A Phylogeny and Timescale for Marsupial Evolution Based on Sequences for Five Nuclear Genes

Meredith, Robert W.; Westerman, Michael; Case, Judd A.; Springer, Mark S.

doi:10.1007/s10914-007-9062-6

Cited by 134 publications

(164 citation statements)

References 88 publications

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“…SAMPLING: Our phylogenetic analyses are based on the assumption of didelphid monophyly, which is strongly supported by a variety of nuclear-gene sequence datasets (e.g., Jansa and Voss, 2000;Amrine-Madsen et al, 2003;Meredith et al, 2008). Our ingroup terminals (table 2) consist of 44 species representing every currently recognized didelphid genus and subgenus, including all of the species previously analyzed by Voss (2000, 2005), Voss and Jansa (2003), Voss et al (2004a, Jansa et al (2006), and Gruber et al (2007).…”

Section: Phylogenetic Assumptions and Taxonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phylogenetic Relationships and Classification of Didelphid Marsupials, an Extant Radiation of New World Metatherian Mammals

Voss

Jansa

2009

Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History

309

443

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Section: Phylogenetic Assumptions and Taxonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phylogenetic Relationships and Classification of Didelphid Marsupials, an Extant Radiation of New World Metatherian Mammals

Voss

Jansa

2009

Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History

309

443

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“…However, there is now overwhelming evidence that Notoryctes is indeed a marsupial (e.g. Horovitz and Sánchez-Villagra, 2003;Asher et al, 2004;Nilsson et al, 2004Nilsson et al, , 2010Beck, 2008;Beck et al, 2008;Meredith et al, 2008Meredith et al, , 2009bMeredith et al, , 2011Mitchell et al, 2014). Recent phylogenetic analyses, particularly those based on molecular data (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent phylogenetic analyses, particularly those based on molecular data (e.g. Nilsson et al, 2004Nilsson et al, , 2010Beck, 2008;Meredith et al, 2008Meredith et al, , 2009bMeredith et al, , 2011Mitchell et al, 2014), typically place Notoryctes in a clade with the Australian marsupial orders Dasyuromorphia (predominantly carnivorous forms such as quolls, thylacines and the numbat) and Peramelemorphia (bandicoots and bilbies); named this clade Agreodontia. However, the precise branching relationship between Notoryctemorphia, Dasyuromorphia and Peramelemorphia is uncertain.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Going underground: postcranial morphology of the early Miocene marsupial mole Naraboryctes philcreaseri and the evolution of fossoriality in notoryctemorphians

Beck¹,

Warburton²,

Archer³

et al. 2016

MMV

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Beck, R.M.D., Warburton, N.M., Archer, M., Hand, S.J. and Aplin, K.P. 2016. Going underground: postcranial morphology of the early Miocene marsupial mole Naraboryctes philcreaseri and the evolution of fossoriality in notoryctemorphians. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 74: 151-171.We present the first detailed descriptions of postcranial elements of the fossil marsupial mole Naraboryctes philcreaseri (Marsupialia: Notoryctemorphia), from early Miocene freshwater limestone deposits in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland. Qualitative functional analysis of these elements suggest that Na. philcreaseri was very well-adapted for burrowing, albeit somewhat less so than the living marsupial moles Notoryctes typhlops and N. caurinus. Quadratic discriminant analysis of limb measurements suggests that Na. philcreaseri was subterranean, and its Index of Fossorial Ability is almost identical to that of Notoryctes species, being among the highest known for any mammal. These results suggest that notoryctemorphians evolved their specialised, "mole-like" subterranean lifestyle prior to the early Miocene. Given that forested environments predominated in Australia until the middle-late Miocene, this transition to subterranean behaviour may have occurred via burrowing in forest floors, in which case fossorial mammals that live in tropical rainforests today (such as the placental golden moles Chrysospalax trevelyani and Huetia leucorhina) may represent reasonable living analogues for early notoryctemorphians. However, alternative scenarios, such as a cave-dwelling or semi-aquatic ancestry, should be considered. Phylogenetic analysis using a Bayesian total evidence dating approach places Naraboryctes as sister to Notoryctes with strong support (Bayesian posterior probability = 0.91), and indicates that Naraboryctes and Notoryctes diverged 30.3 MYA (95% HPD: 17.7-46.3 MYA). The age and known morphology of Na. philcreaseri does not preclude its being ancestral to Notoryctes. Using estimates of divergence times and ratios of nonsynonymous to synonymous substitutions per site, we infer that the nuclear gene "Retinol-binding protein 3, interstitial" (RBP3), which plays a key role in vision, became inactive in the Notoryctes lineage ~5.4 MYA (95% HPD: 4.5-6.3 MYA). This is much younger than previous published estimates, and postdates considerably the age of Na. philcreaseri, implying that RBP3 was active in this fossil taxon; hence, Na. philcreaseri may have retained a functional visual system. Our estimate for the inactivation of RBP3 in the Notoryctes lineage coincides with palaeobotanical evidence for a major increase in the abundance of grasses in Australia, which may indicate the appearance of more open environments, and hence selection pressure on notoryctemorphians to spend less time on the surface, leading to relaxed selection on RBP3. Ultimately, however, a fuller understanding of the origin and evolution of notoryctemorphians -including when and why they became "molelike" -will require improvements in ...

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“…Accordingly, numerous studies have since used ~23-25 Ma to calibrate the node as a point estimate or minimum bound (e.g., Kirsch et al, 1997;Westerman et al, 2002). However, Meredith et al (2008b) acknowledged that several morphological appraisals (Flannery, 1989;Cooke, 2006) provide substantial uncertainty for the placement of these fossils, and instead used a more conservative minimum bound of 12 Ma. This younger date is based on clearer macropodid material (see Prideaux, 2004).…”

Section: Divergence Time Estimationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Four mammal fossil calibrations: balancing competing palaeontological and molecular considerations

Phillips

2015

Palaeontologia Electronica

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A Phylogeny and Timescale for Marsupial Evolution Based on Sequences for Five Nuclear Genes

Cited by 134 publications

References 88 publications

Phylogenetic Relationships and Classification of Didelphid Marsupials, an Extant Radiation of New World Metatherian Mammals

Phylogenetic Relationships and Classification of Didelphid Marsupials, an Extant Radiation of New World Metatherian Mammals

Going underground: postcranial morphology of the early Miocene marsupial mole Naraboryctes philcreaseri and the evolution of fossoriality in notoryctemorphians

Four mammal fossil calibrations: balancing competing palaeontological and molecular considerations

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