Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

New interpretation of dentition in Early Cretaceous docodontan Sibirotherium based on micro-computed tomography

  • Research
  • Published:
Journal of Mammalian Evolution Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A tegotheriid docodontan Sibirotherium rossicum from the Early Cretaceous of Western Siberia, Russia, was considered to have six lower premolars, as in the tegotheriids Agilodocodon and Microdocodon from the Middle Jurassic of China. The micro-computed tomography of two dentary specimens with a supposed submolariform ultimate deciduous premolar (dp6) revealed absence of a replacing tooth germ in this locus. Also, the morphology of the roots of this tooth is more consistent with that of molariform teeth. Based on the new data, we interpret Sibirotherium to possess five lower premolars rather than six and that the supposed dp6 might in fact be better interpreted as the first molariform (m1). The results of our phylogenetic analysis suggest that this is a plesiomorphic condition for Docodonta and, under slow character optimization, for Tegotheriidae, with the number of premolars reduced to three to four in Docodontidae (Haldanodon, Docodon, and Docofossor).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Availability of data and materials

The fossil specimens have been accessioned into a recognized public collection, where it is available for study. Virtual models of the specimens available upon request.

References

  • Averianov AO (2004) Interpretation of the Early Cretaceous mammal Peraiocynodon (Docodonta) and taxonomy of some British Mesozoic docodonts. Russ J Theriol 3:1–4. https://doi.org/10.31610/trudyzin/2010.314.2.121

  • Averianov AO, Lopatin AV, Krasnolutskii SA, Ivantsov SV (2010) New docodontans from the Middle Jurassic of Siberia and reanalysis of Docodonta interrelationships. Proc Zool Inst RAS 314:121–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Averianov AO, Martin T, Lopatin AV, Skutschas PP, Schellhorn R, Kolosov PN, Vitenko DD (2018) A high-latitude fauna of mid-Mesozoic mammals from Yakutia, Russia. PLoS One 13:e0199983. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199983

  • Butler PM (1939) The teeth of the Jurassic mammals. Proc Zool Soc Lond 109:329–356. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1939.tb00719.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goloboff PA, Catalano SA (2016) TNT version 1.5, including a full implementation of phylogenetic morphometrics. Cladistics 32:221–238. https://doi.org/10.1111/cla.12160

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ji Q, Luo Z-X, Yuan C-X, Tabrum AR (2006) A swimming mammaliaform from the Middle Jurassic and ecomorphological diversification of early mammals. Science 311:1123–1127. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.112302

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kermack DM, Kermack KA, Mussett F (1968) The Welsh pantothere Kuehneotherium praecursoris. J Linn Soc Lond Zool 47:407–423. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1968.tb00519.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kielan-Jaworowska Z, Cifelli RL, Luo Z-X (2004) Mammals from the Age of Dinosaurs: Origins, Evolution, and Structure. Columbia University Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kretzoi M (1946) On Docodonta, a new order of Jurassic Mammalia. Ann Hist-Nat Mus Nat Hung 39:108–111

    Google Scholar 

  • Krusat G (1980) Contribução para o conhecimento da fauna do Kimeridgiano da mina de lignito Guimarota (Leiria, Portugal). IV Parte. Haldanodon exspectatus Kühne & Krusat 1972 (Mammalia, Docodonta). Mem Serv Geol Port 27:1–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Lopatin AV, Averianov AO, Kuzmin IT, Boitsova EA, Saburov PG, Ivantsov AY, Skutschas PP (2020) A new finding of a docodontan (Mammaliaformes, Docodonta) in the Lower Cretaceous of Western Siberia. Doklady Earth Sci 494:667–669. https://doi.org/10.1134/S1028334X20090123

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lopatin AV, Averianov AO, Maschenko EN, Leshchinskiy SV (2009) Early Cretaceous mammals from Western Siberia: 2. Tegotheriidae. Paleontol J 43:453–462. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030109040157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luo Z-X, Martin T (2007) Analysis of molar structure and phylogeny of docodont genera. Bull Carnegie Mus Nat Hist 39:27–47

  • Luo Z-X, Meng Q-J, Ji Q, Liu D, Zhang Y-G, Neander AI (2015) Evolutionary development in basal mammaliaforms as revealed by a docodontan. Science 347:760–764. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1260880

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Martin T (2005) Postcranial anatomy of Haldanodon exspectatus (Mammalia, Docodonta) from the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) of Portugal and its bearing for mammalian evolution. Zool J Linn Soc 145:219–248. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2005.00187.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin T (2018) Mesozoic mammals – early mammalian diversity and ecomorphological adaptations. In: Zachos FE, Asher RJ (eds) Mammalian Evolution, Diversity and Systematics. De Gruyter, Berlin, Boston, pp 199–299

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Martin T, Goin FJ, Schultz JA, Gelfo JN (2022) Early Late Cretaceous mammals from southern Patagonia (Santa Cruz Province, Argentina). Cret Res 133:105127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2021.105127

  • Martin T, Nowotny M (2000) The docodont Haldanodon from the Guimarota mine. In: Martin T, Krebs B (eds) Guimarota – a Jurassic Ecosystem. Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, Munich, pp 91–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin T, Schultz JA (2023) Deciduous dentition, tooth replacement, and mandibular growth in the Late Jurassic docodontan Haldanodon exspectatus (Mammaliaformes). J Mamm Evol. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-023-09668-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maschenko EN, Lopatin AV, Voronkevich AV (2003) A new genus of the tegotheriid docodonts (Docodonta, Tegotheriidae) from the Early Cretaceous of West Siberia. Russ J Theriol 1:75–81. https://doi.org/10.15298/rusjtheriol.01.2.01

  • Meng Q-J, Ji Q, Zhang Y-G, Liu D, Grossnickle DM, Luo Z-X (2015) An arboreal docodont from the Jurassic and mammaliaform ecological diversification. Science 347:764–768. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1260879

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nixon KC (2002) WinClada version 1.00.08. Software published by the author, Ithaca, NY. Available on-line at www.cladistics.org

  • Panciroli E, Benson RBJ, Fernandez V, Butler RJ, Fraser NC, Luo Z-X, Walsh SL (2021) New species of mammaliaform and the cranium of Borealestes (Mammaliformes: Docodonta) from the Middle Jurassic of the British Isles. Zool J Linn Soc 192(4):1323–1362. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa144

  • Panciroli E, Benson RBJ, Luo Z-X (2019) The mandible and dentition of Borealestes serendipitus (Docodonta) from the Middle Jurassic of Skye, Scotland. J Vert Paleontol 39:e1621884. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2019.1621884

  • Rich THV, Flannery TF, Trusler P, Constantine A, Kool L, Klaveren NA, van, Vickers-Rich P (2001) A second tribosphenic mammal from the Mesozoic of Australia. Rec Queen Victoria Mus 110:1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowe TB (1988) Definition, diagnosis, and origin of Mammalia. J Vert Paleontol 8:241–264. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.1988.10011708

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schultz JA, Bhullar B-AS, Luo Z-X (2019) Re-examination of the Jurassic mammaliaform Docodon victor by computed tomography and occlusal functional analysis. J Mamm Evol 26:9–38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-017-9418-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sigogneau-Russell D (2003) Docodonts from the British Mesozoic. Acta Palaeontol Pol 48:357–374

    Google Scholar 

  • Sigogneau-Russell D, Kielan-Jaworowska Z (2002) Mammals from the Purbeck Limestone Group of Dorset, southern England. Spec Pap Palaeontol 68:241–255

    Google Scholar 

  • Simpson GG (1928) A Catalogue of the Mesozoic Mammalia in the Geological Department of the British Museum. British Museum (Natural History), London

  • Swofford DL (2002). PAUP*. Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony (*and Other Methods). Version 4.0. Sunderland, Sinauer Associates.

  • Tatarinov LP (1994) On an unusual mammalian tooth from the Mongolian Jurassic. Paleontol Zh 2:97–105 [In Russian]

    Google Scholar 

  • Waldman M, Savage RJG (1972) The first Jurassic mammal from Scotland. J Geol Soc 128:119–125. https://doi.org/10.1144/gsjgs.128.2.0119

  • Zhou C-F, Bhullar B-AS, Neander AI, Martin T, Luo Z-X (2019) New Jurassic mammaliaform sheds light on early evolution of mammal-like hyoid bones. Science 365:276–279. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aau934

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Thomas Martin for providing the data matrix from Zhou et al. (2019) and two anonymous reviewers for reading the paper and useful comments. We are grateful to the staff of the Saint Petersburg State University Research Centre for X-ray Diffraction Studies (Saint Petersburg, Russia) for CT scanning of PM TGU 16/5–22 and 120/9–34.

Funding

This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project 19–14–00020–P) and the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences (project 122031100282–2).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya Nab. 1, Saint Petersburg, 199034, Russia

    Alexander O. Averianov

  2. Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsouznaya Ul. 123, Moscow, 117647, Russia

    Alexey V. Lopatin

  3. Laboratory of Mesozoic and Cenozoic Continental Ecosystems, Tomsk State University, Pr. Lenina 36, Tomsk, 634050, Russia

    Sergey V. Leshchinskiy

Authors
  1. Alexander O. Averianov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alexey V. Lopatin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sergey V. Leshchinskiy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

AA designed the research, acquired funding, segmented and reconstructed 3D surface files from the CT data, and prepared Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. AA and AL wrote the main manuscript text. SL organized the fieldwork and curated the specimens. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexander O. Averianov.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Supplementary information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Online Resource 1 (DOCX 2 KB)

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Averianov, A.O., Lopatin, A.V. & Leshchinskiy, S.V. New interpretation of dentition in Early Cretaceous docodontan Sibirotherium based on micro-computed tomography. J Mammal Evol 30, 811–817 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-023-09682-4

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-023-09682-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation