Abstract
Two new specimens of the anatoliadelphyid metatherian Orhaniyeia nauta are described from the middle Eocene Uzunçarşıdere Formation in the Orhaniye Basin, north-central Turkey. These specimens augment our knowledge of the dentition of this taxon, revealing that P3 and p3 of Orhaniyeia resemble those of its sister taxon Anatoliadelphys in being enlarged and highly inflated, suggesting that both taxa consumed a durophagous diet. The ancestral dental morphology of anatoliadelphyids likely approximated that of Orhaniyeia nauta, whereas the dentition of Anatoliadelphys is autapomorphous. A phylogenetic analysis incorporating the new data for Orhaniyeia reconstructs anatoliadelphyids as nested among a diverse, but generally poorly documented, assemblage of early Paleogene bunodont Gondwanan marsupials that are typically allied with polydolopimorphians. Alternative phylogenetic reconstructions based on Anatoliadelphys alone have suggested either peradectid or protodidelphid affinities for anatoliadelphyids, but these hypotheses are not supported by the new data from Orhaniyeia. Anatoliadelphyids likely colonized Balkanatolia from the south (Africa/Arabia), even though there is no current fossil record indicating that this Gondwanan bunodont marsupial clade ever inhabited Africa/Arabia. The durophagous diet of Orhaniyeia was probably eclectic, but with an emphasis on gastropods. A similar dietary reconstruction has been proposed for the Australian Miocene marsupial Malleodectes, the dentition of which is remarkably convergent with that of Orhaniyeia. Orhaniyeia and Anatoliadelphys appear to have exploited distinct ecological niches, because the autapomorphous dentition of Anatoliadelphys includes multiple specializations for enhanced carnivory. The colonization of Balkanatolia by anatoliadelphyids instigated a small endemic radiation, a pattern that was replicated by multiple other Balkanatolian mammal clades.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Kristen Tietjen (University of Kansas) for help compiling Figs. 1 and 2. John Kappelman (University of Texas) facilitated access to the holotype of Anatoliadelphys maasae. Christian de Muizon (Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle) gave us access to comparative extant and fossil metatherian specimens and provided insightful discussions. The manuscript has benefited from the constructive comments of two anonymous reviewers.
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This work was supported by grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation (EAR-1543684 and EAR-2141115) to KCB, National Geographic Society CRE GRANT #9215–12 to GM, and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 101043268) to AL.
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All authors contributed to data collection; KCB and GM wrote and edited the manuscript and conducted the phylogenetic analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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The corresponding author (KCB) is a member of the editorial board of this journal and the second author (PMCC) is an associate editor of this journal. The authors have no other competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.
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Beard, K.C., Coster, P.M.C., Ocakoğlu, F. et al. Dental anatomy, phylogenetic relationships and paleoecology of Orhaniyeia nauta (Metatheria, Anatoliadelphyidae), a Gondwanan component of the insular Eocene mammal fauna of Balkanatolia (north-central Turkey). J Mammal Evol 30, 859–872 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-023-09680-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-023-09680-6