MHC genes are highly polymorphic as antigen presenting molecules for adaptive immune response in vertebrates. In this study, we evaluated the diversity of dog leukocyte antigen (DLA) class II genes among two Korean breeds, the Sapsaree and the Jindo, and three Chinese native breeds, Tibetan Mastiff, Pug, and Pekingese, and determined their genetic relationships. Sequence-based typing of DLA-DRB1 and

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are currently incurable, always fatal, and have the potential to cross species boundaries. The expression of TSEs is thought to be influenced by genetic variation at the prion protein gene (PRNP). Although a wide range of mammals exhibit TSEs, it is currently unclear whether they are evolutionarily clustered or if TSE+ species are randomly distributed

Hezhengia bohlini is one of the extinct bovids with the most abundant material, especially skulls. To date, skulls have been described, and the phylogenetic relationships and dietary habits have been discussed, but the ontogenetic processes of this special bovid with robust horn cores and a heavily built cranium have not yet been explored. Intraspecific variation in H. bohlini is high, but the variation

Didelphidae is the largest New World radiation of marsupials, and is mostly represented by arboreal, small- to medium-sized taxa that inhabit tropical and/or subtropical forests. The group originated and remained isolated in South America for millions of years, until the formation of the Isthmus of Panama. In this study, we present the first reconstruction of the biogeographic history of Didelphidae

Fossils of the ursid Indarctos from Withlacoochee River 4A of Florida (late early Hemphillian North American Land Mammal Age, Hh2, ~ 7.5–6.5 Ma) represent the best sample of this genus in North America, including both craniodental and postcranial specimens, yet only the skull has been described. In this study, we describe the other material of this bear from the same locality and review the records

This paper provides a detailed description and the functional anatomy of the forelimb of an early Oligocene genet-sized arctoid carnivoran, Amphicynodon leptorhynchus, to infer its probable lifestyle. This work represents the first insights into the functional anatomy of the postcranial skeleton and palaeoecology of an emblematic member of the first radiation of arctoid carnivorans, the poorly known

Rodents show a wide range of anatomical, physiological, and behavioral adaptations to life underground. Cranial and postcranial bone morphologies are deeply impacted by the modes of digging, which can involve either incisors or claws. However, the morphological variation of these elements still needs to be accurately quantified to assess the degree of specializations of the fossorial rodent families

Recently, the basal beds of the lower section of the Lumbrera Formation have been referred to the early Eocene (Ypresian) based on the identification of a succession of hyperthermal events globally dated between 52 and 55 Ma. Nevertheless, this section have also been referred to the middle Eocene (Lutetian) based on the ‘evolutionary stage’ of its fossil mammals. In this contribution, we present a

How sabertoothed felids have evolved their iconic morphology remains unclear because of the patchy fossil record of early machairodontines. Batallones localities in the Madrid region (Spain) have the potential to clarify this as two sites have yielded hundreds of fossils of the early machairodontines Promegantereon ogygia and Machairodus aphanistus. Previous analyses suggested that these two sites

Understanding trait evolution is essential for explaining modern biological diversity, and this is particularly exemplified by studies of coloration. Recent studies have applied evolutionary models to understand animal coloration, yet we have limited knowledge of how this trait evolves in mammals in a comparative context. Here we use phylogenetic methods to examine how different traits are associated

Felids are keystone predators in modern ecosystems and likely played a similar role in shaping ecosystems through the Cenozoic. Unfortunately, understanding the paleoecological impact of felids has been hampered by taxonomic confusion and uncertainty in big cat diversity through time. This stems, in part, from the importance of dentition in differentiating feliform taxa combined with the abundance

We present the first description of the endocranial cast of the small raoellid artiodactyl Indohyus indirae. Raoellidae are sister group to Cetacea and the new morphological observations allow for outlining some of the early steps of the evolutionary history of the cetacean brain. The combination of primitive artiodactyl features and typical cetacean characters is unique about the Indohyus endocast

Gerbils are a subfamily of rodents living in arid regions of Asia and Africa. Recent studies have shown that several gerbil species have unusual amino acid changes in the PDX1 protein, a homeodomain transcription factor essential for pancreatic development and β-cell function. These changes were linked to strong GC-bias in the genome that may be caused by GC-biased gene conversion, and it has been

Deinotheres (Proboscidea, Deinotheriidae) are a clade of non-elephantiform proboscideans that originated in Africa and dispersed into Eurasia by the early Miocene. In Europe, deinotheres are first recorded in Greece during MN3, although they did not become a common faunal element throughout Europe until MN4. Early Miocene (MN3–MN4) deinothere remains from Europe are generally assigned to a different

Mating systems are studied due to their interest in ecology and evolution. In rodents, mating strategies have been inferred from the spatio-temporal arrangement of males and females, and breeding success has usually been estimated through the number of embryos counted by palpation of pregnant females. However, these might not be trustable proxies to describe the mating systems and to estimate survival

Hippopotamoids are herbivorous mammals that originated in the late middle Eocene. This taxon includes animals with a great variety of sizes and body proportions, from small and gracile forms with slender limbs to heavy massive ones. Many hippopotamoids have previously been considered semi-aquatic but recent studies have highlighted a diversity of ecologies. This study focuses on bone microanatomy,

Divergence in forelimb morphology is often associated with functional habits exhibited within the Xenarthra, ranging from terrestrial-digging in armadillos to arboreal-suspension in sloths. We hypothesized that quantitative differences in hind limb form also will be predictive of the diverse lifestyles observed in this small clade. A total of 26 morphofunctional indices were calculated from 42 raw

Osteoderms are present in most tetrapod lineages with considerable lineage-specific variation. It has been hypothesized that osteoderms are a case of “deep homology” in craniates, but the embryonic origin of osteoderms -and other related postcranial exoskeletal elements- is still under debate. Most authors support its mesodermal origin, while others suggest that osteoderms are derived from neural crest

Bandicoot rats (genus Bandicota ) are distributed widely across the Indomalay biogeographic realm of tropical East Asia. One widely distributed species, the greater bandicoot rat ( Bandicota indica ), has a disjunct distribution including both north and south of the biogeographic break at the Isthmus of Kra. We compared genetic variation of greater bandicoot rats from north and south of the Isthmus

Bat fossil endocasts have been little studied in the literature (nine published works, only one in the XXIth century), and macromorphology of the brain of extant bats has only been characterized at the family-level. We describe here in detail the endocranial casts of four fossil hipposiderid species based on μCT-scans data and propose a revised nomenclature of the hipposiderid brain structures that

Protypotherium (Mammalia, Notoungulata, lnteratheriinae) is a well-known and very diverse genus of extinct native ungulates of South America, widely distributed from southern to middle latitudes of Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia. This genus exhibits distinctive species throughout the Miocene to the beginning of the Pliocene that display an interesting size pattern. The large sample of specimens studied

Nelsonia is a Mexican endemic genus of woodrat and includes only two uncommon species: N. neotomodon and N. goldmani. This genus is of great phylogenetic interest, but has been ignored in most taxonomic studies and revisions due to the scarcity of its representatives in museum collections. The phylogenetic position of this genus is poorly known, and its interspecific and intraspecific relationships

The kinkajou ( Potos flavus ) is a South and Central American procyonid that can plantarflex and invert its hindfoot around multiple joints in order to fully reverse the hindfoot 180°. However, the myological and osteological adaptions that facilitate this behavior have not been quantified metrically. Osteological correlates of hindfoot reversal have been described in the past, but recent advances

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-020-09531-8

In cursorial mammals, reduction or loss of the clavicle is usually associated with the constitution of the m. brachiocephalicus, a continuous muscle that extends from head and neck regions to the forelimb, protracting it during locomotion. Among caviomorph rodents, the Cavioidea are characterized by many adaptations that improve running performance, such as the presence of a brachiocephalic configuration

Previous studies have demonstrated the pliability and adaptability of mammalian mandibles in response to different ecological demands such as food availability. The dwarf gerbil Gerbillus nanus has a wide distribution in Asia in which it encounters varied environments. These varied environments can house different food resources and it would be adaptively advantageous for the opportunistic rodents

Paramyine ischyromyids are one of the first ancestral rodent groups to appear in North America. Studying ecological indicators of these extinct animals enables us to better understand how they integrated into North American mammalian communities. In this study we reassess the locomotor behavior of a nearly complete skeleton of a paramyine, Paramys delicatus (AMNH FM 12506), using functional limb indices

The form-function paradigm postulates the existence of a correlation between form and function; a remarkable example of this is the transformation of the forelimb of bats into wings. The wings of bats are complex structures made of membranes, muscles, tendons, cartilages, bones, and joints. Forelimb bones are critical elements of wings because they form an essential part of the alar mass, serve to

The relationship between muscle architectural properties and hind foot drumming of African mole-rats has yet to be determined using established methodology. Therefore, the internal structure of 32 hind limb muscles was evaluated in two drumming and one non-drumming species of Bathyergidae. The muscle mass (MM), fascicle length (Lf), and angle of pennation were measured to calculate the physiological

This special issue of the Journal of Mammalian Evolution represents the proceedings from a symposium held in conjunction with the XXXI Jornadas Argentinas de Mastozoologia (SAREM, La Rioja, Argentina, October 25, 2018), and entitled “El paradigma de correlacion forma-funcion en mastozoologia: un tributo a Leonard Radinsky (1937–1985).” In this introduction to the symposium proceedings, we provide a

Behavioral foraging differences are known to aid in food resource partitioning in pinniped communities, but it is not known whether skull biomechanical efficiency also contributes to dietary niche partitioning. We tested this hypothesis in a community of four sympatric species of pinnipeds that co-occur along the coast of Baja California: California sea lion (Zalophus californianus), northern elephant

Anatomy of bat genital organs has been conventionally studied by gross and microscopic observations to date. Here, we employ both histological observation and diceCT (diffusible iodine-based contrast-enhanced computed tomography) to study the detailed three-dimensional morphological structure of the male genital organs in bats, using the greater horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum. This is the

Dental and craniomandibular data have been predominantly used to infer relationships among mylodontid ground sloths. Recent studies indicate the osteology of the manus also provides useful data to test phylogenetic relationships in mylodontine mylodontids. Here we provide new comparative data from the study of the manus of a member of the Scelidotheriinae, Scelidotherium Owen, 1839, based on specimens

The Miocene-Pliocene (Turolian-Ruscinian) transition represents a fundamental interval in the evolution of Euro-Mediterranean paleocommunities. In fact, the paleoenvironmental changes connected with the end of the Messinian salinity crisis are reflected by a major renewal in mammal faunal assemblages. An important bioevent among terrestrial large mammals is the dispersal of the genus Sus, which replaced

We addressed the spatiotemporal characteristics of four commensal rodent species occurring in Myanmar in comparison with other areas of the Indo-Malayan region. We examined sequence variations of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (Cytb) in the Pacific rat (Rattus exulans), roof rat (Rattus rattus complex, RrC), lesser bandicoot rat (Bandicota bengalensis), and house mouse (Mus musculus) using the

The caudal cranium and occipito-cervical region, although usually overlooked, are informative about the paleobiology of fossil mammals, allowing inquiry into vision and hearing abilities, as well as head and neck postures. Particularly for Pachyrukhinae, some related features remain unexplored. In this contribution, 22 specimens of Paedotherium and Tremacyllus were analyzed in a mainly qualitative

Several recent studies have suggested past gene flow between the Przewalski’s horse and modern domestic horse and questioned the wild origin of the Przewalski’s horse. Mitochondrial DNA has placed representatives of the Przewalski’s horse into three among the eighteen haplogroups detected from the modern horse. Of these, two haplogroups have so far been found exclusively in the Przewalski’s horse,

Inquiring into the paleoecology of extinct forms is always a challenge, particularly when the taxa under study correspond to derived ecomorphs of ancient and completely extinct clades. In this contribution, the configuration of the masticatory apparatus and associated features of the Neogene pachyrukhines Paedotherium and Tremacyllus are studied in a detailed, mainly qualitative, comparative analysis

We provide detailed morphological description, including enamel microstructure, of the earliest known embrithopod mammals (Afrotheria, Paenungulata), Stylolophus minor and S. major, n. sp., recently discovered in the early Eocene of the Ouled Abdoun phosphate basin, Morocco. Stylolophus minor and S. major, n. sp., show close morphological affinity, and the enamel microstructure supports their congeneric

Three species of sexually-dimorphic opossums are broadly distributed across South America: the habitat generalist Didelphis albiventris, the Atlantic forest-dweller D. aurita, and the Amazonian forest-dweller D. marsupialis. We used 2D geometric morphometrics to quantify skull size and shape variation in the three opossum species and test the hypothesis that degrees of sexual dimorphism and morphological

Commerson’s dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii), Peale’s dolphin (Lagenorhynchus australis), dusky dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obscurus), and hourglass dolphin (Lagenorhynchus cruciger) are closely related species occurring in the Southern Hemisphere. Even though they are partially sympatric, they have evolved towards diverse foraging strategies, prey, and habitat preferences. Size variation occurs both

Rodents and carnivorans constitute two diverse clades with variable life habits. To analyze the common ecomorphological aspects of their limbs in relation to their different substrate uses, the shape of humerus and femur was explored using 3-D geometric morphometrics. The principal components and MANOVA analyses show that the shape of the humerus is similarly related to the substrate use and taxonomy

Lower Miocene outcrops from Patagonia (Gaiman Formation, Burdigalian) may reveal more clues for the yet unknown aspects for this period in the evolution of odontocetes. Here, we present the first toothless platanistoid dolphin from the lower Miocene of Patagonia, Dolgopolis kinchikafiforo , gen. et sp. nov. The specimen includes an incomplete skull, with no mandibles or earbones, but sufficiently different

Variation in the dentition yields insight into the evolutionary history of Mammalia. However, to date, there has been limited research on the dental variation in Pteropodidae, a family of bats found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. Most species are large, diurnal, non-echolocating, and eat fruit or nectar. Pteropodids are of significant concern in conservation due to rapidly

The adaptations for a particular locomotor type (e.g., fossorial or saltatorial) could affect limb bone morphology throughout ontogeny. We explore how the measurements of the forelimbs and functional indices change along the postnatal ontogeny of 92 specimens of sigmodontines belonging to four genera ( Akodon , Eligmodontia , Oligoryzomys , and Oxymycterus ) with different locomotor types (ambulatory

Understanding feeding ecology of extinct kangaroos is fundamental to understanding the evolution of kangaroos and the Australia paleoenvironment during the Oligo-Miocene. Comparisons with extant species have suggested that the macropodiforms of the Oligo/Miocene (kangaroos and allies) from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northern Australia, were predominantly folivorous browsers or fungivores

Caviomorphs are a mainly South American rodent clade with high taxonomic and ecomorphological diversity. In this study, we combine geometric morphometric, functional, ancestral reconstruction, and macroevolutionary analyses to quantify the magnitude, direction, and rates of shape diversification of the caviomorph mandible, and to explore the morpho-functional implications and potential ecological catalysts

The mammalian neck adopts a variety of postures during daily life and generates numerous head trajectories. Despite its functional diversity, the neck is constrained to seven cervical vertebrae in (almost) all mammals. Given this low number, an unexpectedly high degree of modularity of the mammalian neck has more recently been uncovered. This work aims to review neck modularity in mammals from a developmental

The Yucatan Peninsula (YP) is a biotic province located in southeastern Mexico, delimited mainly by climatic variables. One endemic species of the YP is the Yucatan deer mouse Peromyscus yucatanicus. It is considered a member of the P. mexicanus species group, but some morphological characters and habitat preferences separate it from them. Herein, the DNA barcoding identification of P. yucatanicus

The late Miocene was a period of great radiation for the subfamily Caninae in North America. During this time, the early taxa of the two tribes of this subfamily, Vulpini and Canini, arose. Among them, Eucyon is one of the most important elements of the latest Miocene-Pliocene Canidae guild of both North America and Eurasia as they rapidly spread worldwide. The earliest member of the genus Canis, Canis

The dormice (Gliridae) represent a relatively small family of rodents, but exhibit considerable variation in their cranial anatomy. The skull morphology of almost all genera of dormice was described from osteological specimens in an earlier publication. However, the rare desert dormouse, Selevinia betpakdalaensis, was only assessed using previous descriptions and photographic images, resulting in difficulties

Understanding the interplay between morphological integration and modularity is considered an important topic in the study of the evolution of the form of complex structures. The mandible is a complex structure that can be shaped by diverse factors such as ontogeny, ecology, and evolutionary history. In canids, this is particularly interesting because they have a large diversity in feeding behavior

The dynamics of species diversification have attracted significant scientific attention in recent decades. Many lineages tend to maintain their niche characteristics over evolutionary time, a phenomenon known as phylogenetic niche conservatism (NC), which can slow the processes of ecological speciation by diversification selection. NC can, however, promote speciation through neutral evolution, favoring

Xenarthra, one of the major clades of placentals, comprises two different lineages (sloths and anteaters, and armadillos) with extant representatives showing strongly different morphologies and life habits. Sloths are arboreal herbivores, anteaters are insectivores with digging/climbing abilities, and armadillos are terrestrial diggers with varied diets. The ulna is one of the forelimb elements that

South American cervids have a relatively recent evolutionary history in the Neotropics. Present taxonomical richness includes six genera and 17 species grouped in at least two clades, Blastocerina and Odocoileina. With few exceptions, functional morphology or ecomorphological approaches have not been rigorously applied to the masticatory apparatus of Neotropical deer. In order to understand the relationship

Monotremes are a group of egg-laying mammals, possessing a mosaic of ancestral and derived anatomical features. Despite much interest in monotremes from phylogenetic, morphological, and ecological perspectives, they have been the subject of relatively few biomechanical studies. In this study, we examined shoulder and proximal forelimb muscle anatomy and architecture in the short-beaked echidna, Tachyglossus

The anthropic effect associated with worldwide European settlements over the last 500 years has caused dramatic environmental changes, modified regional patterns of biodiversity, and often led to local or complete extinctions. The sigmodontine rodents of Bahía Samborombón (Humid Pampas, central-eastern Argentina) constitute a good case study: a late Holocene archaeological site allowed us to compare

Understanding species distributions and the variation of assemblage structure in time and space are fundamental goals of biogeography and ecology. Here, we use an ecological niche modeling and macroecological approach in order to assess whether constraints patterns in carnivoran richness and composition structures in replicated assemblages through time and space should reflect environmental filtering

The diversification of anatomical structures with functional importance during the branching process of a clade is a widely studied phenomenon in evolutionary biology. In recent years, there is a growing interest in the study of the inner ear, a structure associated with hearing, locomotion, and indirectly, with body size. These studies have been particularly important in primates. The platyrrhine