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Astrapotheria

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Astrapotheria
Temporal range: Late Paleocene-Late Miocene
~59–11.8 Ma
Reconstruction of Astrapotherium in natural habitat
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Clade: †Meridiungulata
Order: †Astrapotheria
Lydekker 1894[1]
Families

† Astrapotheriidae
† Eoastrapostylopidae
† Trigonostylopidae

Astrapotheria is an extinct order of South American[2] and Antarctic[3] hoofed mammals that existed from the Late Paleocene to the Middle Miocene, 59 to 11.8 million years ago.[2] Astrapotheres were large and rhinoceros-like animals and have been called one of the most bizarre orders of mammals with an enigmatic evolutionary history.[4]

This taxonomy of this order is not clear, but it may belong to Meridiungulata (along with Notoungulata, Litopterna, Pyrotheria and Xenungulata). In turn, Meridungulata is believed to belong to the extant superorder Laurasiatheria. Some scientists have regarded the astrapotheres (and sometimes the Meridiungulata all together) as members of the clade Atlantogenata. However, recent collogen and mitonchodrial DNA sequence data places at least the notoungulates and litopterns firmly within Laurasiatheria, as a sister group to the perissodactyls.[5][6][7]

Description

Astrapotherium magnum skull

Their lophodont molars and tusk-like canines became extremely large and ever-growing in later astrapotheres. The upper molars lack an ectocingulum and are dominated by well-developed ectoloph and protoloph. Additional lophs formed in some derived taxa. They had lower molars with two cross-lophs, including a high protocristid, and eventually became almost selenodont. As a result, their dentition is similar to notoungulates, but it seems to have evolved independently. The cheek teeth are similar to rhinocerotoids, including similar microstructure, which indicate they had the same function.[4]

Postcranially, astrapotheres are relatively robust and more or less graviportal but have slender long bones, most notably in the hindlegs, suggesting they were amphibious. In order to support their proboscises and large heads they had relatively long and massive necks in relation to the rest of the vertebral column. Their feet are pentadactyl with short and stout podial and metapodial bones. Most characteristic for the order are the flat astragalus, equipped with a short neck and a flat head, articulating with both the navicular and cuboid bones; and their calcaneus with its enlarged peroneal tubercle.[4]

Three families are recognized: Eoastrapostylopidae from the late Paleocene, Trigonostylopidae from the Paleocene-Eocene, and Astrapotheriidae from the Eocene-Miocene. The Brazilian, Itaboraian Tetragonostylops and the Argentinian, Riochican Eoastrapostylops are the oldest astrapotheres. The latter, with its low-crowned and lophoselenodont cheek teeth, is considered the most primitive astrapothere. Trigonostylopids are distinct from other astrapotheres in their ear anatomy but are included in the order because of otherwise similar characters.[4] Antarctodon is one of few eutherian mammals, as well as one of the last known terrestrial vertebrates, found in Antarctica.[8]

Skull of Granastrapotherium

The most famous member of the order is undoubtedly Astrapotherium, a 3 m (9.8 ft) long elephant-like beast that had lost its upper incisors and developed ever-growing canine tusks. They had lost their anterior premolars, resulting in a gap between their tusks and the hypsodont cheek teeth. The short and retracted nasal bones indicate a moderately developed proboscis. The small Eocene Trigonostylops lacked such retracted nasals and probably also a proboscis. Other astrapotheriids, such as the Casamayoran Scaglia and Albertogaudrya, were between a sheep and a tapir in size and already the largest South American mammals.[4]

Classification

Two reconstructions of Astrapotherium
Trigonostylops

There is no scientific consensus regarding the classification within Astrapotheria. For example, Paula Couto 1963 originally described Tetragonostylops as a trigonostylopid but Soria 1982 and 1984 transferred the genus to Astrapotheriidae and concluded that the remaining two genera in that family, Trigonostylops and Shecenia, form a basal collateral branch within Astrapotheriidae. According to Cifelli 1993, Trigonostylopidae (including Eoastrapostylopidae) is the stem group of Astrapotheriidae.[9]

References

Wikispecies has information related to Astrapotheria.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Astrapotheria.
  1. ^ Astrapotheria in the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved March 2013
  2. ^ a b "The uruguaytheriine Astrapotheriidae from the rich middle Miocene Honda Group of the upper Magdalena River valley in Colombia (...) are the youngest securely dated remains of that order in South America." Johnson & Madden 1997, p. 356
  3. ^ Bond, M.; Kramarz, A.; MacPhee, R. D. E.; Reguero, M. (2011). "A new astrapothere (Mammalia, Meridiungulata) from La Meseta Formation, Seymour (Marambio) Island, and a reassessment of previous records of Antarctic astrapotheres" (PDF). American Museum Novitates. 3718 (3718): 1–16. doi:10.1206/3718.2. hdl:2246/6118.
  4. ^ a b c d e Rose 2006, pp. 235–6
  5. ^ Welker, F.; Collins, M. J.; Thomas, J. A.; Wadsley, M.; Brace, S.; Cappellini, E.; Turvey, S. T.; Reguero, M.; Gelfo, J. N.; Kramarz, A.; Burger, J.; Thomas-Oates, J.; Ashford, D. A.; Ashton, P. D.; Rowsell, K.; Porter, D. M.; Kessler, B.; Fischer, R.; Baessmann, C.; Kaspar, S.; Olsen, J. V.; Kiley, P.; Elliott, J. A.; Kelstrup, C. D.; Mullin, V.; Hofreiter, M.; Willerslev, E.; Hublin, J.-J.; Orlando, L.; Barnes, I.; MacPhee, R. D. E. (2015-03-18). "Ancient proteins resolve the evolutionary history of Darwin's South American ungulates". Nature. 522 (7554): 81–84. doi:10.1038/nature14249. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 25799987.
  6. ^ Buckley, M. (2015-04-01). "Ancient collagen reveals evolutionary history of the endemic South American 'ungulates'". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 282 (1806): 20142671. doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.2671. PMC 4426609. PMID 25833851.
  7. ^ Westbury, M.; Baleka, S.; Barlow, A.; Hartmann, S.; Paijmans, J. L. A.; Kramarz, A.; Forasiepi, A. M.; Bond, M.; Gelfo, J. N.; Reguero, M. A.; López-Mendoza, P.; Taglioretti, M.; Scaglia, F.; Rinderknecht, A.; Jones, W.; Mena, F.; Billet, G.; de Muizon, C.; Aguilar, J. L.; MacPhee, R. D. E.; Hofreiter, M. (2017-06-27). "A mitogenomic timetree for Darwin's enigmatic South American mammal Macrauchenia patachonica". Nature Communications. 8: 15951. doi:10.1038/ncomms15951. PMC 5490259. PMID 28654082.
  8. ^ Bond et al. 2011
  9. ^ Bond et al. 2011, Relationships
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Classification of the order Astrapotheria in the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved March 2013.
  11. ^ "Phylogenetic analysis suggests that Antarctodon is closer to genera classified by previous authors as astrapotheriids (e.g., Albertogaudrya and Tetragonostylops) than it is to Trigonostylops." Bond et al. 2011, p. 2
  12. ^ "Name — Eoastrapostylopidae Soria & Powell 1981". Index to Organism Names. Archived from the original on 2016-12-21. Retrieved March 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

Bibliography

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  • Ameghino, Florentino (1891). "Los monos fósiles del Eoceno de la República Argentina" (PDF). Revista Argentina de Historia Natural. 1 (6). Buenos Aires: 383–397. Retrieved 2 March 2013. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Ameghino, Florentino (1895). Première contribution à la connaissance de la faune mammalogique des couches à Pyrotherium. Buenos Aires: P.E. Coni. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Ameghino, Florentino (1897). "Mamiferos Cretaceos de la Argentina. Segunda contribucion al conocimiento de la fauna mastologica de las capas con restos de Pyrotherium". Boletin Instituto Geografico Argentino. 18: 406–521. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Ameghino, Florentino (1901). "Notices préliminaires sur des ongulés des terrains Crétacés de Patagonie". Boletín de la Academia de Ciencias en Córdoba. 16: 349–426. OCLC 123174974. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Bond, Mariano; Kramarz, Alejandro; Macphee, Ross D. E.; Reguero, Marcelo (June 2011). "A New Astrapothere (Mammalia, Meridiungulata) from La Meseta Formation, Seymour (Marambio) Island, and a Reassessment of Previous Records of Antarctic Astrapotheres" (PDF). American Museum Novitates. 3718 (3718): 1–16. doi:10.1206/3718.2. hdl:2246/6118. OCLC 728156717. Retrieved 2 March 2013. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Burmeister, Hermann (1879). Description physique de la République Argentine : d'après des observations personnelles et étrangères. Vol. 3 Animaux vertébrés, 1. partie, Mammifères vivants et éteints. Paris: Savy. p. 520. OCLC 162707154. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Cifelli, R. L. (1993). "The phylogeny of the native South American ungulates". In Szalay, F.S.; Novacek, M.J.; McKenna, M.C. (eds.). Mammal phylogeny. New York: Springer-Verlag. pp. 195–216. ISBN 9780387978536. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Johnson, Steven C.; Madden, Richard H. (1997). "Uruguaytheriine Astrapotheres of Tropical South America". In Kay, Richard F.; Madden, Richard H.; Cifelli, Richard L.; Flynn, John J. (eds.). Vertebrate paleontology in the neotropics : the Miocene fauna of La Venta, Colombia. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 355–82. ISBN 9781560984184. OCLC 30320084. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Kraglievich, Lucas (1928). Sobre el supuesto Astrapotherium Christi Stehlin, descubierto en Venezuela (Xenastrapotherium n. gen.) y sus relaciones con Astrapotherium magnum y Uruguaytherium Beaulieui. Buenos Aires: La Editorial Franco-Argentina. OCLC 20881142. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Kramarz, Alejandro G; Bond, Mariano (2009). "A new oligocene astrapothere (Mammalia , Meridiungulata) from Patagonia and a new appraisal of astrapothere phylogeny". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 7 (1): 117–128. doi:10.1017/S147720190800268X. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Kramarz, Alejandro; Bond, Mariano (2011). "A new early Miocene astrapotheriid (Mammalia, Astrapotheria) from Northern Patagonia, Argentina". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. 260 (3): 277–87. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2011/0132. OCLC 740850188. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Lydekker, Richard (1894). "Contributions to a knowledge of the Fossil Vertebrates of Argentina. III — A study of extinct argentine ungulates". Anales del Museo de la Plata. Paleontología Argentina. 2 (3): 1–86. OCLC 12322584. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Paula Couto, Carlos, de (1963). "Um Trigonostylopidae do Paleoceno do Brasil". Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 35 (3): 339–51. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Paula Couto, Carlos, de (1976). "Fossil mammals from the cenozoic of Acre, Brazil". Porto Alegre: Museu de Ciências naturais da Fundação zoobotânica do Rio Grande do Sul. OCLC 31145316. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Rose, Kenneth David (2006). The beginning of the age of mammals. Baltimore: JHU Press. ISBN 978-0801884726. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Simpson, George Gaylord (1935). "Descriptions of the oldest known South American mammals, from the Río Chico Formation". American Museum Novitates. 793: 1–25. OCLC 44083494. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Simpson, George Gaylord (1957). "A new Casamayoran astrapothere". Revista del Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturales y Tradicional de Mar del Plata. 1 (3): 11–18. OCLC 81633287. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Soria, M. F.; Powell, J. E. (1981). "Un primitivo Astrapotheria (Mammalia) y la edad de la Formación Río Loro, Provincia de Tucumán, República Argentina". Ameghiniana. 18 (3–4): 155–68. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Soria, M. F. (1982). "Tetragonostylops apthomasi (Price y Paula Couto, 1950): su asignación a Astrapotheriidae (Mammalia; Astrapotheria)". Ameghiniana. 19 (3–4): 234–238. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Soria, M. F. (1984). "Eoastrapostylopidae: diagnosis e implicaciones en la sistemática y evolución de los Astrapotheria preoligocénicos". Actas 2° Congreso Argentino de Paleontología y Bioestratigrafía: 175–182. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Vallejo Pareja, M. C.; Carrillo, J. D.; Moreno Bernal, J. W.; Pardo Jaramillo, M.; Rodríguez González, D. F.; Muñoz Durán, J. (2015). "Hilarcotherium castanedaii, gen. et sp. nov., a new Miocene astrapothere (Mammalia, Astrapotheriidae) from the Upper Magdalena Valley, Colombia" (PDF). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 35 (2): e903960. doi:10.1080/02724634.2014.903960. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
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