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Morphology of the Middle Ear Ossicles in the Rodent Perimys(Neoepiblemidae) and a Comprehensive Anatomical and Morphometric Study of the Phylogenetic Transformations of these Structures in Caviomorphs

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Abstract

The extinct clade of caviomorph rodents Neoepiblemidae includes forms that lived in South America from the early Miocene to Pliocene. Among them is Perimys. The exceptional preservation of ear ossicles in this rodent is described and analyzed in a study of the phylogenetic transformations of these structures in caviomorphs including 21 extant and two extinct genera. Caviomorphs exhibit a conserved malleoincudal complex, with synostosis of the malleus and incus, “bullet-shaped” mallear head, and absence of orbicular apophysis. They also show a reduction of the mallear anterior process, in some cases even lacking this structure. The malleoincudal complex of Perimys shows an elongation of the head, but not as marked as in Chinchillinae. The incudal long process of Perimys is slightly more prolonged than the short process, as in chinchillids. In contrast, dinomyids have the incudal long process disproportionally more prolonged than in most caviomorphs. Concerning the disparity of caviomorph middle ear ossicles, Perimys shares the morphospace with chinchillids and other small forms. Within chinchilloids, Perimys is closer to chinchillids than to neoepiblemids.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to: CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Tecnologia) [Process CNPq 8, 201356/ 2015-5 (L.K)]. Elio Massoia organized the collection of most of the specimens analyzed herein; they were extracted from the middle ear of these rodents by him and other researches. Maria Guiomar Vucetich kindly gave us most of the specimens – another example of her extraordinary mentorship to younger (and not so young) rodent researchers. Universität Zürich provided the infrastructure for this work. Rodrigo Temp Müller helped us with the disparity morphospace occupation analysis, Felipe Pinheiro, read and commented the first draft of this manuscript, and Juan D. Carrillo kindly revised an advanced version and provided useful comments. We thank Diego Verzi for his assistance as curator of the mastozoology section at the MLP and Martina Schenkel curator at the Zoologisches Museum, University of Zurich; two reviewers and the editor-in-chief John Wible for their useful comments. TNT v.1.5 was used for phylogenetic analysis. This is a program made freely available thanks to a subsidy by the Willi Hennig Society.

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  1. CAPPA - Centro de Apoio à Pesquisa Paleontológica da Quarta Colônia, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Rua Maximiliano Vizzotto 598, São João do Polêsine, Brazil

    Leonardo Kerber

  2. Palaeontological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Karl-Schmid-Street 4, 8006, Zurich, Switzerland

    Marcelo R. Sánchez-Villagra

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Kerber, L., Sánchez-Villagra, M.R. Morphology of the Middle Ear Ossicles in the Rodent Perimys(Neoepiblemidae) and a Comprehensive Anatomical and Morphometric Study of the Phylogenetic Transformations of these Structures in Caviomorphs. J Mammal Evol 26, 407–422 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-017-9422-9

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