Project 696: T. E. Macrini. 2012. Comparative morphology of the internal nasal skeleton of adult marsupials based on X-ray computed tomography. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 365:1-91.
Abstract
The internal skeleton of the nasal cavity is sporadically and often incompletely described for many marsupial species and mammals in general. Here, I provide an anatomical survey of the ethmoid in the skulls of adult marsupials based on examination of computed tomography (CT) imagery of 29 taxa representing all the major extant groups of marsupials. This survey resulted in a description of the "generalized condition" for the morphology of the marsupial ethmoid bone, ossified nasal septum, and associated structures of the interior of the nasal cavity. I also described how the ethmoid in different clades varies in morphology from the general condition for Marsupialia. Intraspecific variation of the ethmoid was described based on a sample of 18 specimens of Monodelphis domestica, the gray short-tailed opossum, and asymmetries within a single specimen are documented for other taxa. For the most part I follow the nomenclature of previous nasal cavity workers, but I also provide explicit definitions of all the terms used and some of the common synonyms for these in the literature. Endoturbinals and ectoturbinals are numbered sequentially following the work of previous authors, because of the issues with serial homology for these elements. The number of elements of the marsupial ethmoid is fairly conserved with the typical and likely ancestral condition being the presence of an ossified maxilloturbinal, nasoturbinal, two ectoturbinals, and five endoturbinals. However, there is considerable variation in the complexity, spatial placement, and overall morphology of the bony internal skeleton of the nose. Based on this descriptive work, I documented 35 discrete characters from the ethmoid and ossified nasal septum complex in marsupials. These characters were scored for this sample of marsupials and five mammalian outgroups. Examination of these characters on preexisting topologies of marsupial relationships revealed some phylogenetic signal for this sample of marsupial species. Three of the characters are punitively diagnostic for previously recognized clades within Marsupialia. It is possible that when this matrix is combined with morphological data from other anatomical systems and molecular data that previously unrecognized or controversial clades within Marsupialia may be supported. Even so, the relatively little amount of phylogenetic signal from my character matrix prompted me to search for alternative explanations for mechanisms driving the variation in this anatomical system. Consequently, I compared ecological data with the number of ecto- and endoturbinals as a preliminary test to determine whether some of the interspecific variation in the osteology of the ethmoid is a result of ecological factors, but found few correlations to support this idea. Finally, my study highlights some issues with homologies of mammalian nasal cavity elements that need to be resolved and reexamined. These include whether the ossified nasal septum arises from the presphenoid or the mesethmoid, and a test of the current view of serial homology of the endoturbinals and ectoturbinals.Read the article »
Project DOI: 10.7934/P696, http://dx.doi.org/10.7934/P696
This project contains | Matrices |
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Download Project SDD File | Total scored cells: 1196 Total media associated with cells: 0 Total labels associated with cell media: 0 |
Characters | |
Total characters: 35 Total characters with associated media: 0 Total characters with media with labels: 0 Total character states: 87 Total character states with associated media: 0 Total character states with media with labels:0 Total unordered/ordered characters:35/0 |
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MorphoBank Project 696
MorphoBank Project 696
- Creation Date:
23 March 2012 - Publication Date:
09 July 2012 - Project views: 57225
- Media downloads: 2
- Matrix downloads: 9
This research
supported by
Authors' Institutions
- American Museum of Natural History
Members
member name | taxa | specimens | media | chars | character
| cell scorings (scored, NPA, "-") | cell
| rules | ||||||
MorphoBank Curator Project Administrator | 1 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0, 0, 0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Maureen Admin Full membership | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0, 0, 0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Thomas Macrini Full membership | 35 | 1 | 1 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 1196 (1143, 0, 53) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Taxonomic Overview for Matrix 'M1720' (34 Taxa)
taxon | unscored cells |
scored cells |
no cell support |
NPA cells |
"-" cells | cell images | labels on cell images |
member access |
[1] Caluromys Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[2] Didelphis Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[3] Monodelphis Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 37 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[4] Caenolestes Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[5] Dasyurus Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[6] Sarcophilus Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[7] Sminthopsis Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[8] Thylacinus Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[9] Notoryctes Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 36 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[10] Isoodon Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[11] Echymipera Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 36 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[12] Dromiciops Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[13] Macrotis Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[14] Acrobates Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[15] Cercartetus Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[16] Myrmecobius Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[17] Tarsipes Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[18] Petaurus Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[19] Petauroides Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[20] Pseudocheirus Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[21] Pseudochirops Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[22] Phalanger Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[23] Trichosurus Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[24] Hypsiprymnodon Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[25] Potorous Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[26] Phascolarctos Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[27] Vombatus Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[28] Dendrolagus Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[29] Wallabia Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[30] Ornithorhynchus Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[31] Tachyglossus Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 23 | 23 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[32] Pteropus Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[33] Mus Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
[34] Erinaceus Last Modified in 12/05/13 | 0 | 35 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Project views
type | number of views | Individual items viewed (where applicable) |
Total project views | 57225 | |
Project overview | 3656 | |
Media views | 18348 | Media search (5738 views); M111834 (893 views); M111842 (947 views); M111837 (875 views); M110691 (986 views); M111843 (860 views); M111835 (888 views); M111846 (888 views); M111844 (938 views); M111838 (991 views); M111840 (897 views); M111836 (861 views); M111845 (874 views); M111839 (875 views); M111841 (837 views); |
Matrix views | 2846 | Matrix landing page (2487 views); Marsupial internal nasal skeleton matrix (359 views); |
Views for media list | 5703 | |
Specimen list | 4548 | |
Documents list | 2080 | |
Taxon list | 16854 | |
Bibliography | 3190 |
Project downloads
type | number of downloads | Individual items downloaded (where applicable) |
Total downloads from project | 350 | |
Matrix downloads | 9 | Marsupial internal nasal skeleton matrix (9 downloads); |
Document downloads | 9 | Copyright information for exemplar media (3 downloads); Marsupial Internal Nasal Skeleton (6 downloads); |
Media downloads | 2 | M110691 (1 download); M111834 (1 download); |
Project downloads | 330 |