使用者:Lureplant/沙盒

屍掠獸屬
化石時期:早中新世
~21.0–17.5 Ma
巴塔哥尼亞屍掠獸(N. patagonensis)顱骨
科學分類 編輯
界: 動物界 Animalia
門: 脊索動物門 Chordata
綱: 哺乳綱 Mammalia
演化支 歧獸類 Cladotheria
演化支 子午蝟類 Meridiolestida
科: 屍掠獸科 Necrolestidae
Ameghino, 1891[1]
屬: 屍掠獸屬 Necrolestes
Ameghino, 1891
模式種
Necrolestes patagonensis
Ameghino, 1891
  • 巴塔哥尼亞屍掠獸 N. patagonensis Ameghino, 1891
  • 奇異屍掠獸 N. mirabilis Goin et al., 2007

屍掠獸屬學名Necrolestes,意思為「盜墓賊」、「屍體掠奪者」),又稱屍袋蝟屬,是已滅絕哺乳動物,生存於中新世早期的阿根廷巴塔哥尼亞,化石出土於薩米恩托層英語Sarmiento Formation聖塔克魯茲層英語Santa Cruz Formation[2]

屍掠獸屬外型類似於現存的鼴鼠,同樣也是以穴居為主,主要以無脊椎動物為食。牠們是目前已知倖存至最後的子午蝟類英語Meridiolestida演化支。子午蝟類為白堊紀晚期興盛於南美洲的哺乳類,相較於單孔目,牠們與獸亞綱(包含了現存的有袋類以及有胎盤類)之間的親緣關係更為接近。

屍掠獸屬目前已知包含兩個物種,分別為屬於模式種的巴塔哥尼亞屍掠獸,是於1891年由弗洛倫蒂諾·阿米希諾英語Florentino Ameghino根據其弟弟卡洛斯·阿米希諾英語Carlos Ameghino所發現的化石發表命名;以及發表於2007年的奇異屍掠獸。

Description

編輯
 
下顎化石

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

編輯

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

編輯

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

編輯

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

Meridiolestida

Leonardus

Cronopio

Necrolestes

Reigitherium

Peligrotherium

Mesungulatum

Coloniatherium

參考文獻

編輯
  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 (英語). 
  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 (英語). 
  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]. (原始內容 (PDF)存檔於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.