1
|
A new multituberculate from the latest Cretaceous of central China and its implications for multituberculate tooth homologies and occlusion. J MAMM EVOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10914-022-09636-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
|
2
|
Krause DW, Hoffmann S, Lyson TR, Dougan LG, Petermann H, Tecza A, Chester SGB, Miller IM. New Skull Material of Taeniolabis taoensis (Multituberculata, Taeniolabididae) from the Early Paleocene (Danian) of the Denver Basin, Colorado. J MAMM EVOL 2021; 28:1083-1143. [PMID: 34924738 PMCID: PMC8667543 DOI: 10.1007/s10914-021-09584-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Taeniolabis taoensis is an iconic multituberculate mammal of early Paleocene (Puercan 3) age from the Western Interior of North America. Here we report the discovery of significant new skull material (one nearly complete cranium, two partial crania, one nearly complete dentary) of T. taoensis in phosphatic concretions from the Corral Bluffs study area, Denver Formation (Danian portion), Denver Basin, Colorado. The new skull material provides the first record of the species from the Denver Basin, where the lowest in situ specimen occurs in river channel deposits ~730,000 years after the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, roughly coincident with the first appearance of legumes in the basin. The new material, in combination with several previously described and undescribed specimens from the Nacimiento Formation of the San Juan Basin, New Mexico, is the subject of detailed anatomical study, aided by micro-computed tomography. Our analyses reveal many previously unknown aspects of skull anatomy. Several regions (e.g., anterior portions of premaxilla, orbit, cranial roof, occiput) preserved in the Corral Bluffs specimens allow considerable revision of previous reconstructions of the external cranial morphology of T. taoensis. Similarly, anatomical details of the ascending process of the dentary are altered in light of the new material. Although details of internal cranial anatomy (e.g., nasal and endocranial cavities) are difficult to discern in the available specimens, we provide, based on UCMP 98083 and DMNH.EPV 95284, the best evidence to date for inner ear structure in a taeniolabidoid multituberculate. The cochlear canal of T. taoensis is elongate and gently curved and the vestibule is enlarged, although to a lesser degree than in Lambdopsalis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David W. Krause
- Department of Earth Sciences, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, CO 80205 USA
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-8081 USA
| | - Simone Hoffmann
- Department of Anatomy, College of Osteopathic Medicine, New York Institute of Technology, Old Westbury, NY 11568 USA
| | - Tyler R. Lyson
- Department of Earth Sciences, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, CO 80205 USA
| | - Lindsay G. Dougan
- Department of Earth Sciences, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, CO 80205 USA
| | - Holger Petermann
- Department of Earth Sciences, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, CO 80205 USA
| | - Adrienne Tecza
- Department of Earth Sciences, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, CO 80205 USA
| | - Stephen G. B. Chester
- Department of Anthropology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, 2900 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11210 USA
- Department of Anthropology, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016 USA
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, 200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024 USA
| | - Ian M. Miller
- Department of Earth Sciences, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, CO 80205 USA
- National Geographic Society, 1145 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036 USA
| |
Collapse
|