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The origin of the dog-like borhyaenoid marsupials of South America

Nature volume 389, pages 486–489 (1997)Cite this article

Abstract

Dog-like marsupials (superfamily Borhyaenoidea) were the largest predacious mammals during the Tertiary period in South America1. They are critical to our understanding of marsupial origin, phylogeny and palaeobiogeography because they have been related to various marsupial lineages of several continents: didelphoids2 (mainly New World, but also Europe, Asia and Africa), pediomyid3, stagodontids4 (North America), dasyuroids5 (Australia) and deltatheroidans6 (predominantly Asian). These relationships, based mainly on dental morphology, have been discussed and rejected several times2,3,7,8. Here we report the discovery of exceptionally well preserved skulls and skeletons, referrable to the didelphoid Andinodelphys, which shed new light on the phylogenetic and palaeobiogeographic origin of dog-like marsupials. The skulls of Mayulestes (boryhyaenoid)9, Andinodelphys and Pucadelphys (didelphoids)10,11 from the early Palaeocene epoch of Bolivia are the oldest known for American marsupials. Comparison of their basicranial anatomy suggests that dog-like marsupials are closely related to an early didelphimorphian radiation in South America, rather than to Asiatic (deltatheroidan), North American (stagodontid), or Australian (dasyuroid) lineages.

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Figure 1: Views of Andinodelphys cochabambensis skull and teeth.
Figure 2: Views of Andinodelphys cochabambensis skull and teeth.
Figure 3: Comparative reconstructions of the ear regions of Pucadelphys, Andinodelphys and Mayulestes.
Figure 4: Comparative reconstructions of the ear regions of Pucadelphys, Andinodelphys and Mayulestes.
Figure 5: Comparative reconstructions of the ear regions of Pucadelphys, Andinodelphys and Mayulestes.
Figure 6: Distribution and phylogenetic relationships of the major groups which have been closely related to dog-like marsupials.

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Acknowledgements

We thank R. Suarez Soruco for logistic support; M. Archer, Z. Luo and M. Woodburne for comments; F. Pilar for Fig. 2; H. Lavina for Fig. 3; and D. Serrette for photography. This work was funded by the Institut Français d'Études Andines (Lima, Peru), the URA 12 of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Paris, France), and by the Muséum National d'Histoire naturelle (Paris, France).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. URA 12 CNRS, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Laboratoire de Paléontologie, 8 rue Buffon, Paris, F-75005, France

    Christian de Muizon

  2. Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, University of Oklahoma, Norman, 73019, Oklahoma, USA

    Richard L. Cifelli

  3. Universidad Mayor San Simón, Museo Arqueológico, Cas. 992, Cochabamba, Bolivia

    Ricardo Céspedes Paz

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de Muizon, C., Cifelli, R. & Paz, R. The origin of the dog-like borhyaenoid marsupials of South America. Nature 389, 486–489 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/39029

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