First cranial remains of a gondwanatherian mammal reveal remarkable mosaicism-猫眼课题宝

DOI：

10.1038/nature13922

发表时间：

2014-11

期刊：

Nature

影响因子：

64.8

通讯作者：

中科院分区：

综合性期刊1区

文献类型：

作者：

D. Krause;S. Hoffmann;J. Wible;E. Kirk;J. Schultz;W. Koenigswald;J. Groenke;James B. Rossie;Patrick M. O'Connor;Patrick M. O'Connor;E. Seiffert;E. Dumont;Waymon L. Holloway;Waymon L. Holloway;R. Rogers;Lydia J. Rahantarisoa;A. D. Kemp;Haingoson Andriamialison

冈瓦纳兽化石以前只从南半球白垩纪和古近纪发现的孤立牙齿和下颌碎片中发现，是所有主要的冈瓦纳兽化石中最鲜为人知的。在这里，我们报告发现的第一个头骨材料的冈瓦纳兽，一个完整的和保存完好的头骨从上白垩纪地层在马达加斯加，我们分配到一个新的属和种。系统发育分析强烈支持其放置在冈瓦纳兽，这是公认的单系和密切相关的多瘤兽，进化成功的分支中生代哺乳动物几乎只知道从北方半球。新分类群是已知的冈瓦纳中生代最大的类属。它的颅面解剖显示，它是草食性的，大眼睛和敏捷，具有发达的高频听觉和敏锐的嗅觉。颅骨显示出原始和衍生特征的马赛克，其差异是极端的，可能反映了地理隔离的长期进化历史。

Previously known only from isolated teeth and lower jaw fragments recovered from the Cretaceous and Palaeogene of the Southern Hemisphere, the Gondwanatheria constitute the most poorly known of all major mammaliaform radiations. Here we report the discovery of the first skull material of a gondwanatherian, a complete and well-preserved cranium from Upper Cretaceous strata in Madagascar that we assign to a new genus and species. Phylogenetic analysis strongly supports its placement within Gondwanatheria, which are recognized as monophyletic and closely related to multituberculates, an evolutionarily successful clade of Mesozoic mammals known almost exclusively from the Northern Hemisphere. The new taxon is the largest known mammaliaform from the Mesozoic of Gondwana. Its craniofacial anatomy reveals that it was herbivorous, large-eyed and agile, with well-developed high-frequency hearing and a keen sense of smell. The cranium exhibits a mosaic of primitive and derived features, the disparity of which is extreme and probably reflective of a long evolutionary history in geographic isolation.

First cranial remains of a gondwanatherian mammal reveal remarkable mosaicism

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