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Historical dicoveries of paleogene mammals
Abstract book of the 18th Conference of the EAVP
A new Pliocene Gerbillinae from South Africa
Physogaleus hemmooriensis, a new shark species from the early to middle Miocene of the north sea basin
Early Oligocene Fishes from Alabama, USA
Eocene (56) , Quercy Phosphorites (37) , Systematics (31) , Rodents (29) , Mammalia (26)
PalaeovertebrataVol. 28, Fasc. 1:53-73. 1999
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The evolution of the molar pattern of the Erethizontidae (Rodentia,Hystricognathi) and the validity of Parasteiromys Ameghino, 1904.Adriana M. CandelaKeywords: Argentina; Erethizontidae; Hystricognathi; Miocene; Molar evolution; Porcupines; Rodentia; SystematicsCite this article: Candela A. M., 1999. The evolution of the molar pattern of the Erethizontidae (Rodentia,Hystricognathi) and the validity of Parasteiromys Ameghino, 1904. Palaeovertebrata 28 (1): 53-73. AbstractThe genus Parasteiromys AMEGHINO, 1904 is revalidated, and P. friantae sp. nov. (Hystricognathi, Erethizontidae) from Colhuehuapian (early Miocene) sediments of the southern cliff of Colhue-Huapi Lake (Province of Chubut, Argentina), is described. The molar morphology of these taxa and of living porcupines adds new elements to understand the dental evolution of the Erethizontidae, and to propose the hypothetical ancestral molar pattern for this family. This pattern does not correspond to any of the morphologies traditionally proposed as ancestral for South American hystricognathous rodents. The proposed pattern is characterized by a metaloph disconnected from the posteroloph and oriented towards the hypocone, and the third loph incompletely developed with the lingual portion homologous to the mesolophule of Baluchimyinae (Chapattimyidae) from the Miocene of Pakistan. The inferred steps of the molar evolution of erethizontids towards the pentalophodont condition, considered derived for the family, are illustrated. This study strengthens the hypothesis placing erethizontids in a basal position among rodents of the suborder Hystricognathi. Published in Vol. 28, Fasc. 1 (1999) |
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