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THE ORIGIN OF AFRO-ARABIAN 'DIDELPHIMORPH' MARSUPIALS |
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| Authors: | JERRY J HOOKER MARCELO R SÁNCHEZ-VILLAGRA† FRANCISCO J GOIN‡ ELWYN L SIMONS§ YOUSRY ATTIA¶ ERIK R SEIFFERT |
| Institution: | Department of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK;e-mail:; Palaeontological Institute and Museum, Karl Schmid-Strasse 4, CH-8006 Zürich, Switzerland;e-mail:; División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, 1900 La Plata, Argentina;e-mail:; Department of Biological Anthropology and Anatomy, Duke University, and Division of Fossil Primates, Duke Primate Center, 1013 Broad Street, Durham, North Carolina 27705, USA;e-mail:; Egyptian Geological Museum, Misr el Kadima, Ethar el Nabi, Cairo, Egypt; Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794-8081, USA;e-mail: |
| Abstract: | Abstract: New specimens of Peratherium africanum from Early Oligocene deposits of the Fayum, Egypt, provide key information on the relationships of the species. These include the first maxilla to be found and two additional dentaries. The maxilla can be demonstrated to belong to the same species as the holotype dentary by study of the occlusal relationships of upper and lower molars. It can be shown by several synapomorphies that P. africanum is the sister species to European Bartonian–Rupelian Peratherium lavergnense . P. africanum therefore belongs to the 'didelphimorph' family Herpetotheriidae, not to the peradectimorph family Peradectidae. The genus Qatranitherium , previously erected for this species alone, is here synonymized with Peratherium . Comparison with 'didelphimorphian' taxa from early Paleogene deposits of South America suggests more remote relationships, indicating an origin for P. africanum by dispersal from Europe as originally envisaged. The more precise relationships deduced here help to constrain the time interval for dispersal to Afro-Arabia, probably during the earliest Oligocene sea-level low. |
| Keywords: | palaeobiogeography Peratherium Eocene Oligocene dispersal mammal |