Print ISSN: 0031-0247
Online ISSN: 2274-0333
Frequency: biannual
A new stem hystricognathous rodent from the Eocene of Tunisia
Palaeotis weigelti restudied
Paleocene Palaeocarcharodon from Maryland
New Gargantuavis specimens from the Late Cretaceous of France
Macroscelidea, Insectivora and Chiroptera from the Miocene of east Africa
Eocene (57) , Quercy phosphorites (37) , Systematics (32) , Rodents (29) , Mammalia (26)
Fallen in a dead ear: intralabyrinthine preservation of stapes in fossil artiodactylsMaeva J. Orliac and Guillaume BilletKeywords: allometry; bony labyrinth; inner ear; middle ear ossiclesdoi: 10.18563/pv.40.1.e3 Abstract The stapes is the last of the middle ear ossicle chain and the smallest bone of the mammalian skeleton. Because it rests on the membrane of the fenestra vestibuli during life, the stapes may often fall within the bony labyrinth cavity when soft structures decay after death. In this work, we highlight the unexpected role that the bony labyrinth plays in the preservation of the stapes. Systematic investigation of the bony labyrinth of 50 petrosal bones of extinct and extant artiodactyls led to the discovery of eight cases of “intralabyrinthine” stapes. Three dimensional reconstructions of these stapes allow documenting stapes morphology of four extinct artiodactyl taxa: Microstonyx erymanthius (Suidae), Elomeryx borbonicus (Hippopotamoidea), ?Helohyus plicodon (Helohyidae), and an undetermined Cainotheriidae; and four extant ones Choeropsis and Hippopotamus (Hippopotamidae), and Tayassu and Phacochoerus (Suoidea). ?Helohyus plicodon from the Middle Eocene documents the oldest stapes known for the order Artiodactyla. Morphological study and metric analyses of our sample of artiodactylan stapes show that stapes are likely to carry relevant phylogenetic characters/signal within artiodactyls, and a potential Euungulata signature. Article infos Published in Vol.40-1 (2016) |
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Contributions à l'étude du gisement Miocène supérieur de Montredon (Hérault). Les grands mammifères. 7 - Les proboscidiens DeinotheriidaeHeinz TobienKeywords: allometry; Astaracian; Deinotherium; Montredon; Systematics; taphonomy; VallesianAbstract Some complete tooth rows and about one hundred isolated teeth enabled the identification of the deinothere of the Vallesian site Montredon (Hérault) as Deinotherium giganteum KAUP 1829, mainly by comparisons with the likewise Vallesian sample of the type locality Eppelsheim (Rheinhessen, F.R.G.). Article infos Published in Vol. 18, Ext (1988) |
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