Kerber Leonardo, Ferreira José D, Negri Francisco R
Centro de Apoio à Pesquisa Paleontológica da Quarta Colônia (CAPPA), Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, São João do Polêsine, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biodiversidade Animal, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil.
J Morphol. 2019 Dec;280(12):1821-1838. doi: 10.1002/jmor.21067. Epub 2019 Oct 21.
The rodent Neoepiblema acreensis (Chinchilloidea: Neoepiblemidae) is member of a lineage that reached gigantic dimensions during the Late Miocene of South America-the Neoepiblemidae. In this paper, the cranial anatomy of this rodent is reviewed. Noninvasive imaging is used to reveal internal structures. Our review is based mainly on an almost complete cranium from the Upper Miocene deposits of the western Amazonia of Brazil. The cranium has an elongated rostrum, large frontal sinuses, a deep temporal fossa, well-developed sagittal, nuchal, medial occipital, and secondary crests, and a tympanic fenestra connected to the external acoustic meatus by a thin ventral cleft. Remarkably, the cranium shows the presence of fossae on the posterior region of the frontal and parietal bones, and a "W-shaped" fronto-parietal suture, which are not present in other analyzed chinchilloids. This study contributes to the knowledge of the morphology of this extinct rodent as well as to the phylogenetic relationships and paleobiology of neoepiblemids.
啮齿动物阿克里新毛丝鼠（绒鼠超科：新毛丝鼠科）是南美洲晚中新世时期体型达到巨大尺寸的一个谱系的成员——新毛丝鼠科。在本文中，对这种啮齿动物的颅骨解剖结构进行了综述。采用非侵入性成像来揭示内部结构。我们的综述主要基于来自巴西西部亚马逊地区上中新世沉积物的一个几乎完整的颅骨。该颅骨具有细长的吻部、大的额窦、深的颞窝、发达的矢状嵴、项嵴、枕内侧嵴和次生嵴，以及通过一条薄的腹侧裂隙与外耳道相连的鼓室孔。值得注意的是，该颅骨在额骨和顶骨的后部区域有窝，以及一条“W形”额顶缝，这在其他分析过的绒鼠超科动物中并不存在。这项研究有助于了解这种已灭绝啮齿动物的形态，以及新毛丝鼠科的系统发育关系和古生物学。
