A New Diminutive Durophagous Miocene Dasyuromorphian (Marsupialia, Malleodectidae) from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Northern Australia
A New Diminutive Durophagous Miocene Dasyuromorphian (Marsupialia, Malleodectidae) from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Northern Australia
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DOI：
10.1080/02724634.2023.2170804
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发表时间：
2022-09
影响因子：
1.4
通讯作者：
Timothy J. Churchill;M. Archer;S. Hand;Troy J Myers;A. Gillespie;R. Beck
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Timothy J. Churchill;M. Archer;S. Hand;Troy J Myers;A. Gillespie;R. Beck
抽象Malleodectes ?wentworthi是一种高度专业化的硬食性有袋类动物，来自澳大利亚北部riverleigh世界遗产地区中新世中期的石灰岩洞穴矿床。它提供了关于malleodectids下齿的第一个信息，malleodectids是一种已灭绝的dasyuromorphians家族。它也是迄今为止已知的Metatheria（有袋类动物及其茎类近亲）中最小的硬食性成员，估计体重约为70-90克，比其他已知的malleodectids （Malleodectes mirabilis和Ma）小一个数量级。Moenia ~ 1 kg)。就像其他的蜈蚣一样，妈妈。温特沃斯有一个肥大的圆顶状前磨牙，专门用来碾碎坚硬的食物。暂定的Malleodectes属是基于前臼齿和臼齿与较大种类的Malleodectes（仅从上齿可知）的相似性和咬合相容性。牙齿指数和下颌弯曲强度的定量形态功能分析与先前提出的假设一致，即malleodectids可能是唯一专门的蜗牛食者。最大简约系统发育分析的173形态特征数据集，与分子支架强制，放置Ma.？wentworthi在Dasyuromorphia中，与Dasyuridae和Mutpuracinus archibaldi在一个基底多切面中，而不包括Barinya wangala， Myrmecobiidae和Thylacinidae。贝叶斯分析的总证据数据集，结合形态学与核和线粒体DNA序列数据Ma.？wentworthi是冠枝Dasyuridae的姐妹分类单元，尽管这种关系的支持很弱。
ABSTRACT Malleodectes? wentworthi, sp. nov. is a highly specialized durophagous marsupial from a Middle Miocene limestone cave deposit in the Riversleigh World Heritage area, northern Australia. It provides the first information regarding the lower dentition of malleodectids, an extinct family of dasyuromorphians. It is also the smallest durophagous member of Metatheria (marsupials and their stem relatives) known to date, with an estimated body mass of ∼70–90 g, an order of magnitude smaller than other known malleodectids (Malleodectes mirabilis and Ma. moenia ∼1 kg). As in other malleodectids, Ma.? wentworthi has a hypertrophied, dome-like premolar specialized for crushing hard foods. Tentative assignment to the genus Malleodectes is based on derived similarities of the premolar and molar dentition to those of larger species of Malleodectes (known only from upper dentitions), and occlusal compatibility. Quantitative morphofunctional analyses of dental indices and mandibular bending strength are congruent with the previously proposed hypothesis that malleodectids may have been uniquely specialized snail-eaters. Maximum parsimony phylogenetic analysis of a 173 morphological character dataset, with a molecular scaffold enforced, placed Ma.? wentworthi within Dasyuromorphia, in a basal polytomy with Dasyuridae and Mutpuracinus archibaldi, to the exclusion of Barinya wangala, Myrmecobiidae and Thylacinidae. Bayesian analysis of a total evidence dataset that combined morphological with nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequence data places Ma.? wentworthi as a sister taxon to crown-clade Dasyuridae, although support for this relationship is weak.