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It is now well established that the end-Cretaceous mass extinction had enormous repercussions for mammalian evolution. Following the extinction, during the Paleocene, mammals started to radiate, occupying new and diverse ecological niches. However, the phylogenetic relationships between the socalled “archaic” mammals of this time, and their position within Placentalia, remain contentious. The Periptychidae are a clade of distinctive “archaic” ungulates, composed of ~17 genera of small to large bodied, highly bunodont, terrestrial herbivores that were among the first placental mammals to appear after the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. Although the Periptychidae has been historically considered a distinctive “condylarth” subgroup, their higherlevel relationships have been rarely tested. Here, we present an inclusive cladistic analysis to determine and test the phylogenetic affinities of Periptychidae and other key Paleocene groups within Placentalia under different cladistic optimality criteria. We scored 140 taxa for 503 dental, cranial and postcranial characters, incorporating new morphological and taxonomic data. The data were then subject to parsimony and Bayesian tree of morphological evolution, running 5000000 generations with samples every 200 generations and discarding 25% of the samples as burn-in. Stationarity was achieved and a 50 percent majority rule consensus tree from the sampled trees was obtained. The parsimony analysis recovered 48 most parsimonious trees. The two consensus trees derived from the different analyses are largely congruent and recover a monophyletic Periptychidae, although the parsimony consensus tree is better resolved. These results are consistent with simulation studies showing that parsimony tends to be more precise (more nodes reconstructed) than Bayesian analyses, although less accurate. The main topological differences between the results relate to the position of poorly known Puercan (earliest Paleocene) species. Our results affirm the monophyly of Periptychidae and its nesting within a group of “condylarths” positioned at the base of Laurasiatheria and closely related to Artiodactyla. Within Periptychidae we found support for the three major subfamilial divisions in both analyses. These results highlight the importance of using different optimality criteria when resolving a phylogeny and provide a new insight into how placental mammals were evolving after the end-Cretaceous extinction. Grant Information: CONICYT PFCHA/DOCTORADO BECAS CHILE/2018, European Research Council Starting Grant (ERC StG 2017, 756226, PalM), National Science Foundation (NSF EAR 1654952, DEB 1654949)
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NEW PHYLOGENY OF LITOPTERNA AND “ARCHAIC” PALEOGENE UNGULATES ENLIGHTENS THE INTERFAMILIARY AFFINITIES WITHIN THE ORDER
South American Ungulates (SANUs) exhibit astonishing morphological and ecological diversity due to their almost complete isolation during their early evolution. This unique diversity coupled with the limited fossil record of their earliest evolution makes it difficult to establish their phylogenetic position within the placental mammal tree. Litopterna is the second most diverse order of SANUs after only Notoungulata, with species ranging from the middle Paleocene (~63 Ma) to the late Pleistocene. Among SANUs, litopterns are characterized by having cursorial limbs similar to Holarctic groups like Perissodactyla. Currently there are 67 genera of litopterns grouped into nine families, and the affinities of the Paleogene families remain unclear. Furthermore, it is unclear how litopterns are related to older groups of “archaic” Paleogene ungulates of South America (Kollpaninae and Didolodontidae) and North America (e.g., Mioclaenidae), and other SANUs. To test the phylogenetic relationships of Litopterna, we assembled a new morphological matrix with ~1000 craniodental and postcranial characters for 79 taxa. The data were subjected to Bayesian and maximum parsimony analyses. We conducted tip-dated and undated Bayesian analyses using a Mk + G model of morphological evolution. Fifty percent majority rule consensus trees were obtained from the sampled trees from each analysis. The parsimony analysis resulted in ten most parsimonious trees and a strict consensus was computed. The consensus trees derived from the different analyses were largely congruent. A traditional monophyletic Litopterna failed to be recovered as Protolipternidae was closely related to Didolodontidae. Litopterna was found more closely related to Kollpaninae than to North American Mioclaenidae, and Kollpaninae did not form a monophyletic group with the latter. Adianthidae and Indaleciidae were found in a relatively basal position within Litopterna. Macraucheniidae was found as a sister group to Proterotheriidae, whereas Anisolambdidae was the sister group of Sparnotheriodontidae, these four families forming a monophyletic group. By utilizing a more comprehensive approach, these results alter previous conceptions of the intrafamilial affinities within Litopterna and their position among other Paleogene ungulates, shedding new light on how litopterns evolved and diversified during the Paleogene of South America. Funding Sources ANID-PFCHA-Doctorado en el extranjero Becas Chile-2018-72190003, ERC starting grant PalM 756226, NSF DEB 1654949 and 1654952
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- Award ID(s):
- 1654952
- PAR ID:
- 10480926
- Publisher / Repository:
- Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of vertebrate paleontology
- ISSN:
- 1937-2809
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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