Marsupialia in the LRT: new insights
Housekeeping continues in the Synapsid subset of the LRT
I’m reviewing taxa I haven’t looked at in years.
Example: deer-like Miocochilius (Figs 1, 2) wrongly nested in the LRT at the base of the Artiodactylia until yesterday.
Now
Miocochilius nests with Protypotherium and Interatherium within the Marsupialia. These are ll traditional notungulates, a clade that splits up in the LRT.
Figure 1. Miocochilus skull with plaster skull added from museum mount.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/miocochilius-skull3views588-1.gif?w=185″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/miocochilius-skull3views588-1.gif?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-86560″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/miocochilius-skull3views588-1.gif” alt=”Figure 1. Miocochilus skull with plaster skull added from museum mount.” width=”584″ height=”949″ />
Too soon for my experience level
and number of tested taxa in 2016 I added Miocochilus (Fig 1) to the LRT. You’ll note the skull is lacking lateral bone, but that didn’t stop its inclusion. [What was I thinking??].
Although not helpful for scoring in the LRT, the museum staff was wise enough to repair the skull with plaster for public presentation (Fig 1, frame 3). Now Miocochilus nests with its relatives, Interatherium and Protypotherium based on just enough traits.
This nesting helped identify the two toes in Miocochilus (Fig 2) where the context does not come from other toes on the pes, but from other toes on the pedes of related taxa.
Figure 2. Interatherium manus and pes compared to relatives, Miocochilius and Protypotherium.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/miochochilius_manus.pes588-1.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/miochochilius_manus.pes588-1.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-86564″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/miochochilius_manus.pes588-1.jpg” alt=”Figure 2. Interatherium manus and pes compared to relatives, Miocochilius and Protypotherium.” width=”584″ height=”283″ />
Another insight.
Here’s (Fig 3) the origin of the anteriorly-oriented lower incisor found in kangaroos. The change occurred following Early Cretaceous Acristatherium during a period of phylogenetic miniaturization, living out of sight of diurnal dinosaur predators.
Caenolestes and Rhyncholestes are ‘living fossils’ from the Cretaceous found in South America today. They stayed there as Pangaea split apart, leaving relatives Tarsipes in Australia and Acristatherium in China.
Figure 3. The evolutionary series that brought kangaroos their anteriorly-oriented giant lower incisors.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/rhyncholestes_caenolestes_tarsipes_skull588.jpg?w=111″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/rhyncholestes_caenolestes_tarsipes_skull588.jpg?w=378″ class=”size-full wp-image-86568″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/rhyncholestes_caenolestes_tarsipes_skull588.jpg” alt=”Figure 3. The evolutionary series that brought kangaroos their anteriorly-oriented giant lower incisors.” width=”584″ height=”1582″ />
On a side not: For those interested in dinosaur origins,
yesterday’s blogpost was amended ln the day with a PS quoting several passages in the text of the paper, now available with a link in the comments of that blogpost.
References
wiki/Marsupialia
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2024/06/11/marsupialia-in-the-lrt-new-insights/
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