|
|||||
|
|
A new fossil thryonomyid from the Late Miocene of the United Arab Emirates and the origin of African cane rats |
|
| Authors: | Brian P Kraatz Faysal Bibi Andrew Hill Mark Beech |
| Institution: | 1. Department of Anatomy, Western University of Health Sciences, 309 East Second Street, Pomona, CA, 91711, USA 2. Department of Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, 10024, USA 3. Department of Anthropology, Yale University, P.O. Box 208277, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA 4. Historic Environment Department, Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, P.O. Box 2380, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 5. Department of Archaeology, University of York, The King’s Manor, York, YO1 7EP, UK |
| Abstract: | Cane rats (Thryonomyidae) are represented today by two species inhabiting sub-Saharan Africa. Their fossil record is predominately African, but includes several Miocene species from Arabia and continental Asia that represent dispersal events from Africa. For example, Paraulacodus indicus, known from the Miocene of Pakistan, is closely related to living Thryonomys. Here we describe a new thryonomyid, Protohummus dango, gen. et sp. nov., from the late Miocene Baynunah Formation of the United Arab Emirates. The new thryonomyid is less derived than “Thryonomys” asakomae from the latest Miocene of Ethiopia and clarifies the origin of crown Thryonomys and the evolutionary transition from Paraulacodus. A phylogenetic analysis shows Protohummus dango to be morphologically intermediate between Paraulacodus spp. and extinct and living Thryonomys spp. The morphological grade and phylogenetic position of Protohummus dango further supports previous biochronological estimates of the age of the Baynunah Formation (ca. 6–8 Ma). |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录！ | |