J MAMM EVOL 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s10914-019-09470-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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9
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Babot MJ, Rougier GW, García-Lopez D, Davis BM. New Small Bunodont Metatherian from the Late Eocene of the Argentinean Puna. J MAMM EVOL 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s10914-019-09468-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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10
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Eldridge MDB, Beck RMD, Croft DA, Travouillon KJ, Fox BJ. An emerging consensus in the evolution, phylogeny, and systematics of marsupials and their fossil relatives (Metatheria). J Mammal 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyz018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Mark D B Eldridge
- Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Robin M D Beck
- School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Darin A Croft
- School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | | | - Barry J Fox
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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12
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Kealy S, Beck R. Total evidence phylogeny and evolutionary timescale for Australian faunivorous marsupials (Dasyuromorphia). BMC Evol Biol 2017; 17:240. [PMID: 29202687 PMCID: PMC5715987 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-017-1090-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2017] [Accepted: 11/22/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The order Dasyuromorphia is a diverse radiation of faunivorous marsupials, comprising >80 modern species in Australia and New Guinea. It includes dasyurids, the numbat (the myrmecobiid Myrmecobius fasciatus) and the recently extinct thylacine (the thylacinid Thylacinus cyncocephalus). There is also a diverse fossil record of dasyuromorphians and "dasyuromorphian-like" taxa known from Australia. We present the first total evidence phylogenetic analyses of the order, based on combined morphological and molecular data (including a novel set of 115 postcranial characters), to resolve relationships and calculate divergence dates. We use this information to analyse the diversification dynamics of modern dasyuromorphians. RESULTS Our morphology-only analyses are poorly resolved, but our molecular and total evidence analyses confidently resolve most relationships within the order, and are strongly congruent with recent molecular studies. Thylacinidae is the first family to diverge within the order, and there is strong support for four tribes within Dasyuridae (Dasyurini, Phascogalini, Planigalini and Sminthopsini). Among fossil taxa, Ankotarinja and Keeuna do not appear to be members of Dasyuromorphia, whilst Barinya and Mutpuracinus are of uncertain relationships within the order. Divergence dates calculated using total evidence tip-and-node dating are younger than both molecular node-dating and total evidence tip-dating, but appear more congruent with the fossil record and are relatively insensitive to calibration strategy. The tip-and-node divergence dates indicate that Dasyurini, Phascogalini and Sminthopsini began to radiate almost simultaneously during the middle-to-late Miocene (11.5-13.1 MYA; composite 95% HPD: 9.5-15.9 MYA); the median estimates for these divergences are shortly after a drop in global temperatures (the middle Miocene Climatic Transition), and coincide with a faunal turnover event in the mammalian fossil record of Australia. Planigalini radiated much later, during the latest Miocene to earliest Pliocene (6.5 MYA; composite 95% HPD: 4.4-8.9 MYA); the median estimates for these divergences coincide with an increase in grass pollen in the Australian palynological record that suggests the development of more open habitats, which are preferred by modern planigale species. CONCLUSIONS Our results provide a phylogenetic and temporal framework for interpreting the evolution of modern and fossil dasyuromorphians, but future progress will require a much improved fossil record.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shimona Kealy
- Archaeology and Natural History, School of Culture, History and Language, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Acton, ACT Australia
| | - Robin Beck
- School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Salford, M5 4WT UK
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13
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Maga AM, Beck RMD. Skeleton of an unusual, cat-sized marsupial relative (Metatheria: Marsupialiformes) from the middle Eocene (Lutetian: 44-43 million years ago) of Turkey. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0181712. [PMID: 28813431 PMCID: PMC5559079 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0181712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2016] [Accepted: 06/09/2017] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
We describe a near-complete, three-dimensionally preserved skeleton of a metatherian (relative of modern marsupials) from the middle Eocene (Lutetian: 44–43 million years ago) Lülük member of the Uzunçarşıdere Formation, central Turkey. With an estimated body mass of 3–4 kg, about the size of a domestic cat (Felis catus) or spotted quoll (Dasyurus maculatus), it is an order of magnitude larger than the largest fossil metatherians previously known from the Cenozoic of the northern hemisphere. This new taxon is characterised by large, broad third premolars that probably represent adaptations for hard object feeding (durophagy), and its craniodental morphology suggests the capacity to generate high bite forces. Qualitative and quantitative functional analyses of its postcranial skeleton indicate that it was probably scansorial and relatively agile, perhaps broadly similar in locomotor mode to the spotted quoll, but with a greater capacity for climbing and grasping. Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of a total evidence dataset comprising 259 morphological characters and 9kb of DNA sequence data from five nuclear protein-coding genes, using both undated and “tip-and-node dating” approaches, place the new taxon outside the marsupial crown-clade, but within the clade Marsupialiformes. It demonstrates that at least one metatherian lineage evolved to occupy the small-medium, meso- or hypo-carnivore niche in the northern hemisphere during the early Cenozoic, at a time when there were numerous eutherians (placentals and their fossil relatives) filling similar niches. However, the known mammal fauna from Uzunçarşıdere Formation appears highly endemic, and geological evidence suggests that this region of Turkey was an island for at least part of the early Cenozoic, and so the new taxon may have evolved in isolation from potential eutherian competitors. Nevertheless, the new taxon reveals previously unsuspected ecomorphological disparity among northern hemisphere metatherians during the first half of the Cenozoic.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Murat Maga
- Division of Craniofacial Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.,Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.,Center for Developmental Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Robin M D Beck
- School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Manchester, Salford, United Kingdom.,School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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14
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Sánchez-Villagra MR, Forasiepi AM. On the development of the chondrocranium and the histological anatomy of the head in perinatal stages of marsupial mammals. ZOOLOGICAL LETTERS 2017; 3:1. [PMID: 28203388 PMCID: PMC5303607 DOI: 10.1186/s40851-017-0062-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2016] [Accepted: 02/07/2017] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
An overview of the literature on the chondrocranium of marsupial mammals reveals a relative conservatism in shape and structures. We document the histological cranial anatomy of individuals representing Monodelphis domestica, Dromiciops gliroides, Perameles sp. and Macropus eugenii. The marsupial chondrocranium is generally characterized by the great breadth of the lamina basalis, absence of pila metoptica and large otic capsules. Its most anterior portion (cupula nasi anterior) is robust, and anterior to it there are well-developed tactile sensory structures, functionally important in the neonate. Investigations of ossification centers at and around the nasal septum are needed to trace the presence of certain bones (e.g., mesethmoid, parasphenoid) across marsupial taxa. In many adult marsupials, the tympanic floor is formed by at least three bones: alisphenoid (alisphenoid tympanic process), ectotympanic and petrosal (rostral and caudal tympanic processes); the squamosal also contributes in some diprotodontians. The presence of an entotympanic in marsupials has not been convincingly demonstrated. The tubal element surrounding the auditory tube in most marsupials is fibrous connective tissue rather than cartilage; the latter is the case in most placentals recorded to date. However, we detected fibrocartilage in a late juvenile of Dromiciops, and a similar tissue has been reported for Tarsipes. Contradictory reports on the presence of the tegmen tympani can be found in the literature. We describe a small tegmen tympani in Macropus. Several heterochronic shifts in the timing of development of the chondocranium and associated structures (e.g., nerves, muscles) and in the ossification sequence have been interpreted as largely being influenced by functional requirements related to the altriciality of the newborn marsupial during early postnatal life. Comparative studies of chondocranial development of mammals can benefit from a solid phylogenetic framework, research on non-classical model organisms, and integration with imaging and sectional data derived from computer-tomography.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcelo R. Sánchez-Villagra
- Paläontologisches Institut und Museum der Universität Zürich, Karl Schmid Strasse 4, Zürich, 8006 Switzerland
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