Dissertation Research: Phylogeny of Basal Eutherians and the Origin of the Myrmecophagous Feeding Apparatus

小行星9321482 这是一个建议，使用原始真兽目（胎盘）哺乳动物的解剖特征，以产生关于这些动物的系统发育（系谱）关系的假设。 这些假设将被用来作为原始真兽目动物不寻常的进食机制的研究框架。 这些动物中的许多，包括犰狳、树懒、食蚁兽和穿山甲，专门以蚂蚁为食，舌头和消化道的各种特性可能是在这些哺乳动物中独立发展出来的。 关于这些哺乳动物之间解剖特征的可比性知之甚少。 %%% 这项研究将产生许多有用的信息，早期哺乳动物之间的关系和他们的专业化myrmecophagy（蚂蚁吃）。 这一哺乳动物群体最近在系统发育研究中很少受到关注，这项研究将有助于解决有关早期哺乳动物舌、腭和咽肌肉组织转化以及这些结构的神经支配的问题。

9321482 McClearn This is a proposal to use anatomical features of the primitive eutherian (placental) mammals to generate hypotheses about the phylogenetic (genealogical) relationships of these animals. These hypotheses will be used as the framework for a study of the unusual feeding mechanisms of primitive eutherians. Many of these creatures, which include armadillos, sloths, anteaters and pangolins, are specialized for feeding on ants, and the various peculiarities of the tongue and digestive tract may have been developed independently in some of these mammalian lines. Little is known about the comparability of the anatomical features among these mammals. %%% This study will yield much useful information about relationships among early mammals and their specializations for myrmecophagy (ant-eating). This mammalian group has received little recent attention in phylogenetic research and this study will allow resolution of questions about transformations in the musculature of the tongue, palate and pharynx and the innervation of these structures in early mammals.