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Marivaux L, Benammi M, Baidder L, Saddiqi O, Adnet S, Charruault AL, Tabuce R, Yans J, Benammi M. A new primate community from the earliest Oligocene of the Atlantic margin of Northwest Africa: Systematic, paleobiogeographic, and paleoenvironmental implications. J Hum Evol 2024; 193:103548. [PMID: 38896896 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103548] [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: 01/19/2024] [Revised: 05/14/2024] [Accepted: 05/18/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
We report a new Paleogene primate community discovered in the uppermost part of the Samlat Formation outcropping on the continental shore of the Rio de Oro, east of the Dakhla peninsula (in the south of Morocco, near the northern border of Mauritania). Fossils consist of isolated teeth, which were extracted by wet screening of estuarine sediments (DAK C2) dating from the earliest Oligocene (ca. 33.5 Ma). These dental remains testify to the presence of at least eight primate species, documenting distinct families, four of which are among the Anthropoidea (Oligopithecidae [Catopithecus aff. browni], Propliopithecidae [?Propliopithecus sp.], Parapithecidae [Abuqatrania cf. basiodontos], and Afrotarsiidae [Afrotarsius sp.]) and four in the Strepsirrhini (a Djebelemuridae [cf. 'Anchomomys' milleri], a Galagidae [Wadilemur cf. elegans], a possible lorisiform [Orogalago saintexuperyi gen. et sp. nov.], and a strepsirrhine of indeterminate affinities [Orolemur mermozi gen. et sp. nov.]). This record of various primates at Dakhla represents the first Oligocene primate community from Northwest Africa, especially from the Atlantic margin of that landmass. Considering primates plus rodents (especially hystricognaths), the taxonomic proximity at the generic (even specific) level between DAK C2 (Dakhla) and the famous Egyptian fossil-bearing localities of the Jebel Qatrani Formation (Fayum Depression), either dating from the latest Eocene (L-41) or from the early Oligocene, suggests the existence of an east-west 'trans-North African' environmental continuum during the latest Eocene-earliest Oligocene time interval. The particularly diverse mammal fauna from DAK C2, recorded within the time window of global climate deterioration characterizing the Eocene/Oligocene transition, suggests that this tropical region of northwest Africa was seemingly less affected, if at all, by the cooling and associated paleoenvironmental and biotic changes documented at that time or at least that the effects were delayed. The expected densely forested paleoenvironment bordering the western margin of North Africa at the beginning of the early Oligocene probably offered better tropical refugia than higher latitudes or more inland areas during the cooling episode.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurent Marivaux
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution de Montpellier (ISE-M, UMR 5554, CNRS/UM/IRD/EPHE), c.c. 064, Université de Montpellier, Place Eugène Bataillon, F-34095 Montpellier Cedex 05, France.
| | - Mohamed Benammi
- Département de Géologie, Faculté des Sciences, Université IBN Tofaïl, BP 133, 14000 Kénitra, Morocco
| | - Lahssen Baidder
- Laboratoire Géosciences, Faculté des Sciences Aïn Chock, Université Hassan-II-Casablanca, BP 5366, Maârif, 20100 Casablanca, Morocco
| | - Omar Saddiqi
- Laboratoire Géosciences, Faculté des Sciences Aïn Chock, Université Hassan-II-Casablanca, BP 5366, Maârif, 20100 Casablanca, Morocco
| | - Sylvain Adnet
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution de Montpellier (ISE-M, UMR 5554, CNRS/UM/IRD/EPHE), c.c. 064, Université de Montpellier, Place Eugène Bataillon, F-34095 Montpellier Cedex 05, France
| | - Anne-Lise Charruault
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution de Montpellier (ISE-M, UMR 5554, CNRS/UM/IRD/EPHE), c.c. 064, Université de Montpellier, Place Eugène Bataillon, F-34095 Montpellier Cedex 05, France
| | - Rodolphe Tabuce
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution de Montpellier (ISE-M, UMR 5554, CNRS/UM/IRD/EPHE), c.c. 064, Université de Montpellier, Place Eugène Bataillon, F-34095 Montpellier Cedex 05, France
| | - Johan Yans
- Departement of Geology, Institute of Life Earth and Environment (ILEE), Université de Namur, rue de Bruxelles 61, 5000 Namur, Belgium
| | - Mouloud Benammi
- Laboratoire Paléontologie Évolution Paléoécosystèmes Paléoprimatologie (PALEVOPRIM, UMR-CNRS 7262), Université de Poitiers UFR SFA, 6 Rue Michel Brunet, F-86022 Poitiers Cedex, France
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Da Cunha L, Fabre P, Hautier L. Springhares, flying and flightless scaly-tailed squirrels (Anomaluromorpha, Rodentia) are the squirrely mouse: comparative anatomy of the masticatory musculature and its implications on the evolution of hystricomorphy in rodents. J Anat 2024; 244:900-928. [PMID: 38318941 PMCID: PMC11095315 DOI: 10.1111/joa.14013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2023] [Revised: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 02/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Anomaluromorpha is a particularly puzzling suborder of Rodentia. Endemic to Africa, this clade includes the extant genera Idiurus, Anomalurus, Zenkerella, and Pedetes. These rodents present an hystricomorphous condition of the skull, characterized by a large infraorbital foramen, which evolved independently within the mouse-related clade over a span of approximately 57 million years. They exhibit a high disparity in craniomandibular and dental morphology that has kept their phylogenetic affinities disputed for a long time. Given the past significance of masticatory morphotypes in establishing the classification of Rodentia, we propose to explore variations in the masticatory apparatus of Anomaluromorpha in order to evaluate whether its related features can offer additional data for systematics and contribute to our understanding of the complexity of hystricomorphy. In order to do so, we used traditional dissection and diffusible iodine-based contrast-enhanced computed tomography (diceCT) to accurately describe and compare the anatomy of the specimens. We found that the muscle morphology displays clear differentiation among each anomaluromorph taxonomic unit. Specifically, the masseteric complex of Anomaluromorpha exhibits distinctive synapomorphies such as the infraorbital part of the zygomaticomandibularis muscle being separated into a rostral and orbital part and an absence of a posterior part of the zygomaticomandibularis. Additionally, the orbital portion of the infraorbital part originates from a well-marked ridge and fossa at the level of its area of origin on the anteromedial wall of the orbital cavity, a feature that is absent in other members of the mouse-related clade. This evident bony feature, among others, is strongly associated with muscular anatomy and can contribute to ascertaining the taxonomic status of extinct representatives of the clade. Finally, we showed that the hystricomorphy of Anomaluromorpha largely differs from those of Ctenohystrica and Dipodoidea and that the definition of this morphotype is complex and cannot be reduced simply to the size of the opening of the infraorbital foramen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Léa Da Cunha
- Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution de MontpellierUniversité de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, c. c. 64MontpellierFrance
| | - Pierre‐Henri Fabre
- Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution de MontpellierUniversité de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, c. c. 64MontpellierFrance
- Mammalogy/Vertebrate ZoologyAmerican Museum of Natural HistoryNew York CityNew YorkUSA
- Mammal Section, Life Sciences, Vertebrate DivisionThe Natural History MuseumLondonUK
- Institut Universitaire de France (IUF)ParisFrance
| | - Lionel Hautier
- Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution de MontpellierUniversité de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, c. c. 64MontpellierFrance
- Mammal Section, Life Sciences, Vertebrate DivisionThe Natural History MuseumLondonUK
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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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Bangs MR, Steppan SJ. A rodent anchored hybrid enrichment probe set for a range of phylogenetic utility: From order to species. Mol Ecol Resour 2021; 22:1521-1528. [PMID: 34800355 DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.13555] [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: 08/05/2021] [Revised: 09/22/2021] [Accepted: 11/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Rodents are the largest order of mammals and contain several model organisms important to scientific research in a variety of fields, yet no large set of genomic markers have been designed for this group to date, hindering evolutionary studies into relationships of the group as a whole. Here we present a genomic probe set designed and optimized for rodents with a protocol that is easy to replicate with little laboratory investment. This design utilizes an anchored hybrid enrichment approach specifically targeting rodents to generate longer loci with a higher substitution rate than existing vertebrate probes to provide utility at various taxonomic levels. Using a test set of rodents from all five suborders, we successfully obtained alignments for 416 of the 418 target loci with an average of 1379 bp per locus and a total alignment of more than half a million base pairs. This genomic data set performed well in all phylogenetic analyses, especially in recent phylogenetic splits, with ample parsimony-informative sites within genera and even within species, showing more than four times as many single nucleotide polymorphisms per locus than a recent vertebrate ultraconserved elements study. Additional support is provided in resolving deeper clades in Rodentia. By providing this probe design, we hope that more laboratories can easily generate data for answering questions in rodents from species delimitation to understanding relationships among families in rapid radiations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Max R Bangs
- Department of Biological Sciences, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
| | - Scott J Steppan
- Department of Biological Sciences, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
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de Vries D, Heritage S, Borths MR, Sallam HM, Seiffert ER. Widespread loss of mammalian lineage and dietary diversity in the early Oligocene of Afro-Arabia. Commun Biol 2021; 4:1172. [PMID: 34621013 PMCID: PMC8497553 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02707-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Diverse lines of geological and geochemical evidence indicate that the Eocene-Oligocene transition (EOT) marked the onset of a global cooling phase, rapid growth of the Antarctic ice sheet, and a worldwide drop in sea level. Paleontologists have established that shifts in mammalian community structure in Europe and Asia were broadly coincident with these events, but the potential impact of early Oligocene climate change on the mammalian communities of Afro-Arabia has long been unclear. Here we employ dated phylogenies of multiple endemic Afro-Arabian mammal clades (anomaluroid and hystricognath rodents, anthropoid and strepsirrhine primates, and carnivorous hyaenodonts) to investigate lineage diversification and loss since the early Eocene. These analyses provide evidence for widespread mammalian extinction in the early Oligocene of Afro-Arabia, with almost two-thirds of peak late Eocene diversity lost in these clades by ~30 Ma. Using homology-free dental topographic metrics, we further demonstrate that the loss of Afro-Arabian rodent and primate lineages was associated with a major reduction in molar occlusal topographic disparity, suggesting a correlated loss of dietary diversity. These results raise new questions about the relative importance of global versus local influences in shaping the evolutionary trajectories of Afro-Arabia's endemic mammals during the Oligocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dorien de Vries
- Ecosystems and Environment Research Centre, School of Science, Engineering and Environment, University of Salford, Manchester, UK
- Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
| | - Steven Heritage
- Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
- Duke Lemur Center Museum of Natural History, Durham, NC, 27705, USA
| | - Matthew R Borths
- Duke Lemur Center Museum of Natural History, Durham, NC, 27705, USA
| | - Hesham M Sallam
- Duke Lemur Center Museum of Natural History, Durham, NC, 27705, USA
- Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology, Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Mansoura, Egypt
- Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology (I-GHHE), School of Sciences and Engineering, American University in Cairo, New Cairo, Egypt
| | - Erik R Seiffert
- Duke Lemur Center Museum of Natural History, Durham, NC, 27705, USA.
- Department of Integrative Anatomical Sciences, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Department of Mammalogy, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, 90007, USA.
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Amador LI. Sesamoids and Morphological Variation: a Hypothesis on the Origin of Rod-like Skeletal Elements in Aerial Mammals. J MAMM EVOL 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10914-021-09571-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Amson E, Bibi F. Differing effects of size and lifestyle on bone structure in mammals. BMC Biol 2021; 19:87. [PMID: 33926429 PMCID: PMC8086358 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-021-01016-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Mammals are a highly diverse group, with body mass ranging from 2 g to 170 t, and encompassing species with terrestrial, aquatic, aerial, and subterranean lifestyles. The skeleton is involved in most aspects of vertebrate life history, but while previous macroevolutionary analyses have shown that structural, phylogenetic, and functional factors influence the gross morphology of skeletal elements, their inner structure has received comparatively little attention. Here we analysed bone structure of the humerus and mid-lumbar vertebrae across mammals and their correlations with different lifestyles and body size. RESULTS We acquired bone structure parameters in appendicular and axial elements (humerus and mid-lumbar vertebra) from 190 species across therian mammals (placentals + marsupials). Our sample captures all transitions to aerial, fully aquatic, and subterranean lifestyles in extant therian clades. We found that mammalian bone structure is highly disparate and we show that the investigated vertebral structure parameters mostly correlate with body size, but not lifestyle, while the opposite is true for humeral parameters. The latter also show a high degree of convergence among the clades that have acquired specialised (non-terrestrial) lifestyles. CONCLUSIONS In light of phylogenetic, size, and functional factors, the distribution of each investigated structural parameter reveals patterns explaining the construction of appendicular and axial skeletal elements in mammalian species spanning most of the extant diversity of the clade in terms of body size and lifestyle. These patterns should be further investigated with analyses focused on specific lifestyle transitions that would ideally include key fossils.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eli Amson
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115, Berlin, Germany.
- Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Rosenstein 1, 70191, Stuttgart, Germany.
| | - Faysal Bibi
- Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115, Berlin, Germany
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Adejumo DO, Adeyanju TA, Adeyanju TE. Range extension and first confirmed record of the Flightless Anomalure Zenkerella insignis (Matschie, 1898) (Mammalia: Rodentia: Anomaluridae) in Nigeria. JOURNAL OF THREATENED TAXA 2020. [DOI: 10.11609/jott.5876.12.13.16900-16903] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The Cameroon Scaly-tail Zenkerella insignis is the only known extant species in the family Zenkerellidae. It is a rare mammal endemic to the thick rainforests of central and western Africa. This species is so rarely encountered that the first picture of a live specimen was taken in 2015. We encountered and photographed the elusive scaly-tail in the core zone of Omo Forest Reserve in Nigeria in May 2019. Its behaviour was also observed. This sighting is the first record of the Cameroon Scaly-tail in Nigeria and a significant westward range extension.
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Panyutina AA, Chernova OF, Soldatova IB. Morphological peculiarities in the integument of enigmatic anomalurid gliders (Anomaluridae, Rodentia). J Anat 2020; 237:404-426. [PMID: 32458532 PMCID: PMC7476187 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2020] [Revised: 04/08/2020] [Accepted: 04/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Scaly-tailed squirrels, the most poorly known group of gliding mammals, hold the record for variety of remarkable integument peculiarities. One of the most striking of these features is the scales on the tail, which apparently allow them to reduce energy costs when positioning themselves on a tree trunk. No less interesting is a peculiar spur that supports the flying membrane: the unciform element ('spur'). Despite the peculiarity of such elements, their nature has not yet been studied. Using anatomical, histological methods and scanning electron microscopy we studied the structure of the skin and its derivatives in five of the six species from both genera of extant gliding scaly-tailed squirrels (Anomaluridae, Rodentia): Idiurus macrotis, Idiurus zenkeri, Anomalurus beecrofti, Anomalurus pusillus and Anomalurus derbianus. In addition to the common mammalian skin structures, such as hair, vibrissae, sebaceous glands, meibomian glands of eyelids and eccrine sweat glands of the palmar and plantar pads, these animals have unique species-specific skin derivatives (the tail scaly organ and its specific glands, vibrissae of the withers, patagium and its hair brush) that play a significant role in their adaptation to gliding and to their environment in general. The structure of the elbow spur is also described and hypotheses on its evolutionary origin from the tendon of the triceps muscle are presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleksandra A. Panyutina
- A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of Russian Academy of SciencesMoscowRussia
| | - Olga F. Chernova
- A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of Russian Academy of SciencesMoscowRussia
| | - Irina B. Soldatova
- A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of Russian Academy of SciencesMoscowRussia
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Swanson MT, Oliveros CH, Esselstyn JA. A phylogenomic rodent tree reveals the repeated evolution of masseter architectures. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 286:20190672. [PMID: 31064307 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.0672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding the number of times a trait has evolved is a necessary foundation for comprehending its potential relationships with selective regimes, developmental constraints and evolutionary diversification. Rodents make up over 40% of extant mammalian species, and their ecological and evolutionary success has been partially attributed to the increase in biting efficiency that resulted from a forward shift of one or two portions of the masseter muscle from the zygomatic arch onto the rostrum. This forward shift has occurred in three discrete ways, but the number of times it has occurred has never been explicitly quantified. We estimated an ultrametric phylogeny, the first to include all rodent families, using thousands of ultraconserved elements. We examined support for evolutionary relationships among the five rodent suborders and then incorporated relevant fossils, fitted models of character evolution, and used stochastic character mapping to determine that a portion of the masseter muscle has moved forward onto the rostrum at least seven times (with one reversal) during the approximately 70 Myr history of rodents. Combined, the repeated evolution of this key innovation, its increasing prevalence through time, and the species diversity of clades with this character underscores the adaptive value of improved biting efficiency and the relative ease with which some advantageous traits arise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark T Swanson
- Museum of Natural Science and Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University , Baton Rouge, LA , USA
| | - Carl H Oliveros
- Museum of Natural Science and Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University , Baton Rouge, LA , USA
| | - Jacob A Esselstyn
- Museum of Natural Science and Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University , Baton Rouge, LA , USA
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Thomson TJ. Three-Legged Locomotion and the Constraints on Limb Number: Why Tripeds Don't Have a Leg to Stand On. Bioessays 2019; 41:e1900061. [PMID: 31531902 DOI: 10.1002/bies.201900061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2019] [Revised: 07/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Three-legged animals do not exist today and such an animal is not found in the fossil record. Which constraints operate to result in the lack of a triped phenotype? Consideration of animal locomotion and robotic studies suggests that physical constraints would not prevent a triped from being functional or advantageous. As is reviewed here, the strongest constraint on the evolution of a triped is phylogenetic: namely, the early genetic adoption of a bilaterally symmetrical body plan occurring before the advent of limbs. Presumably, this would greatly constrain any three-legged animal from ever evolving. Tripedalism is employed only by a few animals, but many use a tripod stance while engaged in a variety of activities. Because terms are often used interchangeably in the literature, a standardization of locomotion terminology is proposed. Understanding the constraints behind "forbidden" phenotypes forces us to confront gaps in our evolutionary understanding of which we may be unaware.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tracy J Thomson
- 2119 Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California-Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
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