Mammalian Paleontology Mesozoic Mammals: The First Two-Thirds of Mammalian History Jason A. Lillegraven Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska William A. Clemens

BioScience ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 30 (11) ◽  
pp. 771-771
Author(s):  
Leonard Krishtalka
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillermo W. Rougier ◽  
Agustín G. Martinelli ◽  
Analía M. Forasiepi

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Héctor Ramirez-Chaves ◽  
Stephen Wroe ◽  
Lynne Selwood ◽  
Lyn Hinds ◽  
Chris Leigh ◽  
...  

The tympanic ring, malleus and incus of the mammalian middle ear (MME) derive from the ancestral primary jaw joint of land vertebrates. In Mesozoic mammals, evolutionary detachment of the MME from the lower jaw occurred when Meckel’s cartilage - the last connection between MME and dentary – disappeared. This disappearance is famously recapitulated in early mammalian development. Further developmental recapitulation of Mesozoic MME detachment is thought to occur in the form of negative allometry and posterior/medial replacement of MME bones relative to the jaw joint. However, despite being widely accepted, such detailed recapitulation scenarios have never been quantified. Here we show, based on µCT scans of developmental series of several marsupials and monotremes, that negative allometry of MME bones relative to the skull occurs only after MME detachment, ruling it out as a developmental detachment trigger; additionally, there is no positional change of ectotympanic or malleus relative to the dentary. Differential positioning of MME bones in the two monotreme species is also not developmentally recapitulated. Our results challenge the developmental prerequisites of widely accepted evolutionary scenarios regarding MME detachment. Rather, we observe an association of MME detachment and dental eruption, suggesting a detachment trigger relating to the onset of dentary function.


2003 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 556-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Gilissen ◽  
Thierry Smith

Fossil remains witness the relationship between the appearance of the middle ear and the expansion of the brain in early mammals. Nevertheless, the lack of detachment of ear ossicles in the mammaliaform Morganucodon, despite brain enlargement, points to other factors that triggered brain expansion in early mammals. Moreover, brain expansion in some early mammalian groups seems to have favored brain regions other than the cortex.


1967 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 792-795 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.A. Kermack
Keyword(s):  

Evolution ◽  
1959 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 405 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Gaylord Simpson
Keyword(s):  

Nature ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 227 (5253) ◽  
pp. 17-18
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  

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