尸掠兽属
化石时期:早中新世
~21.0–17.5 Ma
巴塔哥尼亚尸掠兽(N. patagonensis)颅骨
科学分类 编辑
界: 动物界 Animalia
门: 脊索动物门 Chordata
纲: 哺乳纲 Mammalia
演化支 歧兽类 Cladotheria
演化支 子午猬类 Meridiolestida
科: 尸掠兽科 Necrolestidae
Ameghino, 1891[1]
属: 尸掠兽属 Necrolestes
Ameghino, 1891
模式种
Necrolestes patagonensis
Ameghino, 1891
  • 巴塔哥尼亚尸掠兽 N. patagonensis Ameghino, 1891
  • 奇异尸掠兽 N. mirabilis Goin et al., 2007

尸掠兽属学名Necrolestes,意思为“盗墓贼”、“尸体掠夺者”),又称尸袋猬属,是已灭绝哺乳动物,生存于中新世早期的阿根廷巴塔哥尼亚,化石出土于萨米恩托层英语Sarmiento Formation圣塔克鲁兹层英语Santa Cruz Formation[2]

尸掠兽属外型类似于现存的鼹鼠,同样也是以穴居为主,主要以无脊椎动物为食。它们是目前已知幸存至最后的子午猬类英语Meridiolestida演化支。子午猬类为白垩纪晚期兴盛于南美洲的哺乳类,相较于单孔目,它们与兽亚纲(包含了现存的有袋类以及有胎盘类)之间的亲缘关系更为接近。

尸掠兽属目前已知包含两个物种,分别为属于模式种的巴塔哥尼亚尸掠兽,是于1891年由弗洛伦蒂诺·阿米希诺英语Florentino Ameghino根据其弟弟卡洛斯·阿米希诺英语Carlos Ameghino所发现的化石发表命名;以及发表于2007年的奇异尸掠兽。

Description

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下颚化石

About one-third of the skeleton of N. patagonensis—including most of the skull— has been found as disassociated bones of several individuals. The snout bends upwards at its end. The opening of the nasal fenestra has a septomaxilla separating the nasal and premaxilla bones, which is unknown in therian mammals, with the nasal fenestra also appearing to have ossified external nasal cartilage.[3] The forelimbs have numerous characters in common with those of fossorial mammals, including a medially curved olecranon process of the ulna, and a mediolaterally compressed head of the humerus.[4]

Ecology

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Necrolestes was probably a subterranean mole-like mammal that fed on invertebrates. The morphology of the snout suggests that it dug by lifting its snout upwards, similar to modern marsupial moles and golden moles, as well as by using its forelimbs. The high volume of the middle ear suggests that it had enhanced hearing of low-frequency sounds.[3]

Classification

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Its classification was historically unclear due to it being highly apomorphic and having an anatomy unlike any other known mammal, living or extinct. It was thought to be a therian mammal; placement within either the marsupial lineage (Metatheria) or as a member of Eutheria would have been possible given that South America as an island had extensive lineages of both marsupial and placental mammals. However, phylogenetic analyses conducted by Rougier et al. (2012), Chimento, Agnolin and Novas (2012) and Averianov, Martin and Lopatin (2013) recovered Necrolestes in an unexpected phylogenetic position as a nontherian mammal that belonged to the clade Meridiolestida;[5][6][7] if confirmed this would make Necrolestes the youngest known member of the group. Within Meridiolestida, Rougier et al. (2012) found Necrolestes to be particularly closely related to the genera Cronopio and Leonardus;[5] Chimento et al. (2012) found it to be in unresolved polytomy with Cronopio, Leonardus and the clade containing all other meridiolestidans[6] while Averianov et al. (2013) recovered Cronopio, Necrolestes and Leonardus as forming a grade at the base of Meridiolestida rather than a clade.[7] A subsequent 2017 monograph of the skull anatomy further supported a placement within Meridiolestida.[3]

Phylogeny

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This cladogram follows the paper of Rougier, Wible, Beck and Apesteguía of 2012:[5]

Meridiolestida

Leonardus

Cronopio

Necrolestes

Reigitherium

Peligrotherium

Mesungulatum

Coloniatherium

参考文献

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  1. ^ Florentino Ameghino. Nuevos restos de mamíferos fósiles descubiertos por Carlos Ameghino en el Eoceno inferior de la Patagonia austral. Especies nuevas, adiciones y correciones. Revista Argentina de Historia Natural. 1891, 1: 289–328. 
  2. ^ Necrolestes at Fossilworks.org
  3. ^ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Wible, John R.; Rougier, Guillermo W. Craniomandibular Anatomy of the Subterranean Meridiolestidan Necrolestes patagonensis Ameghino, 1891 (Mammalia, Cladotheria) from the Early Miocene of Patagonia. Annals of Carnegie Museum. 2017-06-15, 84 (3): 183–252. ISSN 0097-4463. doi:10.2992/007.084.0302 (英语). 
  4. ^ Asher, Robert J.; Horovitz, Ine´S; Martin, Thomas; Sánchez-Villagra, Marcelo R. Neither a Rodent nor a Platypus: a Reexamination of Necrolestes patagonensis Ameghino. American Museum Novitates. 2007, (3546): 1. ISSN 0003-0082. doi:10.1206/0003-0082(2007)3546[1:NARNAP]2.0.CO;2 (英语). 
  5. ^ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Guillermo W. Rougier; John R. Wible; Robin M. D. Beck; Sebastian Apesteguía. The Miocene mammal Necrolestes demonstrates the survival of a Mesozoic nontherian lineage into the late Cenozoic of South America. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2012, 109 (49): 20053–20058. Bibcode:2012PNAS..10920053R. PMC 3523863 . PMID 23169652. doi:10.1073/pnas.1212997109 . 
  6. ^ 6.0 6.1 Nicolás R. Chimento, Federico L. Agnolin and Fernando E. Novas. The Patagonian fossil mammal Necrolestes: a Neogene survivor of Dryolestoidea (PDF). Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales. Nueva Serie. 2012, 14 (2): 261–306 [2017-08-08]. (原始内容 (PDF)存档于2013-11-04). 
  7. ^ 7.0 7.1 Alexander O. Averianov; Thomas Martin; Alexey V. Lopatin. A new phylogeny for basal Trechnotheria and Cladotheria and affinities of South American endemic Late Cretaceous mammals. Naturwissenschaften. 2013, 100 (4): 311–326. Bibcode:2013NW....100..311A. PMID 23494201. S2CID 18504005. doi:10.1007/s00114-013-1028-3.