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Mammalian Petrosals from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation (Utah, USA) Reveal Non-canonical Evolution of Middle and Inner Ear Characters

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Abstract

The Morrison Formation bears one of the most diverse assemblages of Late Jurassic terrestrial vertebrates worldwide. A recently discovered site in eastern Utah, the Cisco Mammal Quarry (CMQ), shows excellent preservation and small vertebrates (particularly mammals) collected thus far are very diverse. Two isolated petrosals from the CMQ, representing the same taxon, are described here based on CT data. Several plesiomorphic mammalian characters are present, including a horizontal crista interfenestralis, unfloored cavum supracochleare, a perilymphatic foramen, and an open perilymphatic groove. By contrast, a well-developed tractus foraminosus is present for distribution of cochlear nerve fibers and the cochlear endocast makes one full turn, as in early therians such as Prokennalestes. This latter derived condition is unrecorded in the Jurassic; the mammal fauna characteristic of the Morrison is dominated by docodontans, eutriconodontans, dryolestoids (dryolestids and paurodontids), and multituberculates. All currently-known examples of these high-level taxa possess a relatively short, straight or curved cochlea. Therians are not known from the Morrison Formation, but these petrosals invite comparison with some stem therians of South America, the meridiolestidans, which also bear a full coil, but differ from the Morrison petrosals in aspects of external morphology. While the taxonomic affinity of the specimens we describe here remains uncertain, the unique combination of petrosal characters is evidence that our current view of petrosal/inner ear evolution is oversimplified. With the presence of derived and plesiomorphic features character conflict is unavoidable, pointing to a complex interplay of external petrosal osteology under the influence of neurovascular and middle ear evolution and the (perhaps more independent) biophysical demands of inner ear function.

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modified from Wible and Hopson 1993) and Dinnetherium (b, modified from Crompton and Luo 1993; Rougier et al. 1996); the docodontan Haldanodon (c, modified from Ruf et al. 2013); the eutriconodontan Priacodon (d, modified from Rougier et al. 1996); the possible gobiconodontid Khoobur 1 (e, modified from Wible and Hopson 1995); the multituberculate ?Catopsalis (f, modified from Wible and Hopson 1993); the meridiolestidan Cronopio (g, modified from Rougier et al. 2011); the stem therian Vincelestes (h, modified from Rougier et al. 1992); the basal eutherian Prokennalestes (i, modified from Wible et al. 2001); the dryolestid Dryolestes (j, modified from Luo et al. 2012); the CMQ petrosal OMNH 80536 (k). Abbreviations: ci, crista interfenestralis; cp, crista parotica; fc, fenestra cochleae; fv, fenestra vestibuli; jn, jugular notch; lt, lateral trough; pc, prootic canal; pp, paroccipital process; pr, promontorium; sff, secondary facial foramen

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Acknowledgements

We dedicate this contribution to John Wible for his leadership in making JME a leading journal in our field and his monumental contributions to our understanding of the evolutionary patterns of the ear region throughout the history of mammals. Dr. Jessie Maisano (UTCT) obtained micro-CT data of the specimens in this study. We thank Simone Hoffmann and an anonymous reviewer for improvements to the manuscript. Funding for this project has come in part from a Discovery Pool grant to BMD from the Canyonlands Natural History Association (Moab, UT). This project has been partially supported by the ASNB Department (BMD and GWR) at the University of Louisville, Louisville, KY. CT scanning and data management support were provided by National Science Foundation grant FRES-1925896 to RLC. Additional support for GWR’s research was provided by PICT 2016 2682, a grant from the Agencia Nacional de Promoción de la Investigación, el Desarrollo Tecnológico y la Innovación, Argentina.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, University of Louisville School of Medicine, 511 S. Floyd St, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA

    Brian M. Davis & Guillermo W. Rougier

  2. Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, University of Oklahoma, 2401 Chautauqua Ave, Norman, OK, 73072, USA

    Brian M. Davis & Richard L. Cifelli

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  1. Brian M. Davis
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  2. Richard L. Cifelli
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  3. Guillermo W. Rougier
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Correspondence to Brian M. Davis.

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GWR is an associate editor for the Journal of Mammalian Evolution but was not involved in the evaluation of this manuscript.

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CT data generated and analyzed for the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Davis, B.M., Cifelli, R.L. & Rougier, G.W. Mammalian Petrosals from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation (Utah, USA) Reveal Non-canonical Evolution of Middle and Inner Ear Characters. J Mammal Evol 28, 1027–1049 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-021-09586-1

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