Re: Neogondwana and Epitheria

[NJPharris@aol.com]

In a message dated Wed, 23 Jan 2002 10:10:56 AM Eastern Standard Time, "Ken 
Kinman" <kinman@hotmail.com> writes:

>      Extrapolating the mammal results to birds is a tricky business, beyond 
> the general "southern refuge" at K-T.  Even for mammals, I am not completely 
> convinced that Afrotheria is necessarily the most basal group.

It seems to me I have seen other studies that reversed the branching order of 
the two basal clades (Xenarthra first, then Afrotheria).


> The 
> Xenarthrans of Neogondwana have been classified separately from all other 
> living mammals (epitheres) for quite some time, 

Though I've also heard that modern xenarthrans may be secondarily 
less-derived-looking.


and it still seems possible 
> to me that xenarthrans paraphyletically gave rise to both afrotherians and 
> boreoeutherians, either separately (more likely?) or as a single epitherian 
> clade 

Huh???  What in the world sort of evidence do you have that afrotheres *or* 
"boreoeutherians" (let alone both) derive from _within_ Xenarthra??

--Nick P.