Meet Amphicynodon leptorhynchus, a 30 Myr old emblematic small carnivoran from the Quercy Phosphorites: locomotor adaptations of the forelimb and paleoecology - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2021

Meet Amphicynodon leptorhynchus, a 30 Myr old emblematic small carnivoran from the Quercy Phosphorites: locomotor adaptations of the forelimb and paleoecology

Résumé

The Amphicynodontidae is a family of early arctoids, whose phylogenetic position within Carnivora is still debated and whose ecology has not been discussed so far, despite their abundance and diversification in the early Oligocene fossil record. This presentation provides the first insights on the ecology and functional anatomy of Amphicynodon leptorhynchus, a member of the first radiation of Arctoidea. Among the numerous localities of the Quercy Phosphorites, Itardies (MP23) is of particular interest in the study of the Amphicynodontidae, as it has yielded hundreds of well-preserved remains that can be attributed to this latter species. We describe in detail the forelimb anatomy of this 30 Myr old genet-sized carnivoran to assess its locomotor behavior, in comparison to 11 extant carnivorans with different locomotor adaptations. Despite general similarities with the digger model, most features shown by the forelimb A. leptorhynchus converge towards adaptations to climbing, such as a great range of mobility of the articulations, grasping abilities, a powerful musculature providing stability and a strong control of the movement when climbing on vertical supports. All those adaptations imply a lifestyle similar to that of small extant climbing carnivorans such as the red panda or the kinkajou, that live mostly in trees, descending to the ground basically for foraging, although some other climbing carnivorans can also live in rocky areas.
Fichier non déposé

Dates et versions

hal-03915209 , version 1 (29-12-2022)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-03915209 , version 1

Citer

Axelle Gardin, Manuel Salesa, Gema Siliceo, Mauricio Antón, Juan Francisco Pastor, et al.. Meet Amphicynodon leptorhynchus, a 30 Myr old emblematic small carnivoran from the Quercy Phosphorites: locomotor adaptations of the forelimb and paleoecology. 18th Conference of the European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontologists, Jul 2021, online, Italy. ⟨hal-03915209⟩
15 Consultations
0 Téléchargements

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More