New Basal Perissodactyla (Mammalia) From The Lower Eocene Ghazij Formation of Pakistan

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109436/1/Contributions32No8-12082014.pdfDescription of Contributions32No8-12082014.pdf : Contributions Volume 32, Number

New early Eocene tapiromorph perissodactyls from the Ghazij Formation of Pakistan, with implications for mammalian biochronology in Asia

Early Eocene mammals from Indo-Pakistan have only recently come under study. Here we describe the first tapiromorph perissodactyls from the subcontinent. Gandheralophus minor n. gen. and n. sp. and G. robustus n. sp. are two species of Isectolophidae differing in size and in reduction of the anterior dentition. Gandheralophus is probably derived from a primitive isectolophid such as Orientolophus hengdongensis from the earliest Eocene of China, and may be part of a South Asian lineage that also contains Karagalax from the middle Eocene of Pakistan. Two specimens are referred to a new, unnamed species of Lophialetidae. Finally, a highly diagnostic M3 and a molar fragment are described as the new eomoropid chalicothere Litolophus ghazijensis sp. nov. The perissodactyls described here, in contrast to most other mammalian groups published from the early Eocene of Indo-Pakistan, are most closely related to forms known from East and Central Asia. Tapiromorpha are diverse and biochronologically important in the Eocene there and our results allow the first biochronological correlation between early Eocene mammal faunas in Indo-Pakistan and the rest of Asia. We suggest that the upper Ghazij Formation of Pakistan is best correlated with the middle or late part of the Bumbanian Asian Land-Mammal Age, while the Kuldana and Subathu Formations of Pakistan and India are best correlated with the Arshantan Asian Land-Mammal Age

Asian gliriform origin for arctostylopid mammals

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Evidence of strong stabilizing effects on the evolution of boreoeutherian (Mammalia) dental proportions.

The dentition is an extremely important organ in mammals with variation in timing and sequence of eruption, crown morphology, and tooth size enabling a range of behavioral, dietary, and functional adaptations across the class. Within this suite of variable mammalian dental phenotypes, relative sizes of teeth reflect variation in the underlying genetic and developmental mechanisms. Two ratios of postcanine tooth lengths capture the relative size of premolars to molars (premolar-molar module, PMM), and among the three molars (molar module component, MMC), and are known to be heritable, independent of body size, and to vary significantly across primates. Here, we explore how these dental traits vary across mammals more broadly, focusing on terrestrial taxa in the clade of Boreoeutheria (Euarchontoglires and Laurasiatheria). We measured the postcanine teeth of N = 1,523 boreoeutherian mammals spanning six orders, 14 families, 36 genera, and 49 species to test hypotheses about associations between dental proportions and phylogenetic relatedness, diet, and life history in mammals. Boreoeutherian postcanine dental proportions sampled in this study carry conserved phylogenetic signal and are not associated with variation in diet. The incorporation of paleontological data provides further evidence that dental proportions may be slower to change than is dietary specialization. These results have implications for our understanding of dental variation and dietary adaptation in mammals

Evolutionary Transition From Ammonite Subprionocyclus To Reesidites—Punctuated Or Gradual?

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137416/1/evo00660.pd

Returning to the Originary Enmity of Philosophy and Literature: Juan Benet\u27s DEL POZO Y DEL NUMA (Un ensayo y una leyenda)

The article discusses the book Del pozo y del numa (un ensayo y una leyenda), by Spanish author Juan Benet. The book is a critical analysis of the work of German novelist Thomas Mann. The article explores the similarities between the two writers, and while Benet was disappointed in Mann\u27s opus Joseph and His Brothers, both writers were accustomed to include philosophical digressions in their works. The article also mentions Benet\u27s love-hate relationship with literary criticism

New Partial Skeleton And Relative Brain Size In The Late Eocene Archaeocete Zygorhiza Kochii (Mammalia, Cetacea) From The Pachuta Marl of Alabama, With A Note on Contemporaneous Pontogeneus Brachyspondylus

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113064/1/Contributions32No10-High Resolution.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113064/2/Contributions32No10-lowresolution.pd