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Boyer diss 2009 1046..

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(and illustrated) additional features of P. tricuspidens that they argue are similarities with<br />

many modern primates. These include a carotid canal supported by a dome-like,<br />

ventrolaterally-projecting outgrowth from the petrosal that shields the cochlear fenestra<br />

(referred to as the “posterior septum” [ps] later on), and a ridge that projects from the<br />

roof of the tympanic cavity and extends posteromedially from the promontorium, holding<br />

the vestibular aqueduct.<br />

Kay et al. (1992) described another (then) newly discovered paromomyid<br />

Ignacius graybullianus (USNM 421608) and compared its morphology to that of P.<br />

tricuspidens, among other taxa. They claimed to reinterpret the foramen rotundum<br />

identified by Russell (1964) in P. tricuspidens as a suboptic foramen (see Bloch and<br />

Silcox, 2006 and below, for more detailed discussion).<br />

Bloch and Silcox (2001) described additional specimens of Ignacius<br />

graybullianus and redescribed USNM 421608. They compared these specimens to<br />

plesiadapids and specifically illustrated and discussed morphology of a previously<br />

unpublished specimen of Plesiadapis cookei (UM 87990). The morphology of the<br />

broken open tympanic cavity is shown in their figure 7. They noted (but the figure does<br />

not obviously show), a groove for an internal carotid arterial branch that clearly differs<br />

from the small criss-crossing grooves for the tympanic plexus (which are visible in their<br />

figure 7). They also showed that P. cookei is similar to P. tricuspidens in having bony<br />

struts connecting the annular part of the ectotympanic to the external auditory meatus.<br />

Bloch and Silcox (2001: 192) indicated that morphology relating to the carotid canal and<br />

posterior carotid foramen is poorly known in plesiadapids and is only preserved in the<br />

Pelluoin skull of P. tricuspidens among all known plesiadapid cranial specimens.<br />

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