TY - JOUR
T1 - Independent origins of middle ear bones in monotremes and therians
AU - Rich, Thomas H.
AU - Hopson, James A.
AU - Musser, Anne M.
AU - Flannery, Timothy F.
AU - Vickers-Rich, Patricia
PY - 2005/2/11
Y1 - 2005/2/11
N2 - A dentary of the oldest known monotreme, the Early Cretaceous Teinolophos trusleri, has an internal mandibular trough, which in outgroups to mammals houses accessory jaw bones, and probable contact facets for angular, coronoid, and splenial bones. Certain of these accessory bones were detached from the mandible to become middle ear bones in mammals. Evidence that the angular (homologous with the mammalian ectotympanic) and the articular and prearticular (homologous with the mammalian malleus) bones retained attachment to the lower jaw in a basal monotreme indicates that the definitive mammalian middle ear evolved independently in living monotremes and therians (marsupials and placentals).
AB - A dentary of the oldest known monotreme, the Early Cretaceous Teinolophos trusleri, has an internal mandibular trough, which in outgroups to mammals houses accessory jaw bones, and probable contact facets for angular, coronoid, and splenial bones. Certain of these accessory bones were detached from the mandible to become middle ear bones in mammals. Evidence that the angular (homologous with the mammalian ectotympanic) and the articular and prearticular (homologous with the mammalian malleus) bones retained attachment to the lower jaw in a basal monotreme indicates that the definitive mammalian middle ear evolved independently in living monotremes and therians (marsupials and placentals).
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=13644261672&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1126/science.1105717
DO - 10.1126/science.1105717
M3 - Article
C2 - 15705848
AN - SCOPUS:13644261672
SN - 0036-8075
VL - 307
SP - 910
EP - 914
JO - Science
JF - Science
IS - 5711
ER -