Carnivorans are a highly diverse and successful group of mammals, found on the top of the food chain. They originated in the Palaeocene (ca. 60 Ma) and have developed numerous lifestyles, locomotion modes and hunting strategies during their evolutionary history. Mechanosensory organs, such as the inner ear (which houses senses of equilibrium and hearing), represent informative anatomical systems to obtain insights into function, ecology and phylogeny of extant and extinct vertebrates. Using µCT scans, we examined bony labyrinths of a broad sample of various carnivoran species, to obtain new information about hunting behaviours of ancient carnivorans. Bony labyrinths were digitally reconstructed and measurements were taken directly from these 3D models. Principal component analyses generally separated various hunting strategies (pursuit, pounce, ambush and occasional), but also support their phylogenetic relationships (Canoidea vs. Feloidea). The height, width and length of all three semicircular canals show functional morphological adaptations, whereas the diameter of the canals, the height of the cochlea and particularly the angle between the lateral semicircular canal and the cochlea indicate a phylogenetic signal. The results demonstrate that the bony labyrinth provides a powerful ecological proxy reflecting both predatory habits as well as phylogenetic relationships in extinct and extant carnivorans.

中文翻译：

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食肉动物的狩猎风格和系统发育反映在骨迷宫形态上。

食肉动物是高度多样化且成功的哺乳动物群体，位于食物链的顶部。它们起源于古新世（约60 Ma），在进化史上发展了许多生活方式，运动方式和狩猎策略。机械感官器官，例如内耳（具有平衡感和听觉感），代表着丰富的解剖学系统，可以洞悉现存和已灭绝的脊椎动物的功能，生态和系统发育。使用µCT扫描，我们检查了各种食肉动物物种的大量样本的骨迷宫，以获得有关古代食肉动物狩猎行为的新信息。对Bony迷宫进行了数字重建，并直接从这些3D模型中进行了测量。主成分分析通常将各种狩猎策略（追踪，突袭，埋伏和偶发），但也支持它们的系统发育关系（Canoidea vs. Feloidea）。所有三个半圆形管的高度，宽度和长度均显示出功能形态上的适应性，而管的直径，耳蜗的高度，尤其是外侧半圆形管与耳蜗之间的角度则指示系统发生信号。结果表明，骨迷宫提供了一个强大的生态替代品，既反映了已灭绝的食肉动物，又反映了现存的食肉动物的系统进化关系。耳蜗的高度，特别是外侧半圆形管与耳蜗之间的角度表示系统发生信号。结果表明，骨迷宫提供了一个强大的生态替代品，既反映了已灭绝的食肉动物，也反映了现存的食肉动物的系统进化关系。耳蜗的高度，特别是外侧半圆形管与耳蜗之间的角度表示系统发生信号。结果表明，骨迷宫提供了一个强大的生态替代品，既反映了已灭绝的食肉动物，又反映了现存的食肉动物的系统进化关系。