New data on Mustelidae (Carnivora) from Southeast Asia: Siamogale thailandica, a peculiar otter-like mustelid from the late middle Miocene Mae Moh Basin, northern Thailand |
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Authors: | Camille Grohé Yaowalak Chaimanee Louis de Bonis Chotima Yamee Cécile Blondel Jean-Jacques Jaeger |
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Institution: | 1. Institut International de Paléoprimatologie, Paléontologie Humaine: évolution et Paléoenvironnements (IPHEP, UMR-CNRS 6046), Batiment Sciences Naturelles, 40 av. Recteur Pineau, 86022, Poitiers Cedex, France 2. Paleontology Section, Department of Mineral Resources, Rama VI Road, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand
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Abstract: | We report new dental remains of Mustelidae from the late middle Miocene of Mae Moh Basin, northern Thailand, improving the
poor fossil record of the family in Southeast Asia. Siamogale thailandica is a poorly known mustelid, previously recorded from just a single tooth. Here we present over a hundred new specimens attributable
to this species. S. thailandica shows a combination of primitive and convergent features of the dentition that makes its original subfamilial assignment
to Lutrinae doubtful. Evidence from the dental morphology suggests that it belongs to a bunodont otter-like mustelid that
evolved in convergence with “true” otters (Lutrinae) toward a semi-aquatic way of life. Autapomorphic features such as the
height and the position of the m1 metaconid and the shape of the P4 lingual shelf make S. thailandica unique among Mustelidae. The morphology of this species is mostly similar to Mionictis species and Lartetictis dubia, reported in the Miocene of North America and Europe, respectively. These similarities could imply immigration events to
Thailand in the early or middle Miocene. Alternately, the lineage leading to Siamogale might have deeper origins from an endemic early Miocene Southeast Asian mustelid. |
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