FIGURE 9 - uploaded by Thierry Smith
Content may be subject to copyright.
Consensus tree of the phylogenetic analysis of carnivoraforms. Tree length = 1190 steps; CI = 0.25 and RI = 0.60. Number of the node (see text) is indicated above a line; the Bremer support is indicated below a line. Ood.-group = Oodectes group; Uin.-group = Uintacyon group; Vulp.-group = Vulpavus group. Note: the "Miacidae" are paraphyletic.
Source publication
One of the earliest basal carnivoraforms, Miacis latouri, previously known by only two teeth from the earliest Eocene of Dormaal, Belgium, is here described based on about 280 new specimens from Dormaal, allowing illustration of almost the entire deciduous and permanent dentition and thus giving information on the dentition of an early basal carniv...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... and Flynn (2012) provided features that united the genera Vulpavus and Oodectes (nodes 1-5 on their fig. 9). The distribution of these features differs in our phylogeny. Node 1 in Spaulding and Flynn (2012) is supported by the character states 107(0) and 116(0); however, because the taxa grouped by node 1 are coded 1 for character 116 (trochlea extent on humerus), we think that there is a mistake in Spaulding and Flynn (2012) coding. In our analysis, the two features are characteristic of the earliest carnivoraforms and thus do not support a partic- ular carnivoraform group. Node 2 was supported by character states 128(0) and 135(0). In the topology here presented, the first feature is considered to be at the base of the carnivoraforms, whereas the second one either appears at the origin of the car- nivoraforms (fast optimization) or at node 4 (slow optimiza- tion). Node 3 of Spaulding and Flynn (2012) is supported by one postcranial feature [111(1)] and one dental feature [58(2)]. The first one is considered to be typical of Vulpavus, whereas the second one appeared convergently in Oodectes group, Vul- pavus, Miacis parvivorus, and Miacis sylvestris. In Spaulding and Flynn (2012), node 4 is supported by features that are here recon- structed as primitive to Carnivoraformes or convergent in Vul- pavus and ...
Context 2
... support was calculated for 10 supplementary steps (vs. shortest tree) and for 10,000 trees (Fig. 9). Nodes 1 to 3 and 5 to 9 generally have Bremer support between 3 and 7. The weak support for node 4 could be explained by our poor knowledge of the Gracilocyon species. Nodes 10 to 16 are poorly supported. This indicates that the relationships among the several 'Miacis' species remain highly uncertain. The nodes within Carnivora are generally above ...
Context 3
... parsimony analysis yielded 50 equally parsimonious trees, with a tree length of 1152 steps, consistency index (CI) of 0.26, and retention index (RI) of 0.62. The strict consensus tree was 1190 steps long with a CI = 0.25 and RI = 0.60. In the strict con- sensus, 16 nodes were collapsed (Fig. ...
Context 4
... Carnivoraformes (node Cs) is supported by two features: the astragalar head medial articulation surface, which is short and does not extend past the start of the neck [180(1)] and the hypoconulid, which is reduced and fused with entoconid [229(1)]. Among the earliest carnivoraforms, we observe the presence of three distinct clades that we name Uintacyon group (node 1), Oodectes group (node 4), and Vulpavus group (node 7) (Fig. 9). Note that Miacis is clearly a paraphyletic ...
Context 5
... the following analysis, we focus on the early radiation of the carnivoraforms (nodes 1 to 18) ( Fig. 9) and on the dental fea- tures that supported the nodes. The states of characters are in brackets. Figure 10 illustrates the obtained consensus tree correlated with the stratigraphic context. Note that the proposed topology does not show temporal incoherences (Fig. ...
Context 6
... same height [226(1)], and a reduction of the stylar shelf [243(1)]. The two former features (reduction of the stylar shelf and reduction of the paraconid on the premolars) are distinctive for the genus Oodectes as shown by Heinrich (1997). Finally, the genus Oodectes is distinguished from Gracilocyon by a more reduced dentition, notably characterized by a homogenization of the size of premolars. The dentition of Gracilocyon appears characterized by a mosaic of primitive (narrow talonid on molars, developed stylar shelf, mesially projected parastyle on M1) and derived (presence of paraconid on premolars) features. Interestingly, Wesley-Hunt and Flynn (2005) observed on the cranium of Oodectes a mixture of primitive and derived features. Gracilocyon and Oodectes clearly represent a group apart from other basal carnivoraforms. Finally, our phylogenetic study supports the inclusion of Miacis rundlei (Abbey Wood, England; MP8+9) in the genus Gracilocyon as discussed above-the p3 notably shows a high paraconid. We thus propose a new generic attribution for the species: Gracilocyon rundlei (Hooker, 2010), comb. nov. (Table 3). The relationships between Gracilocyon and Oodectes species remain uncertain because all species of Gracilocyon are poorly known. A polytomy is present at node 6, which includes the three old- est 'Miacis' species, the new genus Dormaalocyon, the Vulpavus group (node 7), and carnivoraforms that are closely related to the Carnivora (Fig. 9). The node is supported by the reduction of the parastyle on P4 [55(2)], enlargement of the cingula on molars [41(1)], the reduction of the paraconid on p4 [221(0)], and high entocristid on molars [230(1)]. The taxa defined by this node notably developed more robust and probably more crush- ing molars. Two postcranial features also support this node: the intertrochanteric crest of the femur becomes flush with the shaft before reaching the lesser trochanter [157(1)] and the round cal- caneus, and cuboid facet shape of the pes ...
Citations
... These environmental modifications are the main cause of the extinction of endemic species, as first noted by Stelhin (1909), and also drove a massive immigration from Asia , as recently emphasized in artiodactyls (Weppe et al., 2023). This faunal turnover occurred between MP20 and MP21 reference levels (Legendre et al., 1991), and more precisely between 34.1 and 33.55 Mya, according to Weppe et al. (2023) At the core of the trophic interactions induced by this great mammalian diversification, two clades of predatory mammals stand out: Hyaenodonta and Carnivoramorpha (Solé et al., 2011(Solé et al., , 2014(Solé et al., , 2016(Solé et al., , 2022a. These carnivorous mammals represent an informative example of the faunal disruption characteristic of the 'Grande Coupure' . ...
The amphicyonids, colloquially called 'beardogs' , are one of the oldest known groups of caniformians, taking part in the initial radiation of this carnivoran clade. While the oldest American occurrences from the Middle Eocene have been investigated in detail, the European material remains understudied. The oldest European occurrences suggest an appearance of caniformians in the Priabonian of southern France and a diversification during the Oligocene, after a major faunal turnover following drastic climatic and environmental changes, the 'Grande Coupure'. Their first representative is the amphicyonid Cynodictis lacustris, the cranial osteology of which is of much relevance for the sys-tematics of Caniformia. A well-preserved cranium of Cynodictis lacustris was collected in the Phosphorites of Quercy (Lot, France) in the late 1960s. The exceptional preservation of the specimen allows us to describe the osteology, make substantial comparative observations and propose biological interpretations, leading to a partial reconstruction of the cranial vascularization, innervation, and musculature. We also reconstruct the ecological evolution of the Euro-pean amphicyonids from the Paleogene based on their body masses and diets, leading to identify three different faunas: (1) the oldest one (Priabonian) is characterized by body mass around 10 kg, well-exemplified by Cynodictis lacustris; (2) the second (Rupelian) groups taxa from 30 to 50 kg; (3) the last one (Chattian) differs from the two others by the presence of large amphicyonids (ca. 140 kg) and the low number of hypercarnivorous amphicyonids. The in-depth investigation of this exceptional specimen provides new material for the systematic and paleoecological understanding of Paleogene amphicyonids.
... In Europe, the locality of Dormaal in Belgium represents one rare exception, serving as a window into the earliest Eocene (MP 7 reference-level of the mammalian biochronological scale for the European Palaeogene; BiochroM'97, 1997) 'greenhouse world' . The site has already yielded numerous mammal taxa, including the earliest modern placental mammals of Europe , Solé et al. 2014; for the geological setting see: Smith and Smith 1996;Steurbaut et al. 1999). Lizards from Dormaal were only briefly discussed by Hecht and Hoffstetter (1962) and, moreover, the specimens were never figured by these authors. ...
Here we report on anguimorph lizards from the earliest Eocene (MP 7) of the Dormaal locality in Belgium, from the time of the warmest global climate of the past 66 million years. Several clades can be identified in this site: Glyptosauridae, Varanidae, and Palaeovaranidae. Our study focuses on glyptosaurid specimens previously reported from the site, some of which had been provisionally described as a new species,?Placosaurus ragei, and some assigned to an unnamed Placosauriops-like ‘melanosaurine’. Our study presents data on new material, including an almost complete glyptosaurine frontal that has enabled us to assign much of the previously described material to a single genus and species. The specimens that had been assigned to both ?P ragei and the ‘melanosaurine’ share apomorphies (flat osteoderms and chevron-shaped osteoderms) with Gaultia, a glyptosaurid previously known from the earliest Eocene of Wyoming, USA. The Dormaal material represents the first record of this genus outside North America. In fact, the only potential evidence of the occurrence of ‘Melanosaurinae’ in Dormaal might be a single isolated vertebra described here. Here we also describe previously unfigured material of Saniwa and palaeovaranids from Dormaal. The presence of previously reported helodermatids cannot be supported in this Belgian site.
... Although the plantar tendinal groove may seem to be continuous with the astragalar trochlea, it is much narrower, deeper, and at a different angle from the trochlea. Such a configuration is plesiomorphic for all plantigrade carnivorans, including all miacoids (Gingerich, 1983;Heinrich and Houde, 2006;Spaulding and Flynn, 2009;Spaulding et al., 2010;Solé et al., 2014). Only in digitigrade canids, a greater extension along a deep astragalus trochlea was enabled by the incorporation of the plantar tendinal groove into part of the trochlea, as observed by Wang (1993) in early canid posture evolution. ...
... This widened appearance is due to a very large sustentaculum protruding medially beyond the astragalar trochlea and a distinct peroneal tubercle on the lateral side (trochlear process of Stains, 1973). A medially expanded sustentaculum is likely the plesiomorphic condition in carnivorans, as it is present in "Miacis" uintensis (Spaulding and Flynn, 2009), Dawsonicyon isami , Dormaalocyon latouri (Solé et al., 2014), Plesictis (Fig. 60E, F), Amphicynodon (Cirot, 1992), and also in the majority of living arctoids (Stains, 1973(Stains, , 1976a). An expanded peroneal tubercle, not present in Procyon, is more unique to Eoarctos or possibly represents a plesiomorphic condition. ...
An exquisitely preserved male skeleton of an early arctoid, Eoarctos vorax new genus and species, provides a unique window into the origin and early divergence of Carnivora. Recovered from the Fitterer Ranch locality in the early Oligocene (Orellan to Whitneyan North American Land Mammal ages) Brule Formation of southwestern North Dakota (~32 Ma), the new arctoid offers an opportunity to evaluate the fundamental relationships of the caniform (dog-like) carnivorans. Eoarctos vorax possesses a suite of plesiomorphic characters inherited from its miacid ancestors, making it an ideal model for ancestral arctoids. We present a comprehensive treatment of E. vorax, combining traditional description with photographic documentation, modern microCT, laser scans, and photogrammetry.Showing its plesiomorphic morphology, Eoarctos vorax is scansorial in locomotion, somewhat like a modern raccoon, retaining the ability to climb trees and lacking cursorial adaptations present in the early canid Hesperocyon. However, E. vorax shows clear signs of durophagous cranio-dental adaptations, presumably for an obligatory diet of mollusks, and frequent damage to shell-crushing premolars, plus associated dental infections.We review several other key North American early arctoids and present total-evidence (nuclear DNA and discrete morphological characters) Bayesian and parsimony analyses of Caniformia phylogeny, including extinct stem taxa plus a living member of all modern families. We recognize an endemic North American ursoid clade, family Subparictidae, which includes Eoarctos vorax as its most derived member. We demonstrate the importance of North America as an early cradle of evolution for caniform carnivorans, including early precursors of Canidae, Amphicyonidae, Ursidae, and Pinnipedia.
... It belongs to the lower part of the fluvio-lagoonal Tienen Formation that recorded the carbon isotope excursion of the PETM and contains abundant remains of terrestrial mammals, lizards, chelonians, crocodylians, and freshwater fish. The Dormaal fauna, which represents the reference level MP7 of the mammalian biochronological scale for the European Paleogene (BiochroM'97, 1997), has already yielded numerous mammal taxa, including the earliest modern placental mammals of Europe Solé et al., 2014 Augé and Smith, 1997 (Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4) Revised Diagnosis-A small species of Tinosaurus that differs from other extinct species in the following combination of features: (1) small size: the anteroposterior length of maxilla is 9.4 mm, length of the holotypic dentary is 10.9 mm (in Tinosaurus indicus, the maximum preserved jaw length is more or less double the size, i.e., 23 mm); (2) the tricuspidity is strongly developed, the mesial and distal cusps are prominent, distinctly separated from the central cusp (contra Tinosaurus stenodon and T. indicus); (3) a less steeply inclined posterior edge of the nasal process of maxilla (contra a more steeply inclined posterior edge of the process in T. indicus); (4) the first four maxillary teeth are pleurodont (as Tinosaurus doumuensis, contra T. indicus); (5) the pleurodont teeth in maxilla are not separated from the acrodont series by a gap (contra T. indicus and T. doumuensis); (6) the first five teeth in dentary are pleurodont (contra four in T. indicus); and (7) the coronoid process of the dentary is short and its posterior tip is not markedly dorsally elevated-it does not reach the level of the tooth apices (contra T. indicus and Pseudotinosaurus asiaticus). ...
We here report on iguanians (both new and the previous record) from the earliest Eocene (MP 7) of the Dormaal locality in Belgium, from the time of the warmest global climates of the past 66 million years. Today iguanians are distributed mainly in the New World (Pleurodonta) and Old World (Acrodonta), having complicated biogeographic histories. Both lineages co-existed in Dormaal 56 Ma. Iguanians here document the presence of thermophilic faunas during greenhouse conditions in the northern mid-latitudes (above 50° north, the latitude of southern England). The complete maxilla of the agamid Tinosaurus europeocaenus is described and figured for the first time, being distinctive and furnishing a number of diagnostic characters. The dentary coronoid process of this species is also observed for the first time. Our morphological analysis supports the previous observation that Tinosaurus is similar to Leiolepis, but also differs from it by several distinguishing features. Some jaw character states present in T. europeocaenus are shared with the Indian T. indicus, Chinese T. doumuensis, and American Tinosaurus sp., but several differences among them are observed. Besides the well-known Geiseltaliellus, we here erect and describe a new pleurodontan taxon. The new taxon is represented by a maxilla with a unique and peculiar tooth crown morphology: the central cusp is bifurcated, markedly split into two distinct and well-separated “prongs.” This morphology likely indicates a high specialization on feeding sources. This might cause a higher extinction risk relative to generalists, because terrestrial ecosystems in Europe changed substantially during the Paleogene.
... It belongs to the lower part of the fluvio-lagoonal Tienen Formation that recorded the CIE of the PETM and contains abundant remains of terrestrial mammals and lizards, freshwater fish, chelonians and crocodylians. The Dormaal fauna, which represents the reference-level MP7 (BiochroM'97 [2]), has already yielded numerous mammal taxa, including the earliest modern placental mammals of Europe [41][42][43]. ...
We here describe a new gekkotan lizard from the earliest Eocene (MP 7) of the Dormaal locality in Belgium, from the time of the warmest global climates of the past 66 million years (Myr). This new taxon, with an age of 56 Myr, together with indeterminate gekkotan material reported from Silveirinha (Portugal, MP 7) represent the oldest Cenozoic gekkotans known from Europe. Today gekkotan lizards are distributed worldwide in mainly warm temperate to tropical areas and the new gecko from Dormaal represents a thermophilic faunal element. Given the Palaeocene–Eocene thermal maximum at that time, the distribution of this group in such northern latitudes (above 50° North – the latitude of southern England) is not surprising. Although this new gekkotan is represented only by a frontal (further, dentaries and a mandibular fragment are described here as Gekkota indet. 1 and 2—at least two gekkotan species occurred in Dormaal), it provides a new record for squamate diversity from the earliest Eocene ‘greenhouse world’. Together with the Baltic amber gekkotan Yantarogekko balticus , they document the northern distribution of gekkotans in Europe during the Eocene. The increase in temperature during the early Eocene led to a rise in sea level, and many areas of Eurasia were submerged. Thus, the importance of this period is magnified by understanding future global climate change.
... This resulted in a homogenization of mammal faunas across the continents of the Northern Hemisphere. During this interval, numerous carnivoramorphan taxa, as well as the first hyaenodonts and oxyaenids, dispersed into Europe (Smith & Smith, 2001;Solé et al., 2011Solé et al., , 2013aSolé et al., , 2014b) (Figs 1B-C, 5). The carnivoraform and mesonychid genera of MP6 survived into the Early Ypresian (MP7) and mixed with the newcomers (Fig. 3). ...
The rise of Carnivora (Mammalia: Laurasiatheria) is an important evolutionary event that changed the structure of terrestrial ecosystems, starting at the dawn of the Eocene, 56 Mya. This radiation has been mainly analysed in North America, leaving the evolution of carnivoran diversity in other regions of the globe poorly known. To tackle this issue, we review the evolution of terrestrial carnivorous mammal diversity (Mesonychidae, Oxyaenidae, Hyaenodonta and Carnivoramorpha) in Europe. We reveal four episodes of intense faunal turnovers that helped establish the dominance of carnivoramorphans over their main competitors. We also identify two periods of general endemism. The remaining time intervals are characterized by dispersals of new taxa from North America, Asia and Africa. The European Palaeogene carnivorous mammal fauna appears to have been almost constantly in a transient state, strongly influenced by dispersals. Many of the bioevents we highlight for European carnivorous mammals are probably best seen as ecosystem-wide responses to environmental changes. In contrast to the North American record, European hyaenodonts remain more diverse than the carnivoramorphans for the entire Eocene. The replacement of hyaenodonts by carnivoramorphans as the most diverse and dominant predators only occurred after the ‘Grande Coupure’ at 33 Mya, about 16 Myr later than in North America.
... 22 and 69. Representatives of the basal carnivoraform genera Uintacyon, Gracilocyon, Protictis, Lycophocyon, and Miacis were added following the phylogeny of ref. 70. Basal fossil afrotherian taxa were positioned following ref. ...
Significance
Interactions during development among genes, cells, and tissues can favor the more frequent generation of some trait variants compared with others. This developmental bias has often been considered to constrain adaptation, but its exact influence on evolution is poorly understood. Using computer simulations of development, we provide evidence that molecules promoting the formation of mammalian tooth cusps could help accelerate tooth complexity evolution. Only relatively small developmental changes were needed to derive the more complex, rectangular upper molar typical of early placental mammals from the simpler triangular ancestral pattern. Development may therefore have enabled the relatively fast divergence of the early placental molar dentition.
... We evaluated the phylogenetic relationships of the Barbourofelinae by scoring a sample of ten taxa of this family spanning hypothesized basal and derived morphologies across the clade: Ginsburgsmilus napakensis, Prosansanosmilus eggeri, Prosansanosmilus peregrinus, Afrosmilus africanus, Afrosmilus hispanicus, Oriensmilus liupanensis, Sansanosmilus palmidens, Albanosmilus whitfordi, Barbourofelis morrisi, and Barbourofelis fricki. We used a modified version of the carnivoramorphan character matrix of Spaulding and Flynn (2012) as a framework, removing outgroup 'creodonts' and stem members of the Carnivoramorpha such as Viverravidae and Vulpavusgroup 'Miacids' (sensu Solé et al., 2014Solé et al., , 2016. These taxa are unlikely to inform of relationships of crown, or near-crown, Carnivora with their Paleocene to early Eocene occurrences, unique dental characters ('creodonts'), and distant phylogenetic relationships as determined by recent analyses (Wesley-Hunt and Flynn, 2005;Spaulding and Flynn, 2012;Solé et al., 2014Solé et al., , 2016. ...
... We used a modified version of the carnivoramorphan character matrix of Spaulding and Flynn (2012) as a framework, removing outgroup 'creodonts' and stem members of the Carnivoramorpha such as Viverravidae and Vulpavusgroup 'Miacids' (sensu Solé et al., 2014Solé et al., , 2016. These taxa are unlikely to inform of relationships of crown, or near-crown, Carnivora with their Paleocene to early Eocene occurrences, unique dental characters ('creodonts'), and distant phylogenetic relationships as determined by recent analyses (Wesley-Hunt and Flynn, 2005;Spaulding and Flynn, 2012;Solé et al., 2014Solé et al., , 2016. ...
... The cladistic studies performed (Morlo et al., 2004;Robles et al., 2013) advocating for this position have barbourofelines placed as sister to the felids as represented by Proailurus and Pseudaelurus, with Eocene-Oligocene nimravids placed basal to all of them. However, recent large-scale cladistic analyses (e.g., Spaulding and Flynn, 2012;Solé et al., 2014Solé et al., , 2016, have not recovered the monophyly of the above mentioned 'felids' and instead placed Proailurus as a stem feloid. Regardless, current literature seems to favor a sister-group relationship of the Barbourofelineae with the Felidae (e.g., Therrien, 2005;Werdelin et al., 2010;Meachen-Samuels, 2012;Piras et al., 2018). ...
Sabertooth craniodental adaptations have evolved numerous times amongst carnivorous mammals. Some of the most extreme sabertooth adaptations are found within the carnivoran subfamily Barbourofelinae. However, the evolutionary origins of this group have been uncertain for more than 170 years, with variable placement as an independent case of sabertooth acquisition, as a clade within the Nimravidae (Eocene to Oligocene ‘false sabertooth cats’), or as a member of the Machairodontinae (true sabertooth cats such as Smilodon). Here we present a novel approach to assessing the validity of three independent sabertooth clades within Carnivora. We performed a total-evidence Bayesian analysis in Beast2 across all major carnivoran families, using the fossilized birth-death (FBD) model and incorporating 223 morphological characters, nuclear and mitochondrial gene sequences, and stratigraphic occurrence data. Our results place barbourofelines as terminal members of the Nimravidae, sister to the Nimravini (0.91 posterior probability), a relationship not found in prior cladistic studies. Ancestral area estimation performed in the R package BioGeoBEARS best supports a primarily European paleobiogeographic center for the barbourofelines with multiple dispersal events to other continents, a finding in direct opposition to past hypotheses for this group. Furthermore, new patterns in convergence between nimravids and machairodontines were revealed via Bayesian ancestral state estimation in BayesTraits. Results support a hypothesis of cats copying nimravids, and nimravids cats in certain aspects of sabertooth morphology, and not total evolutionary independence of these features as typically envisioned.
... Cladistic analysis of early carnivoraforms.-To facilitate taxonomic decisions and evolutionary interpretations of middle Eocene carnivoraforms, we conducted a cladistic analysis of Paleogene carnivoraforms using a modified version of Solé et al.'s (2016) morphological character matrix (Supplemental Data 2), which built on earlier works by Wyss and Flynn (1993), Wesley-Hunt and Flynn (2005), Wesley-Hunt and Werdelin (2005), Polly et al. (2006), Flynn (2009, 2012), Spaulding et al. (2010), and Solé et al. (2014). Our character matrix incorporates additional data from Tomiya (2011), Wang and Zhang (2015), and Tomiya and Tseng (2016), as well as new observations reported in the present paper. ...
... The following are corrections and clarifications of the character-state definitions in Solé et al. (2014;F. Solé, personal communication with ST, 30 October 2017): (1) state 2 of Character 226 (undescribed in Solé et al., 2014) is defined as p3 and p4 having equal heights but differing in lengths; and (2) the descriptions of states 0 and 1 for Character 241 in Solé et al. (2014) are reversed to be consistent with their published scores, and the character is here renamed as 241R to avoid future confusion. ...
... The following are corrections and clarifications of the character-state definitions in Solé et al. (2014;F. Solé, personal communication with ST, 30 October 2017): (1) state 2 of Character 226 (undescribed in Solé et al., 2014) is defined as p3 and p4 having equal heights but differing in lengths; and (2) the descriptions of states 0 and 1 for Character 241 in Solé et al. (2014) are reversed to be consistent with their published scores, and the character is here renamed as 241R to avoid future confusion. We interpret state 1 of Character 217 as an anteriorly deep dentary (lacking marked tapering toward the level of p1) regardless of the presence of a flange . ...
The middle Eocene Washakie Formation of Wyoming, USA, provides a rare window, within a single depositional basin, into the faunal transition that followed the early Eocene warming events. Based on extensive examination, we report a minimum of 27 species of carnivorous mammals from this formation, more than doubling the previous taxic count. Included in this revised list are a new species of carnivoraform, Neovulpavus mccarrolli n. sp., and up to ten other possibly new taxa. Our cladistic analysis of early Carnivoraformes incorporating new data clarified the array of middle Eocene taxa that are closely related to crown-group Carnivora. These anatomically relatively derived carnivoraforms collectively had an intercontinental distribution in North America and east Asia, exhibiting notable variations in body size and dental adaptation. This time period also saw parallel trends of increase in body size and dental sectoriality in distantly related lineages of carnivores spanning a wide range of body sizes. A new, model-based Bayesian analysis of diversity dynamics accounting for imperfect detection revealed a high probability of substantial loss of carnivore species between the late Bridgerian and early Uintan North American Land Mammal ‘Ages’, coinciding with the disappearance of formerly common mammals such as hyopsodontids and adapiform primates. Concomitant with this decline in carnivore diversity, the Washakie vertebrate fauna underwent significant disintegration, as measured by patterns of coordinated detection of taxa at the locality level. These observations are consistent with a major biomic transition in the region in response to climatically induced opening-up of forested habitats.
UUID: http://zoobank.org/9162f1a6-a12c-4d55-ba1d-dc66e8cda261
... The order Carnivora is composed of 296 extant species [1] currently ranged into two suborders: the Caniformia which includes nine families, namely the Canidae (dog-like species), Ailuridae (red panda), Mephitidae (skunks and stink badgers), Mustelidae (weasels, badgers, martens, otters, etc.), Odobenidae (walrus), Otariidae (eared seals), Phocidae (earless seal), Procyonidae (raccoons, coatis, kinkajous, etc.) and Ursidae (bears); and the Feliformia which is represented by seven families, namely the Felidae (cat-like species), Eupleridae (Malagasy carnivorans), Herpestidae (mongooses), Hyaenidae (hyenas), Nandiniidae (African palm civet), Prionodontidae (Asiatic linsangs) and Viverridae (civets and genets). The oldest known fossils of Carnivora have been found in the late Paleocene; they belong to the extinct families Miacidae and Viverravidae, and have small body-size, comparable to extant weasels and martens [2][3][4]. The timing of the emergence of the crown carnivorans and their relationships to Paleocene and Eocene fossils are still unresolved. ...
... However, the phylogenetic positions of these fossils remain uncertain. Indeed, the three fossil genera formed the sister-group of Feloidea + Viverroidea + Herpestides antiquus † in the phylogenetic analyses of Solé et al. [3,4]. In the classification of Hunt [124], Palaeoprionodon was included in the subfamily Prionodontinae with Prionodon and other extant viverrid genera, such as Genetta and Pioana. ...
... Although Prionodon was treated as a member of the Viverridae by Hunt [124] and previous authors, it was then found to be the sistergroup of the Felidae by Gaubert and Veron [125] which was confirmed by all more recent studies [9,10,26] (see also Fig 2). In Nyakatura and Bininda-Emonds [10], Paleoprionodon was used as a calibration point for the Viverridae (based on Hunt and Tedford [126]), although it is suggested to be either close to Prionodon or a stem Feliformia [3,124,127]. ...
The order Carnivora, which currently includes 296 species classified into 16 families, is distributed across all continents. The phylogeny and the timing of diversification of members of the order are still a matter of debate. Here, complete mitochondrial genomes were analysed to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships and to estimate divergence times among species of Carnivora. We assembled 51 new mitogenomes from 13 families, and aligned them with available mitogenomes by selecting only those showing more than 1% of nucleotide divergence and excluding those suspected to be of low-quality or from misidentified taxa. Our final alignment included 220 taxa representing 2,442 mitogenomes. Our analyses led to a robust resolution of suprafamilial and intrafamilial relationships. We identified 21 fossil calibration points to estimate a molecular timescale for carnivorans. According to our divergence time estimates, crown carnivorans appeared during or just after the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum; all major groups of Caniformia (Cynoidea/Arctoidea; Ursidae; Musteloidea/Pinnipedia) diverged from each other during the Eocene, while all major groups of Feliformia (Nandiniidae; Feloidea; Viverroidea) diversified more recently during the Oligocene, with a basal divergence of Nandinia at the Eocene/Oligocene transition; intrafamilial divergences occurred during the Miocene, except for the Procyonidae, as Potos separated from other genera during the Oligocene.
