Boyer diss 2009 1046..

petrosal of Nannodectes intermedius has a configuration more similar to that of a
paromomyid (compare “pd” and “pw” in Table 2.3). Finally, many of the features
characterizing the carpolestid ear are typically thought to be primitive eutherian features
(Novacek, 1986; Bloch and Silcox, 2006), while those characterizing plesiadapids and
paromomyids generally appear to be more derived (Kay et al., 1992; Wible, 1993; Bloch
and Silcox, 2001; Silcox, 2003). Therefore, because many features reflecting characters
coded in the Bloch et al. (2007) matrix now appear to differentiate, rather than unite,
Plesiadapidae and Carpolestidae, I predict that a revised characterization of plesiadapid
morphology will refute the hypothesis that plesiadapids and carpolestids are sister taxa.
With regard to soft anatomical inference, plesiadapid crania were previously
interpreted to differ from those of their proposed sister taxon, the Carpolestidae (Bloch
and Silcox, 2006; Bloch et al., 2007), in lacking a functional internal carotid artery
(MacPhee et al., 1983; Bloch and Silcox, 2006). As demonstrated in the previous
chapters, the posterior carotid foramen and canal exist and the internal carotid plexus has
an intratympanic route in virtually all known plesiadapid specimens that are sufficiently
well preserved. Even so, the diameter of the posterior carotid foramen has never been
used to quantitatively assess the functionality of the artery, though this has been done for
other plesiadapiforms (Kay et al., 1992; Bloch and Silcox, 2006). Therefore, this work
also evaluates the hypothesis that plesiadapids lack a functional internal carotid artery in
a quantitative fashion for the first time using data on posterior carotid foramen diameter
and skull size.
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