Variability and constraint in the mammalian vertebral column.

Patterns of vertebral variation across mammals have seldom been quantified, making it difficult to test hypotheses of covariation within the axial skeleton and mechanisms behind the high level of vertebral conservatism among mammals. We examined variation in vertebral counts within 42 species of mammals, representing monotremes, marsupials and major clades of placentals. These data show that xenarthrans and afrotherians have, on average, a high proportion of individuals with meristic deviations from species' median series counts. Monotremes, xenarthrans, afrotherians and primates show relatively high variation in thoracolumbar vertebral count. Among the clades sampled in our dataset, rodents are the least variable, with several species not showing any deviations from median vertebral counts, or vertebral anomalies such as asymmetric ribs or transitional vertebrae. Most mammals show significant correlations between sacral position and length of the rib cage; only a few show a correlation between sacral position and number of sternebrae. The former result is consistent with the hypothesis that adult axial skeletal structures patterned by distinct mesodermal tissues are modular and covary; the latter is not. Variable levels of correlation among these structures may indicate that the boundaries of prim/abaxial mesodermal precursors of the axial skeleton are not uniform across species. We do not find evidence for a higher frequency of vertebral anomalies in our sample of embryos or neonates than in post-natal individuals of any species, contrary to the hypothesis that stabilizing selection plays a major role in vertebral patterning.

Cretaceous eutherians and Laurasian origin for placental mammals near the K/T boundary.

Estimates of the time of origin for placental mammals from DNA studies span nearly the duration of the Cretaceous period (145 to 65 million years ago), with a maximum of 129 million years ago and a minimum of 78 million years ago. Palaeontologists too are divided on the timing. Some support a deep Cretaceous origin by allying certain middle Cretaceous fossils (97-90 million years old) from Uzbekistan with modern placental lineages, whereas others support the origin of crown group Placentalia near the close of the Cretaceous. This controversy has yet to be addressed by a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis that includes all well-known Cretaceous fossils and a wide sample of morphology among Tertiary and recent placentals. Here we report the discovery of a new well-preserved mammal from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia and a broad-scale phylogenetic analysis. Our results exclude Cretaceous fossils from Placentalia, place the origin of Placentalia near the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary in Laurasia rather than much earlier within the Cretaceous in the Southern Hemisphere, and place afrotherians and xenarthrans in a nested rather than a basal position within Placentalia.

Reconciling the origins of Africa, India and Madagascar with vertebrate dispersal scenarios.

Africa, India and Madagascar were once part of the supercontinent of Gondwana. This land mass began to fragment approx. 170 million years ago, and by 83 million years, all of the major components we recognize today were separated by tracts of water. Madagascar's fossil record and estimates of the timing of the extant vertebrate radiations in Madagascar are not easily reconciled with this history of fragmentation. Fossil faunas that lived prior to approx. 65 million years had a cosmopolitan flavour, but this was lost after the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. Phylogenetic reconstructions of most extant Malagasy vertebrate radiations indicate divergence times that postdate the End-Cretaceous (lemurs, tenrecs, cichlid fish) and even the Early Miocene (chameleons, carnivores, rodents). Most biogeographic explanations of these groups rely, therefore, on Simpson's model of sweepstakes dispersal (see also cover figure), but there are significant problems in applying the model to migrations from Africa to Madagascar, although its application is not so intractable between India and Madagascar. Alternative migration routes for consideration lie: (1) along the suite of fracture zones between Antarctica and Africa/Madagascar (known as the Antarctic-Africa Corridor), which may have been exposed episodically above sea level; (2) along a series of submerged basaltic ridges/plateaus with known or suspected continental crust between Antarctica and Africa/Madagascar/India flanking the Antarctic-Africa Corridor (e.g. the Madagascar Ridge, Mozambique Ridge, Conrad Plateau, Gunnerus Ridge); (3) between Africa and Madagascar along the Davie Ridge (parts of which are known to have been exposed episodically above sea level); (4) along the Deccan hotspot corridor between India and greater Africa.

Morphological diversity of anatomical strepsirrhinism and the evolution of the lemuriform toothcomb.

The hypothesis that the vomeronasal organ has an important functional relationship with, and led to the evolution of, the prosimian toothcomb has not been well tested. This paper examines the diversity of anatomical strepsirrhinism across several mammalian taxa to determine if fossil and living strepsirrhine primates exhibit any derived characters that may highlight the functional link between the vomeronasal organ and the toothcomb, and to examine the potential importance of anatomical strepsirrhinism to toothcomb origins. Results indicate that extant gregarious lemuriforms are derived in having a relatively wide interincisal gap, providing an unobstructed line of communication between the vomeronasal organ and anterior rostral structures such as the toothcomb. This finding is consistent with the proposal that anatomical strepsirrhinism is functionally related to use of the toothcomb in grooming. However, the importance of the vomeronasal organ to toothcomb origins is less clear. If the morphology of adapiforms and non-gregarious lemuriforms is representative of the morphology of basal lemuriforms, then it can be inferred that early lemuriforms did not possess the wide-gap autapomorphy; hence, anatomical evidence discussed here cannot be used to rule out non-social hypotheses of toothcomb origins.