Cranial morphology of the Miocene thylacinid Mutpuracinus archibaldi (Thylacinidae, Marsupialia) and relationships within the Dasyuromorphia

Phylogenetic relationships of dasyuromorphian marsupials revisited

“…() argued that evidence for open forest environments based on late Oligocene mammal assemblages in northeastern Australia might explain the apparent dearth of thylacinids as a characteristic element of early–middle Miocene rainforest faunas. This under‐representation of xeric/arid palaeocommunities, in conjunction with ambiguous character state interpretations (see Murray & Megirian, ), could likewise account for the absence of abundant Miocene dasyurids, which perhaps proliferated in the more erosional Mallee‐like scrublands evinced for central Australia from the middle Miocene (Metzger, ; Metzger & Retallack, ). Certainly, similar ‘environmentally biased’ Neogene distributions have been mooted for other Australian marsupials including peramelemorphians (Westerman et al ., ), macropodiforms (Meredith et al ., ), and pseudocheirid possums (Meredith et al ., ), as well as for reptile, amphibian, and bird groups including Australian diplodactylid geckos (Oliver et al ., ), sphenomorphid skinks (Skinner, Hutchinson & Lee, ), snapping turtles (Todd et al ., ), Australian toadlets (Catullo & Keogh, ), and birds (Toon et al ., ; Joseph et al ., ).…”

“…For example, Wroe & Musser () recognized the genus Antechinus (Phascogalini) as sister to Sminthopsis (Sminthopsini) and placed Neophascogale (Dasyurini) with phascogalins ( Murexia and Phascogale ). By contrast, Murray & Megirian () resolved Neophascogale with Dasyurus + Sarcophilus but found that the plesiomorphic thylacinid Mutpuracinus archibaldi could be returned as a dasyurid. Conversely, Van Dyck () nested Phascogale within Antechinus and derived a polytomy incorporating Planigalini, Dasyurinae, and Sminthopsinae.…”

“…The fossil record of dasyuromorphians is generally patchy, comprising fragmentary dental specimens augmented by a few exceptionally preserved cranial and, more rarely, identifiable postcranial remains (see Long et al ., ; Wroe, ; Black et al ., for reviews). Evidence for Myrmecobiidae is entirely lacking from the fossil record prior to the late Pleistocene and the almost exclusively late Oligocene to Miocene diversity of thylacinids is contentious in terms of their relationships (Wroe, ; Murray & Megirian, ). The currently oldest recognized dasyurid is the early middle Miocene Barinya wangala (Wroe, ), which has been placed in its own subfamily – Barinyainae – because of primitive dental features and skull morphology.…”

“…Genus-and species-level placements within the various families were likewise weakly resolved. Indeed Wroe & Musser (2001) generated only 69% bootstrap support for Thylacinidae, and this clade was completely destabilized by the addition of new fossils (see Murray & Megirian, 2006). Resolution of Dasyuridae, which constitutes the bulk of extant dasyuromorphian taxa, was similarly ambiguous.…”

“…fasciatus), Table 1. Suprageneric classification of Dasyuromorphia after Krajewski & Westerman (2003) modified in accordance with this study Order Dasyuromorphia (Gill, 1872) Family Dasyuridae (Goldfuss, 1820) Subfamily Dasyurinae (Goldfuss, 1820) Tribe Dasyurini (Goldfuss, 1820) Dasycercus (Peters, 1875) Dasykaluta (Archer, 1982) Dasyuroides (Spencer, 1896 (Archer, 1982) Tribe Sminthopsini (Archer, 1984) Antechinomys (Krefft, 1867) Ningaui (Archer, 1975) Sminthopsis (Thomas, 1887) Tribe Planigalini (Archer, 1984) Planigale (Troughton, 1928) Family Myrmecobiidae (Waterhouse, 1836) Myrmecobius (Waterhouse, 1836) Family †Thylacinidae (Bonapart, 1838) †Thylacinus (Bonapart, 1838) Order Dasyuromorphia incertae sedis †, ‡, §Apoktesis (Campbell, 1976b) †Maygriphus (Wroe, 1997) Family Thylacinidae incertae sedis †Badjcinus (Muirhead & Wroe, 1998) †Maximucinus (Wroe, 2001) †Muribacinus (Wroe, 1996) †Mutpuracinus (Murray & Megirian, 2006) †Ngamalacinus (Muirhead, 1997) †Nimbacinus (Muirhead and Archer, 1990) †Tjarrpecinus (Murray & Megirian, 2006) Family Dasyuridae incertae sedis †, † † Barinya (Wroe, 1999) †,**, † † Archerium (Wroe & Mackness, 2000) †,**, † † Ganbulanyi (Wroe, 1998) *Includes the monospecific phascogalin genera Micromurexia, Murexechinus, Paramurexia, and Phascomurexia following Armstrong et al (1998) and Krajewski et al (2007); also incorporates the additional species Murexia aspera. † Extinct.…”