DOCSLIB.ORG

The Many Faces of Synapsid Cranial Allometry

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Many Faces of Synapsid Cranial Allometry Paleobiology, 45(4), 2019, pp. 531–545 DOI: 10.1017/pab.2019.26 Article The many faces of synapsid cranial allometry Isaac W. Krone , Christian F. Kammerer, and Kenneth D. Angielczyk Abstract.—Previous studies of cranial shape have established a consistent interspecific allometric pattern relating the relative lengths of the face and braincase regions of the skull within multiple families of mam- mals. In this interspecific allometry, the facial region of the skull is proportionally longer than the braincase in larger species. The regularity and broad taxonomic occurrence of this allometric pattern suggests that it may have an origin near the base of crown Mammalia, or even deeper in the synapsid or amniote forerun- ners of mammals. To investigate the possible origins of this allometric pattern, we used geometric morpho- metric techniques to analyze cranial shape in 194 species of nonmammalian synapsids, which constitute a set of successive outgroups to Mammalia. We recovered a much greater diversity of allometric patterns within nonmammalian synapsids than has been observed in mammals, including several instances similar to the mammalian pattern. However, we found no evidence of the mammalian pattern within Theroce- phalia and nonmammalian Cynodontia, the synapsids most closely related to mammals. This suggests that the mammalian allometric pattern arose somewhere within Mammaliaformes, rather than within nonmammalian synapsids. Further investigation using an ontogenetic series of the anomodont Diictodon feliceps shows that the pattern of interspecific allometry within anomodonts parallels the ontogenetic trajectory of Diictodon. This indicates that in at least some synapsids, allometric patterns associated with ontogeny may provide a “path of least resistance” for interspecific variation, a mechanism that we suggest produces the interspecific allometric pattern observed in mammals. Isaac W. Krone.* University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, U.S.A. E-mail: [email protected].*Present address: Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-3161, U.S.A. Christian F. Kammerer. North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, North Carolina 27601-1029, U.S.A. E-mail: [email protected] Kenneth D. Angielczyk. Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60605-2827, U.S.A. E-mail: kangielczyk@fieldmuseum.org Accepted: 26 July 2019 First published online: 12 September 2019 Data available from the Dryad Digital Repository: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.56qq231 Introduction Goswami 2006; Goswami and Polly 2010; The cranium is a highly complex structure Angielczyk and Ruta 2012; Bhullar et al. 2012; that has evolved myriad forms associated Brusatte et al. 2012; Foth and Rauhut 2013; Zel- with many different ecologies throughout the ditch and Calamari 2016), including those with tetrapod radiation. Despite this fact, tetrapod idiosyncratic or highly derived cranial struc- crania all exhibit a shared basic architecture— tures (Claude et al. 2004; Sherratt et al. 2014; a braincase and associated sensory capsules Churchill et al. 2018). However, little work has and a facial skeleton associated with the jaws been done to synthesize the results of these ana- (Emerson and Bramble 1993)—facilitating com- lyses or to look for pan-tetrapod morphological parisons across the group. Many tetrapod patterns. clades also have an extensive fossil record One such pan-tetrapod pattern has been sug- including well-preserved crania. These clades gested, albeit obliquely, by analyses of cranial provide excellent systems in which to study allometry in crown mammals. Within other- both small- and large-scale patterns in shape wise morphologically conservative mamma- evolution over time. Recent large-scale analyses lian families, there exists a widespread pattern of tetrapod crania have used geometric mor- of interspecific allometry in which larger ani- phometric techniques to address questions of mals have proportionately longer faces disparity and allometry within a variety of (Radinsky 1985; Cardini and Polly 2013; major tetrapod groups (e.g., Stayton 2005; Cardini et al. 2015; Cardini 2019). Studies © 2019 The Paleontological Society. All rights reserved. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the DownloadedCreative from https://www.cambridge.org/core Commons Attribution licence. IP address: (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), 170.106.33.22, on 28 Sep 2021 at 12:50:56, subject to the Cambridge which permits Core terms unrestricted of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/termsre-use, distribution, and reproduction. https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2019.26 in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 0094-8373/19 532 ISAAC W. KRONE ET AL. using geometric morphometric techniques Outside of mammals, fewer studies have have suggested that this trend is a salient and explicitly focused on large-scale analyses of widespread pattern of cranial allometry within allometry within tetrapod crania. Angielczyk Mammalia, characterizing groups as disparate and Ruta (2012) found a pattern similar to as antelopes (Antilopinae and Cephalopinae), CREA within Permo-Carboniferous temno- fruit bats (Pteropodidae), African mongooses spondyl amphibians. Smaller temnospondyls (Herpestidae), African tree squirrels (Sciuridae) tended to have short, broad snouts, whereas (Cardini and Polly 2013), cats (Felidae) (Tamag- larger temnospondyls had proportionally nini et al. 2017), and kangaroos (Macropodidae) longer snouts. In addition, Bright et al. (2016) (Cardini et al. 2015; but see Mitchell et al. 2018). and Linde-Medina (2016) recovered CREA-like Cardini et al. (2015) referred to this pattern of patterns in raptors and Galliformes, respect- snout length allometry within closely related ively, using geometric morphometric techni- and morphologically conservative groups as ques, though Linde-Medina found a traditional the “cranial rule of evolutionary allometry,” or morphometric approach does not recover a CREA, and suggested that it may be as wide- CREA-like pattern and suggested that the use spread as Bergmann’s rule and Allen’s rule, of centroid size as a predictor variable may be extending to nearly all mammals. problematic. If it is indeed so ubiquitous, the CREA pat- Because temnospondyls, mammals, and tern demands explanation. Cardini and Polly birds represent each of the three great lineages (2013) suggested that the pattern may be driven of crown tetrapods that diverged in the Carbon- by disparity in allometric scaling between the iferous (Benton et al. 2015), it is possible that a body, the jaw, and the brain. Because brain CREA-like allometric pattern is common to all size scales with a ¾ exponent relative to body tetrapods, in line with Cardini and Polly’s mass (Martin et al. 2005), and jaw length (2013) scaling hypothesis. If the similar allomet- (under isometry) should scale with a ⅓ expo- ric patterns in temnospondyls, birds, and mam- nent relative to body mass, the relative length mals reflect an ancestral tetrapod pattern, we of the braincase should scale at a lower rate would expect a CREA-like pattern to character- than the jaw. This produces a pattern of cranial ize nonmammalian synapsids, the now-extinct allometry in which larger animals have rela- members of the mammalian stem lineage. tively longer faces, because the snout must Alternatively, if the CREA pattern is not an grow in line with the jaw to allow effective feed- ancestral tetrapod trait, we predict that other ing. Due to the shared architecture of tetrapod patterns of cranial allometry would be present crania and the difference in growth rate in nonmammalian synapsids, although some between the braincase and the jaw, this explan- synapsids might have evolved a similar allomet- ation, if valid, predicts an extension of the ric relationship independently. The evolution of CREA pattern to all tetrapods. synapsid skull characters is well-studied (e.g., Cardini and Polly (2013) also noted the inter- Kemp 1982, 2005; Hopson 1991; Sidor and Hop- relationship between ontogenetic allometry in son 1998;Sidor2001; Esteve-Altava et al., 2013; mammals and the observed pattern of interspe- Benoit et al. 2016; Angielczyk and Kammerer cific allometry with respect to the relative size of 2018), and the overall trend toward a more the snout. Juvenile mammals generally display mammal-like skull within therapsids offers the a higher degree of brachycephaly compared possibility of pinpointing when this pattern of with adults of the same species, creating an interspecific allometry evolved. ontogenetic pattern that mirrors CREA. They For this study, we assembled a photographic posited that this allometric relationship con- library of lateral-view images of nonmammalian strains the degree to which heterochronic shifts synapsid crania for use in geometric morphomet- in the rate of development of the facial region ric analyses. Our sample includes all major groups can operate to change adult snout length in of “pelycosaur”-grade synapsids (Caseasauria mammals. They also suggested that this link [Eothyrididae + Caseidae], Varanopidae, Ophia- between size and shape allows shape adapta- codontidae, Edaphosauridae, Sphenacodontidae) tion to proceed through changes in body size. and therapsids (Biarmosuchia, Dinocephalia, Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.33.22, on 28 Sep 2021 at 12:50:56, subject to the Cambridge
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A New Mid-Permian Burnetiamorph Therapsid from the Main Karoo Basin of South Africa and a Phylogenetic Review of Burnetiamorpha
    Editors' choice A new mid-Permian burnetiamorph therapsid from the Main Karoo Basin of South Africa and a phylogenetic review of Burnetiamorpha MICHAEL O. DAY, BRUCE S. RUBIDGE, and FERNANDO ABDALA Day, M.O., Rubidge, B.S., and Abdala, F. 2016. A new mid-Permian burnetiamorph therapsid from the Main Karoo Basin of South Africa and a phylogenetic review of Burnetiamorpha. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 61 (4): 701–719. Discoveries of burnetiamorph therapsids in the last decade and a half have increased their known diversity but they remain a minor constituent of middle–late Permian tetrapod faunas. In the Main Karoo Basin of South Africa, from where the clade is traditionally best known, specimens have been reported from all of the Permian biozones except the Eodicynodon and Pristerognathus assemblage zones. Although the addition of new taxa has provided more evidence for burnetiamorph synapomorphies, phylogenetic hypotheses for the clade remain incongruent with their appearances in the stratigraphic column. Here we describe a new burnetiamorph specimen (BP/1/7098) from the Pristerognathus Assemblage Zone and review the phylogeny of the Burnetiamorpha through a comprehensive comparison of known material. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that BP/1/7098 is closely related to the Russian species Niuksenitia sukhonensis. Remarkably, the supposed mid-Permian burnetiids Bullacephalus and Pachydectes are not recovered as burnetiids and in most cases are not burnetiamorphs at all, instead representing an earlier-diverging clade of biarmosuchians that are characterised by their large size, dentigerous transverse process of the pterygoid and exclusion of the jugal from the lat- eral temporal fenestra. The evolution of pachyostosis therefore appears to have occurred independently in these genera.
    [Show full text]
  • Dashankou Fauna: a Unique Window on the Early Evolution of Therapsids
    Vol.24 No.2 2010 Paleoherpetology Dashankou Fauna: A Unique Window on the Early Evolution of Therapsids LIU Jun* Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, CAS, Beijing 100044, China n the 1980s, the Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of IGeological Sciences (IGCAGS) sent an expedition to the area north of the Qilian Mountains to study the local terrestrial Permian and Triassic deposits. A new vertebrate fossil locality, later named Dashankou Fauna, was discovered by Prof. CHENG Zhengwu in Dashankou, Yumen, Gansu Province in 1981. Small-scale excavations in 1981, 1982 and 1985 demonstrated that this locality was a source of abundant and diverse vertebrate fossils. In the 1990s, supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Fig. 1 Prof. LI Jinling in the excavation of 1995. She first summarized the known IGCAGS, the Institute of Vertebrate members of the Dashankou Fauna and brought it to light as the most primitive and abundant Chinese tetrapod fauna. Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) under CAS, and the Geological Museum of China formed a joint team IVPP were productive and have since investigations were first disseminated to work on this fauna. Three large- unveiled an interesting episode in the to the public in 1995. In 2001, Prof. scale excavations, undertaken in transition from reptiles to mammals in LI Jinling summarized the known 1991, 1992, and 1995 respectively, as evolutionary history. members of the fauna and discussed well as the subsequent ones held by The results from these their features. She pointed out that * To whom correspondence should be addressed at [email protected].
    [Show full text]
  • A New Late Permian Burnetiamorph from Zambia Confirms Exceptional
    fevo-09-685244 June 19, 2021 Time: 17:19 # 1 ORIGINAL RESEARCH published: 24 June 2021 doi: 10.3389/fevo.2021.685244 A New Late Permian Burnetiamorph From Zambia Confirms Exceptional Levels of Endemism in Burnetiamorpha (Therapsida: Biarmosuchia) and an Updated Paleoenvironmental Interpretation of the Upper Madumabisa Mudstone Formation Edited by: 1 † 2 3,4† Mark Joseph MacDougall, Christian A. Sidor * , Neil J. Tabor and Roger M. H. Smith Museum of Natural History Berlin 1 Burke Museum and Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States, 2 Roy M. Huffington (MfN), Germany Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, United States, 3 Evolutionary Studies Institute, Reviewed by: University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, 4 Iziko South African Museum, Cape Town, South Africa Sean P. Modesto, Cape Breton University, Canada Michael Oliver Day, A new burnetiamorph therapsid, Isengops luangwensis, gen. et sp. nov., is described Natural History Museum, on the basis of a partial skull from the upper Madumabisa Mudstone Formation of the United Kingdom Luangwa Basin of northeastern Zambia. Isengops is diagnosed by reduced palatal *Correspondence: Christian A. Sidor dentition, a ridge-like palatine-pterygoid boss, a palatal exposure of the jugal that [email protected] extends far anteriorly, a tall trigonal pyramid-shaped supraorbital boss, and a recess †ORCID: along the dorsal margin of the lateral temporal fenestra. The upper Madumabisa Christian A. Sidor Mudstone Formation was deposited in a rift basin with lithofacies characterized orcid.org/0000-0003-0742-4829 Roger M. H. Smith by unchannelized flow, periods of subaerial desiccation and non-deposition, and orcid.org/0000-0001-6806-1983 pedogenesis, and can be biostratigraphically tied to the upper Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone of South Africa, suggesting a Wuchiapingian age.
    [Show full text]
  • Physical and Environmental Drivers of Paleozoic Tetrapod Dispersal Across Pangaea
    ARTICLE https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07623-x OPEN Physical and environmental drivers of Paleozoic tetrapod dispersal across Pangaea Neil Brocklehurst1,2, Emma M. Dunne3, Daniel D. Cashmore3 &Jӧrg Frӧbisch2,4 The Carboniferous and Permian were crucial intervals in the establishment of terrestrial ecosystems, which occurred alongside substantial environmental and climate changes throughout the globe, as well as the final assembly of the supercontinent of Pangaea. The fl 1234567890():,; in uence of these changes on tetrapod biogeography is highly contentious, with some authors suggesting a cosmopolitan fauna resulting from a lack of barriers, and some iden- tifying provincialism. Here we carry out a detailed historical biogeographic analysis of late Paleozoic tetrapods to study the patterns of dispersal and vicariance. A likelihood-based approach to infer ancestral areas is combined with stochastic mapping to assess rates of vicariance and dispersal. Both the late Carboniferous and the end-Guadalupian are char- acterised by a decrease in dispersal and a vicariance peak in amniotes and amphibians. The first of these shifts is attributed to orogenic activity, the second to increasing climate heterogeneity. 1 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK. 2 Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany. 3 School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. 4 Institut
    [Show full text]
  • Palaeontological Impact Assessment for the Proposed SKA Antennas, Access and Powerlines Williston Spiral, Northern Cape Province
    Palaeontological Impact Assessment for the proposed SKA Antennas, Access and Powerlines Williston Spiral, Northern Cape Province Site Visit Report For Digby Wells Environmental 06 May 2018 Prof Marion Bamford Palaeobotanist P Bag 652, WITS 2050 Johannesburg, South Africa [email protected] Expertise of Specialist The Palaeontologist Consultant is: Prof Marion Bamford Qualifications: PhD (Wits Univ, 1990); FRSSAf, ASSAf Experience: 30 years research; 22 years PIA studies Declaration of Independence This report has been compiled by Professor Marion Bamford, with the assistance of Alisoun House and Rick Tolchard, of the University of the Witwatersrand, sub-contracted by Digby Wells Environmental, Johannesburg, South Africa. The views expressed in this report are entirely those of the author and no other interest was displayed during the decision making process for the Project. Specialist: Prof Marion Bamford Signature: i Executive Summary To comply with the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) in terms of Section 38(8) of the National Heritage Resources Act, 1999 (Act No. 25 of 1999) (NHRA), a site visit Palaeontological Impact Assessment (PIA) was completed for the proposed construction of antennae, power and data lines and access roads for SKA antennas southwest of Williston. The Langbaken Road was thoroughly assessed and no fossils or potentially fossiliferous sediments were found. Permission for access to the selected highly sensitive (palaeontologically) land parcels (farms) along the Langbaken Road had not been obtained for all farms but once approached by us we gained access to four farms. Fossil plants have been seen by the landowners on three farms but we were only able to verify one record.
    [Show full text]
  • A New Mid-Permian Burnetiamorph Therapsid from the Main Karoo Basin of South Africa and a Phylogenetic Review of Burnetiamorpha
    Editors' choice A new mid-Permian burnetiamorph therapsid from the Main Karoo Basin of South Africa and a phylogenetic review of Burnetiamorpha MICHAEL O. DAY, BRUCE S. RUBIDGE, and FERNANDO ABDALA Day, M.O., Rubidge, B.S., and Abdala, F. 2016. A new mid-Permian burnetiamorph therapsid from the Main Karoo Basin of South Africa and a phylogenetic review of Burnetiamorpha. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 61 (4): 701–719. Discoveries of burnetiamorph therapsids in the last decade and a half have increased their known diversity but they remain a minor constituent of middle–late Permian tetrapod faunas. In the Main Karoo Basin of South Africa, from where the clade is traditionally best known, specimens have been reported from all of the Permian biozones except the Eodicynodon and Pristerognathus assemblage zones. Although the addition of new taxa has provided more evidence for burnetiamorph synapomorphies, phylogenetic hypotheses for the clade remain incongruent with their appearances in the stratigraphic column. Here we describe a new burnetiamorph specimen (BP/1/7098) from the Pristerognathus Assemblage Zone and review the phylogeny of the Burnetiamorpha through a comprehensive comparison of known material. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that BP/1/7098 is closely related to the Russian species Niuksenitia sukhonensis. Remarkably, the supposed mid-Permian burnetiids Bullacephalus and Pachydectes are not recovered as burnetiids and in most cases are not burnetiamorphs at all, instead representing an earlier-diverging clade of biarmosuchians that are characterised by their large size, dentigerous transverse process of the pterygoid and exclusion of the jugal from the lat- eral temporal fenestra. The evolution of pachyostosis therefore appears to have occurred independently in these genera.
    [Show full text]
  • Carnivorous Dinocephalian from the Middle Permian of Brazil and Tetrapod Dispersal in Pangaea
    Carnivorous dinocephalian from the Middle Permian of Brazil and tetrapod dispersal in Pangaea Juan Carlos Cisnerosa,1, Fernando Abdalab, Saniye Atayman-Güvenb, Bruce S. Rubidgeb, A. M. Celâl Sxengörc,1, and Cesar L. Schultzd aCentro de Ciências da Natureza, Universidade Federal do Piauí, 64049-550 Teresina, Brazil; bBernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, University of the Witwatersrand, WITS 2050 Johannesburg, South Africa; cAvrasya Yerbilimleri Estitüsü, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, Ayazaga 34469, Istanbul, Turkey; and dDepartamento de Paleontologia e Estratigrafia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, 91540-000 Porto Alegre, Brazil Contributed by A. M. Celâlx Sengör, December 5, 2011 (sent for review September 29, 2011) The medial Permian (∼270–260 Ma: Guadalupian) was a time of fragmentary to further explore their affinities with confidence. Here important tetrapod faunal changes, in particular reflecting a turn- we present a diagnosable dinocephalian species from the Permian over from pelycosaurian- to therapsid-grade synapsids. Until now, of South America, based on a complete and well-preserved cra- most knowledge on tetrapod distribution during the medial Perm- nium. This fossil is a member of the carnivorous clade Ante- ian has come from fossils found in the South African Karoo and the osauridae, and provides evidence for Pangaea-wide distribution Russian Platform, whereas other areas of Pangaea are still poorly of carnivorous dinocephalians during the Guadalupian. known. We present evidence for the presence of a terrestrial car- nivorous vertebrate from the Middle Permian of South America Results based on a complete skull. Pampaphoneus biccai gen. et sp. nov. Systematic Paleontology. Synapsida Osborn, 1903; Therapsida was a dinocephalian “mammal-like reptile” member of the Ante- Broom, 1905; Dinocephalia Seeley, 1894; Anteosauridae Boon- osauridae, an early therapsid predator clade known only from the stra, 1954; Syodontinae Ivakhnenko, 1994; Pampaphoneus biccai Middle Permian of Russia, Kazakhstan, China, and South Africa.
    [Show full text]
  • IES-Report Y3
    Marilao, Kulik, Sidor 1 Histology of the preparietal: a neomorphic cranial element in dicynodont therapsids. LIANNA M. MARILAO,1 ZOE T. KULIK,1 and CHRISTIAN A. SIDOR,*,1 1Department of Biology and Burke Museum, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, U.S.A., [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] *Corresponding author RH: MARILAO ET AL.—DICYNODONT PREPARIETAL HISTOLOGY Marilao, Kulik, Sidor 2 ABSTRACT—The preparietal, a neomorphic midline ossification on the skull roof, is thought to have evolved three times in therapsids, but its development and homology remain poorly understood. Here we provide preliminary data on the histology of this element in specimens referred to Diictodon feliceps and an indeterminate species of Lystrosaurus. The preparietal has previously been noted to vary substantially in its shape on the dorsal surface of the skull in several dicynodonts and we found similar variation in thin section. In Diictodon, the preparietal forms a prong that embeds itself entirely within the frontals and shows evidence of a midline suture anteriorly. The sectioned specimen of Lystrosaurus shows histological evidence of immaturity and features a well-defined midline suture at the posterior end of the preparietal, although an anterior prong was not present. In both taxa the anteroventral portion of the preparietal forms a strongly interdigitating suture with the underlying frontals and parietals. More posteriorly, the preparietal is composed of fibrolamellar bone suggestive of rapid posteroventral growth. In large dicynodont species, the dorsal expression of the preparietal appears to show negative allometry compared to other cranial roofing elements during ontogeny, but the significance of this geometry is unclear.
    [Show full text]
  • The Many Faces of Synapsid Cranial Allometry
    Paleobiology, 45(4), 2019, pp. 531–545 DOI: 10.1017/pab.2019.26 Article The many faces of synapsid cranial allometry Isaac W. Krone , Christian F. Kammerer, and Kenneth D. Angielczyk Abstract.—Previous studies of cranial shape have established a consistent interspecific allometric pattern relating the relative lengths of the face and braincase regions of the skull within multiple families of mam- mals. In this interspecific allometry, the facial region of the skull is proportionally longer than the braincase in larger species. The regularity and broad taxonomic occurrence of this allometric pattern suggests that it may have an origin near the base of crown Mammalia, or even deeper in the synapsid or amniote forerun- ners of mammals. To investigate the possible origins of this allometric pattern, we used geometric morpho- metric techniques to analyze cranial shape in 194 species of nonmammalian synapsids, which constitute a set of successive outgroups to Mammalia. We recovered a much greater diversity of allometric patterns within nonmammalian synapsids than has been observed in mammals, including several instances similar to the mammalian pattern. However, we found no evidence of the mammalian pattern within Theroce- phalia and nonmammalian Cynodontia, the synapsids most closely related to mammals. This suggests that the mammalian allometric pattern arose somewhere within Mammaliaformes, rather than within nonmammalian synapsids. Further investigation using an ontogenetic series of the anomodont Diictodon feliceps shows that the pattern of interspecific allometry within anomodonts parallels the ontogenetic trajectory of Diictodon. This indicates that in at least some synapsids, allometric patterns associated with ontogeny may provide a “path of least resistance” for interspecific variation, a mechanism that we suggest produces the interspecific allometric pattern observed in mammals.
    [Show full text]
  • Antiquity of Forelimb Ecomorphological Diversity in the Mammalian Stem Lineage (Synapsida)
    Antiquity of forelimb ecomorphological diversity in the mammalian stem lineage (Synapsida) Jacqueline K. Lungmusa,b,1 and Kenneth D. Angielczykb aDepartment of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637; and bEarth Sciences, Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL 60605-2496 Edited by Jörg Fröbisch, Museum of Natural History Leibniz Institute for Evolutionary and Biodiversity Research, Berlin, Germany, and accepted by Editorial Board Member Scott V. Edwards February 13, 2019 (received for review February 28, 2018) Mammals and their closest fossil relatives are unique among highly restricted range of motion (11, 13). This can be contrasted tetrapods in expressing a high degree of pectoral girdle and with the phenotype of the nonmammaliaform therapsids (here- forelimb functional diversity associated with fully pelagic, curso- after therapsids), the more crownward synapsids that replaced rial, subterranean, volant, and other lifestyles. However, the earliest pelycosaurs as the dominant tetrapods in the middle Permian members of the mammalian stem lineage, the “pelycosaur”-grade (approximately 275 Mya). Permian therapsids include more synapsids, present a far more limited range of morphologies and gracile large- and small-bodied predators (14–16), highly spe- inferred functions. The more crownward nonmammaliaform therap- cialized scratch-digging burrowers (17–19), and arboreal herbi- sids display novel forelimb morphologies that have been linked to vores (20). Important shifts
    [Show full text]
  • The University of Chicago Forelimb Shape, Disparity
    THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO FORELIMB SHAPE, DISPARITY, AND FUNCTIONAL MORPHOLOGY IN THE DEEP EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF SYNAPSIDA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE DIVISION OF THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND THE PRITZKER SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY BY JACQUELINE K LUNGMUS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS DECEMBER 2020 To all the animals I’ve called family. You have never failed to fascinate me, inspire me, and love me. It has always been about you. Max (Canis l. familiaris) Shy (Terrapene ornata) Speedy (Terrapene ornata) Augie (Canis l. familiaris) Sonic (Atelerix albiventris) Dahli (Equus f. caballus) Seymour (Canis l. familiaris) Gunther (Canis l. familaris) Juniper (Canis l. familiaris) TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................................................................... viii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. xi CHAPTER 1 INRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2 ANTIQUITY OF FORELIMB ECOMORPHOLOGICAL DIVERSITY IN THE MAMMALIAN STEM LINEAGE (SYNAPSIDA)
    [Show full text]
  • Tiarajudens: a Significant Mammal-Like Reptile
    Page 1 of 2 News and Views Tiarajudens: A significant mammal-like reptile Popularly known as the 'mammal-like reptiles', the therapsids are well documented in the fossil Author: Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan' record. Their abundance in the Karoo basin has made South Africa world renowned for the diversity of Permian and Triassic therapsids. The earliest known therapsid is Raranimus from China's Affiliation: Middle Permian Dashankou Formation,' and besides several poorly known taxa (mainly from 'Department of Zoology, Russia) six therapsid lineages are well recognised, although there is still controversy concerning University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa their interrelationships^-': the heavily built, large-bodied Dinocephalia; the Biarmosuchia, which retain many similarities to the sphenacodontian pelycosaurs (better known as the sail-backed Email: reptiles); the carnivorous Therocephalia and Gorgonopsia; the herbivorous Anomodontia; and Anusuya .Chinsamy-Turang) the Cynodontia (to which mammals and their ancestors belong). Tiarajudens sheds light on the uct.ac.za evolution of the Anomodontia. Postal address: Private Bag X3, Rhodes Gift, In March 2011, the 260-million-year-old Tiarajudens eccentricus from Brazil was announced to the Rondebosch 7700, world in the journal Science by a team consisting of Brazilian and South African scientists'* (Figures South Africa 1 and 2). Tiarajudens consists of a partial skull with an -120 mm long, laterally compressed canine, How to cite this article: 5 leaf-shaped incisors and 13 expanded palatal teeth that formed a grinding surface. Although the Chinsamy-Turan A. skull is rather fragmentary, Juan Cisneros and his colleagues'* were able to recognise its resemblance Tiarajudens: A significant to Anomocephalus, a basal anomodont recovered in 1999 from the Tapinocephalus assemblage zone mammal-like reptile.
    [Show full text]