Project 4672: J. Benoit, A. Fahlman, S. Adnet, E. El Mabrouk, H. Khayati, M. Ben Haj Ali, L. Marivaux, G. Merzeraud, S. Merigeaud, M. Vianey-Liaud, R. Tabuce. 2013. Cranial Remain from Tunisia Provides New Clues for the Origin and Evolution of Sirenia (Mammalia, Afrotheria) in Africa. PLOS ONE. 8 (1):e54307.
Abstract
Sea cows (manatees, dugongs) are the only living marine mammals to feed solely on aquatic plants. Unlike whales or dolphins (Cetacea), the earliest evolutionary history of sirenians is poorly documented, and limited to a few fossils including skulls and skeletons of two genera composing the stem family of Prorastomidae (Prorastomus and Pezosiren). Surprisingly, these fossils come from the Eocene of Jamaica, while stem Hyracoidea and Proboscidea - the putative sister-groups to Sirenia - are recorded in Africa as early as the Late Paleocene. So far, the historical biogeography of early Sirenia has remained obscure given this paradox between phylogeny and fossil record. Here we use X-ray microtomography to investigate a newly discovered sirenian petrosal from the Eocene of Tunisia. This fossil represents the oldest occurrence of sirenians in Africa. The morphology of this petrosal is more primitive than the Jamaican prorastomids’ one, which emphasizes the basal position of this new African taxon within the Sirenia clade. This discovery testifies to the great antiquity of Sirenia in Africa, and therefore supports their African origin. While isotopic analyses previously suggested sirenians had adapted directly to the marine environment, new paleoenvironmental evidence suggests that basal-most sea cows were likely restricted to fresh waters.Read the article »
Article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054307
Project DOI: 10.7934/P4672, http://dx.doi.org/10.7934/P4672
This project contains | Matrices |
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Download Project SDD File | Total scored cells: 462 Total media associated with cells: 0 Total labels associated with cell media: 0 |
Characters | |
Total characters: 27 Total characters with associated media: 0 Total characters with media with labels: 0 Total character states: 56 Total character states with associated media: 0 Total character states with media with labels:0 Total unordered/ordered characters:27/0 |
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MorphoBank Project 4672
MorphoBank Project 4672
- Creation Date:
09 May 2023 - Publication Date:
09 May 2023 - Project views: 3789
- Matrix downloads: 6
Authors' Institutions
- Universite de Montpellier
- Office National des Mines, Tunisia
- Service d'Imagerie Médicale de l’Hôpital Lapeyronie
Members
member name | taxa | specimens | media | chars | character
| cell scorings (scored, NPA, "-") | cell
| rules | ||||||
MorphoBank Curator Project Administrator | 22 | 4 | 5 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 462 (444, 0, 18) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Julien Benoit Full membership | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0, 0, 0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Taxonomic Overview for Matrix 'M29269' (22 Taxa)
taxon | unscored cells |
scored cells |
no cell support |
NPA cells |
"-" cells | cell images | labels on cell images |
member access |
[1] † Kulbeckia Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 2 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[2] † Phenacodus Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 11 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[3] † Meniscotherium Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 10 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[4] † Hyopsodus Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 1 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[5] † Pleuraspidotherium Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 7 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[6] † Arctocyon Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 7 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[7] Orycteropus Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 0 | 26 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[8] † Megalohyrax Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 22 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[9] Procavia Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 0 | 26 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[10] † Arsinoitherium Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 1 | 26 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[11] † Phosphatherium Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 10 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[12] † Numidotherium Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 4 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[13] † Moeritherium Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 11 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[14] Elephantoidea Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 0 | 28 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[15] † Chambi sirenian Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 4 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[16] † Prorastomus Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 0 | 27 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[17] † Eosiren Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 11 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[18] † Eotheroides Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[19] † Protosirenidae n.gen. n.sp. Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[20] † Protosiren Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 9 | 18 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[21] Dugong Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 2 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[22] Trichechus Last Modified in 05/09/23 | 0 | 26 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Project views
type | number of views | Individual items viewed (where applicable) |
Total project views | 3789 | |
Project overview | 283 | |
Matrix views | 169 | Matrix landing page (161 views); Matrix (8 views); |
Media views | 1011 | Media search (523 views); M862371 (98 views); M862372 (97 views); M862373 (99 views); M862374 (100 views); M862375 (94 views); |
Specimen list | 666 | |
Taxon list | 1134 | |
Bibliography | 132 | |
Views for media list | 390 | |
Documents list | 4 |
Project downloads
type | number of downloads | Individual items downloaded (where applicable) |
Total downloads from project | 7 | |
Matrix downloads | 6 | Matrix (6 downloads); |
Project downloads | 1 |