Pelvic morphology of a tritylodontid (Synapsida: Eucynodontia) from the Lower Jurassic of China, and some functional and phylogenetic implications

Sullivan, Corwin, Liu, Jun, Roberts, Eric, Huang, Timothy D, Yang, Chuanwei, and Zhong, Shiming (2013) Pelvic morphology of a tritylodontid (Synapsida: Eucynodontia) from the Lower Jurassic of China, and some functional and phylogenetic implications. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 12 (7-8). pp. 505-518.

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Abstract

Tritylodontids are specialised, herbivorous cynodonts whose exact phylogenetic position is controversial, with some authors regarding them as close relatives of mammaliaforms and others as members of the eucynodont clade Traversodontidae. The tritylodontid pelvis has been claimed to resemble that of mammaliaforms in having a narrow, rod-like ilium, but such claims have been strongly challenged because of the incompleteness of previously available tritylodontid pelvic material. However, a partial tritylodontid skeleton from the Lower Jurassic of China preserves nearly complete examples of all three pelvic elements in addition to both femora, providing unprecedented insight into the structure of the tritylodontid pelvis and the configuration of the hip joint. This specimen confirms that the iliac blade is rod-like, adding to the evidence for a close relationship between tritylodontids and mammaliaforms. Furthermore, femoral retraction appears to have been driven partly by gluteus musculature in tritylodontids, as in mammaliaforms.

Item ID: 31442
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1777-571X
Keywords: Cynodontia, Tritylodontidae, Jurassic, China, pelvis, femur, hip joint
Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China, 973 Program of China
Projects and Grants: National Natural Science Foundation of China 41150110341, 973 Program of China 2012CB821902
Date Deposited: 26 Feb 2014 01:41
FoR Codes: 04 EARTH SCIENCES > 0403 Geology > 040308 Palaeontology (incl Palynology) @ 100%
SEO Codes: 97 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 970104 Expanding Knowledge in the Earth Sciences @ 100%
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