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phylogenetic relationships and classification of didelphid marsupials ...

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140 BULLETIN AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY NO. 322<br />

foramina present on each side, exposed to<br />

lateral view on anterior orbital margin in<br />

most species, but usually concealed inside<br />

orbit in others (e.g., T. tatei). Interorbital<br />

<strong>and</strong> postorbital constrictions <strong>of</strong>ten distinct;<br />

supraorbital margins rounded in some species<br />

(e.g., T. pallidior), squared or beaded in<br />

others; postorbital processes usually absent<br />

or indistinct but occasionally present in old<br />

adults <strong>of</strong> some species (e.g., T. macrurus).<br />

Left <strong>and</strong> right frontals <strong>and</strong> parietals separated<br />

by persistent median sutures. Parietal <strong>and</strong><br />

alisphenoid in contact on lateral braincase<br />

(no frontal-squamosal contact). Sagittal crest<br />

absent. Petrosal almost always exposed<br />

laterally through fenestra in parietal-squamosal<br />

suture. Parietal-mastoid contact present<br />

(interparietal does not contact squamosal).<br />

Maxillopalatine fenestrae present; palatine<br />

fenestrae present; maxillary fenestrae present<br />

in some species (e.g., T. pusillus) but absent in<br />

others (e.g., T. pallidior); posterolateral palatal<br />

foramina very large, extending anteriorly<br />

between M4 protocones; posterior palatal<br />

morphology conforms to Didelphis morphotype<br />

(with prominent lateral corners, the<br />

choanae constricted behind). Maxillary <strong>and</strong><br />

alisphenoid not in contact on floor <strong>of</strong> orbit<br />

(separated by palatine). Transverse canal<br />

foramen present. Alisphenoid tympanic process<br />

smoothly globular, with anteromedial<br />

process enclosing extracranial course <strong>of</strong><br />

m<strong>and</strong>ibular nerve (secondary foramen ovale<br />

present), <strong>and</strong> not contacting rostral tympanic<br />

process <strong>of</strong> petrosal. Anterior limb <strong>of</strong> ectotympanic<br />

directly suspended from basicranium.<br />

Stapes triangular, with large obturator<br />

foramen. Fenestra cochleae concealed in sinus<br />

formed by rostral <strong>and</strong> caudal tympanic processes<br />

<strong>of</strong> petrosal. Paroccipital process small,<br />

rounded, adnate to petrosal. Dorsal margin<br />

<strong>of</strong> foramen magnum bordered by supraoccipital<br />

<strong>and</strong> exoccipitals, incisura occipitalis<br />

present.<br />

Two mental foramina present on lateral<br />

surface <strong>of</strong> each hemim<strong>and</strong>ible; angular process<br />

acute <strong>and</strong> strongly inflected.<br />

Unworn crowns <strong>of</strong> I2–I5 symmetrically<br />

rhomboidal (‘‘premolariform’’), with subequal<br />

anterior <strong>and</strong> posterior cutting edges,<br />

increasing in length (mesiodistal dimension)<br />

from I2 to I5. Upper canine (C1) alveolus in<br />

premaxillary-maxillary suture; C1 without<br />

accessory cusps in all examined species (but<br />

see Carmignotto <strong>and</strong> Monfort, 2006). 33 First<br />

upper premolar (P1) smaller than posterior<br />

premolars but well formed <strong>and</strong> not vestigial;<br />

third upper premolar (P3) taller than P2; P3<br />

with posterior cutting edge only; upper milk<br />

premolar (dP3) large, molariform, <strong>and</strong> nonvestigial.<br />

Molars strongly carnassialized<br />

(postmetacristae much longer than postprotocristae);<br />

relative widths usually M1 , M2<br />

, M3 , M4; centrocrista strongly inflected<br />

labially on M1–M3; ect<strong>of</strong>lexus absent or<br />

indistinct on M1, usually present but shallow<br />

on M2, consistently deep <strong>and</strong> distinct on M3;<br />

anterolabial cingulum <strong>and</strong> preprotocrista<br />

discontinuous (anterior cingulum incomplete)<br />

on M3; postprotocrista without carnassial<br />

notch. Last upper tooth to erupt is P3.<br />

Lower incisors (i1–i4) with distinct lingual<br />

cusps. Second <strong>and</strong> third upper premolars (p2<br />

<strong>and</strong> p3) subequal in height; lower milk<br />

premolar (dp3) trigonid usually incomplete<br />

(bicuspid). Hypoconid labially salient on m3;<br />

hypoconulid twinned with entoconid on m1–<br />

m3; entoconid much taller than hypoconulid<br />

on m1–m3.<br />

DISTRIBUTION: Species <strong>of</strong> Thylamys collectively<br />

range from north-central Peru (Ancash)<br />

southward along the Andes <strong>and</strong> Pacific<br />

coastal lowl<strong>and</strong>s to central Chile; in the<br />

unforested l<strong>and</strong>scapes south <strong>of</strong> Amazonia,<br />

the genus extends eastward across Bolivia<br />

(Anderson, 1997), Paraguay, <strong>and</strong> Argentina<br />

(Flores et al., 2007) to Uruguay (González et<br />

al., 2000) <strong>and</strong> eastern Brazil (Bahia, Pernambuco,<br />

<strong>and</strong> Piauí; Carmignotto <strong>and</strong> Monfort,<br />

2006). Recorded elevations range from near<br />

sea level to at least 3800 m (Solari, 2003).<br />

REMARKS: The monophyly <strong>of</strong> Thylamys is<br />

strongly supported by parsimony, likelihood,<br />

<strong>and</strong> Bayesian analyses <strong>of</strong> IRBP (fig. 28),<br />

BRCA1 (fig. 31), vWF (fig. 32), <strong>and</strong> concatenated<br />

sequence data from five genes<br />

(fig. 33). Strong support for this clade is also<br />

33 Although several Brazilian species <strong>of</strong> Thylamys were scored<br />

as polymorphic for presence <strong>of</strong> posterior accessory canine cusps<br />

by Carmignotto <strong>and</strong> Monfort (2006: table 4), the increasing<br />

frequencies that they observed in older age classes suggest that<br />

C1 in these taxa is notched by occlusion with p1 in their<br />

material, <strong>and</strong> that the structure in question is not homologous<br />

with the posterior accessory cusp scored from specimens with<br />

unworn dentitions by Voss <strong>and</strong> Jansa (2003: character 53).

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