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Petrosal and Bony Labyrinth Morphology Supports Paraphyly of Elephantulus Within Macroscelididae (Mammalia, Afrotheria)

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Abstract

Interest in the phylogeny of Macroscelididae (sengis or elephant shrews) has been prompted by molecular studies indicating that Elephantulus rozeti is best placed as the sister group of Petrodromus tetradactylus (this clade being in turn the sister taxon to Macroscelides proboscideus) than among other species of the genus Elephantulus. Until now, no discrete morphological characters have been proposed to support the grouping of E. rozeti, Petrodromus, and Macroscelides into this single so-called ‘Panelephantulus’ clade. Here, we employed μCT scanning in order to investigate the petrosal and bony labyrinth (bony capsule of the inner ear) morphology of most species of extant Macroscelididae. We performed a cladistic analysis on ear traits and found that despite some convergences (e.g., concerning the bony arterial canals in Macroscelides and Rhynchocyon) the middle and inner ear morphology furnishes significant support for the ‘Panelephantulus’ clade. In our analysis, this clade is unambigously supported by the presence of a fully ossified stapediofacial tube. Two additional characters (the presence of a bony septum at the mouth of the fenestra cochleae dividing the D3 sinus into two distinct cavities and the absence of an accessory lateral pneumatic fossa) could also support ‘Panelephantulus.’ These newly discovered morphological characters support the molecular phylogenies published and highlight the importance of coding hitherto difficult to sample morphologies within cladistic analyses using micro-CT techniques. Taxonomic implications are briefly discussed.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks go to J. Cuisin, C. Bens, and T. Afoukati (Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris), P. Giere, F. Mayer, N. Lange, and O. Hampe (Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin), M. Lowe (University Museum of Zoology of Cambridge), and M. Nowak-Kemp (Oxford University Museum of Natural History), Y. Dutour, G. Cheylan, N. Vialle, and P. Michelier (Museum d’Histoire Naturelle d’Aix-en-Provence) for granting access to collections. We are grateful to A. Heaver (University of Cambridge), N. Karjilov and A. Hilger (Helmholtz-Zentrum, Berlin) for their help and advice during micro-CT scan acquisition and Montpellier Rio Imaging for providing access to their Skyscan 1076 Micro-CT machine. We are also grateful of R. Asher, L. Hautier, L. Marivaux, S. Benoit-Vrard, M. Vianey-Liaud, J.R. Wible, and an unknown reviewer whose advice improved this manuscript. This work has been conducted with the financial support of the ANR-08-JCJC-0017 (PALASIAFRICA) program. This is ISEM publication 201X-XXX.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution UMR-CNRS 5554, cc064, Université Montpellier 2, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier cedex 05, France

    Julien Benoit & Rodolphe Tabuce

  2. Mammal Evolution and Morphology Group, University Museum of Zoology, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK

    Nick Crumpton

  3. Clinique du Parc de Castelnau-Le-Lez Service d’Imagerie médicale, 50 Rue Emile Combes, 34170, Castelnau-le-Lez, France

    Samuel Merigeaud

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  1. Julien Benoit
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  2. Nick Crumpton
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  3. Samuel Merigeaud
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  4. Rodolphe Tabuce
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Correspondence to Julien Benoit.

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Benoit, J., Crumpton, N., Merigeaud, S. et al. Petrosal and Bony Labyrinth Morphology Supports Paraphyly of Elephantulus Within Macroscelididae (Mammalia, Afrotheria). J Mammal Evol 21, 173–193 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-013-9234-5

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