北米の初期の白亜紀のトライボスフェニック哺乳類
1Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and Department of Zoology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 73019, USA.
Nature
|July 25, 2006
まとめ
北米で発見された新型白紀初期の哺乳類の化石は,エウテリアン (胎盤哺乳類) がこれまで考えられていたよりも広く存在していたことを示唆している. この発見は,初期の哺乳類の進化と生物地理に関する既存の理論に挑戦しています.
科学分野:
- パレオントロジー・パレオントロジー
- マンモロジーは,哺乳類学です.
- 進化生物学の進化生物学について
背景:
- marsupialsとeutherians (胎盤哺乳類) の分岐は,初期の白亜紀に起こったが,初期の進化の歴史と地理的分布は不明のままである.
- 以前の歯科証拠は,エウテリアンの起源がアジアにあることを示しており,その後は,袋類がすでに多様化している北米に広がった.
研究 の 目的:
- 北米の早期白亜紀の新型トライボスフェニック哺乳類の化石を記述する.
- 初期のエウセリアン生物地理と進化を理解するために,この新しい分類種の影響を調査する.
主な方法:
- ほぼ完全な化石標本に基づいた新しい哺乳類分類の記述.
- モルフォメトリック分析と歯の特徴の特徴比較,特にモラ構造.
- 形態学的特徴に基づいた系統遺伝的解釈.
主要な成果:
- 北米の早期白亜紀の新しいトライボスフェニック哺乳類が記述され,以前はエウテリアとだけ関連付けられていた特徴を示しています.
- モルフォメトリック分析は,原始的なモラー構造を示し,孤立した歯のみに基づいた解釈に対して注意を払う.
- 新しい哺乳類は,アジアで知られている最も古いエウテリアと同時代である.
結論:
- この発見は,エウテリアが以前に考えられていたよりも早期白亜紀により広く分布していた可能性があることを示唆している.
- 北米におけるEutheriaの初期の存在は,大陸の後白期の哺乳類の放射線に対する潜在的な説明を提供します.
- この発見は,古生物学における正確な系統遺伝学的な解釈のための完全な標本の重要性を強調しています.
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