Re: Condylarths (TINGAMARRA REVISITED)

["Tim Williams" <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

Eric Lurio wrote:

> Guess what? EVERYTHING was closely related during the Cretaceous!!!! When
> last I read [around five years ago, I got a copy of the article somewhere],
> it was said that hyraxes were more closely related to prissidactyls than
> anything else, making them ungulates.

Five years is a long time in paleontology.

It was my impression that molecular and fossil data concurred (for once) 
that the Hyracoidea are closer to the tethytheres (sirenians, elephants) 
than to the perissodactyls (horses, tapirs, rhinos).  By contrast, 
phylogenies based solely on the morphologies of living mammals place hyraxes 
closer to the perissodactyls than to other paenungulates (or subungulates or 
pseudo-ungulates).  This may be due to convergence or long-branch 
attraction, or both.

Feel free to correct me if I'm dead wrong on this.

[ "prissidactyls" - is this the clade that includes showponies? ;-)  ]


Tim


------------------------------------------------------------

Timothy J. Williams

USDA/ARS Researcher
Agronomy Hall
Iowa State University
Ames IA 50014

Phone: 515 294 9233
Fax:   515 294 3163

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