Little Leptictis and Armored Holmesina nest closer now in the LRT
After the asteroid impact that marked the end of the Mesozoic,
small mammals radiated widely. Some became larger right away, but Late Eocene Leptictis (Fig 1) stayed small for tens of millions of years. Then they had a growing spurt.
Figure 1. The skulls of Onychodectes, Leptictis, Holmesina and Rhynchocyon to scale.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/holmesina_skull_mandible588.jpg?w=123″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/holmesina_skull_mandible588.jpg?w=418″ class=”size-full wp-image-90428″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/holmesina_skull_mandible588.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. The skulls of Onychodectes, Leptictis, Holmesina and Rhynchocyon to scale. ” width=”584″ height=”1430″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/holmesina_skull_mandible588.jpg?w=584&h=1430 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/holmesina_skull_mandible588.jpg?w=61&h=150 61w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/holmesina_skull_mandible588.jpg?w=123&h=300 123w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/holmesina_skull_mandible588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 1. The skulls of Onychodectes, Leptictis, Holmesina and Rhynchocyon to scale.
Now Leptictis and Onychodectes nest at the base
of the Xenarthra clade in the LRT. AND these two nest at the base of tenrecs + odontocetes. The long rostrum that most (not all) clade members (anteaters to sperm whales) have had its genesis in Leptictis.
Not one, but two parallel crests
appear on Leptictis and Holmesina. That’s just a bonus trait so rare that it is not scored in the large reptile tree (LRT, 2328 taxa).
Figure 2. Tiny Leptictis compared to armored Holmesina.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/holmesina_overall588.jpg?w=154″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/holmesina_overall588.jpg?w=526″ class=”size-full wp-image-90439″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/holmesina_overall588.jpg” alt=”Figure 2. Tiny Leptictis compared to armored Holmesina. ” width=”584″ height=”1137″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/holmesina_overall588.jpg?w=584&h=1137 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/holmesina_overall588.jpg?w=77&h=150 77w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/holmesina_overall588.jpg?w=154&h=300 154w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/holmesina_overall588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 2. Tiny Leptictis compared to armored Holmesina. Note the curved, but unarmored vertenbral column in Leptictis, a harbinger of things to come in Glyptodon, and Holemesina.
Leptictis acutidens
(Leidy 1868, Rose 2006, early Oligocene) is an extinct elephant shrew nesting basal to Talpa. The tiny manus appears to have only three digits the opposite of Talpa. Note the large calcaneal heel, a trait usually found in digitigrade running mammals, like Rhynchocyon and artiodactyls, but also in armadillos, pamaptheres and glyptodons.
Holmesina septentrionalis
(Simpson 1930, Pleistocene, 2.5mya; up to 2m in length) is an extinct long-nosed glyptodont basal to aardvarks, armadillos and anteaters in order of increasing distance. Fossils are found from Brazil to Florida.
References
Gaudin TJ and Lyon LM 2017. Cranial osteology of the pampathere Holmesina floridanus (Xenarthra: Cingulata Blancan NALMA), including a description of an isolated petrosal bone. https://peerj.com/articles/4022/
Leidy J 1868. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 20:316.
Rose KD 2006. The postcranial skeleton of early Oligocene Leptictis (Mammalia: Leptictida), with a preliminary comparison to Leptictidium from the middle Eocene of Messel. Palaeontographica Abteilung A, 278(1-6), 37-56.
Simpson GG 1930. Holmesina septentrionalis, extinct giant armadillo of Florida. American Museum Novitates 442:1-10.
Vizcaíno SF, De Iulii G and Bargo MS 1998. Skull shape, masticatory apparatus and diet of Vassallia and Holmesina (Mammalia: Xenarthra: Pampatheriidae): when anatomy constrains destiny. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 5(4):291–322.
wiki/Leptictis
wiki/Holmesina
wiki/Leptictida
wiki/Pampatheriidae
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2024/12/13/little-leptictis-and-armored-holmesina-nest-closer-now-in-the-lrt/
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