-
Chapter
The Endocranial Cavities of Sloths (Xenarthra, Folivora): Insights from the Brain Endocast, Bony Labyrinth, and Cranial Sinuses
Folivora (sloths) constitutes a taxonomically rich group comprised of many extinct representatives and a few living forms. The clade also shows remarkable skeletal disparity that has been studied by paleontolo...
-
Article
Head of the Class: John R. Wible’s Transformative Insights Into Mammalian Craniodental Anatomy
-
Article
The Narial Anatomy of Extinct and Extant Sloths (Xenarthra, Folivora): Osteological Anomalies in the Extant Two-Toed Sloth Choloepus
The skeletal anatomy of the anterior narial region in mammals is complex, comprised of several bony and cartilaginous elements. Because it includes many cartilaginous components, preservation of this area in e...
-
Article
Digital Cranial Endocasts of the Extinct Sloth Glossotherium robustum (Xenarthra, Mylodontidae) from the Late Pleistocene of Argentina: Description and Comparison with the Extant Sloths
The internal cranial morphology of the terrestrial sloth Glossotherium robustum is described here based on a neurocranium from the late Pleistocene of the Pampean region of Buenos Aires, northeastern Argentina. T...
-
Article
Epaxial Musculature in Armadillos, Sloths, and Opossums: Functional Significance and Implications for the Evolution of Back Muscles in the Xenarthra
To investigate the evolution of xenarthran epaxial muscles, fresh specimens of the North American Common long-nosed armadillo Dasypus novemcinctus and of a marsupial, the Virginia opossum Didelphis virginiana, we...
-
Article
Phylogenetic and functional implications of the ear region anatomy of Glossotherium robustum (Xenarthra, Mylodontidae) from the Late Pleistocene of Argentina
Several detailed studies of the external morphology of the ear region in extinct sloths have been published in the past few decades, and this anatomical region has proved extremely helpful in elucidating the p...
-
Article
Premaxillae of the Extinct Megalonychid Sloths Acratocnus, Neocnus, and Megalonyx, and their Phylogenetic Implications (Mammalia, Xenarthra)
In most folivorans, the premaxilla is loosely attached to the maxilla, so that it is often missing in otherwise very well-preserved fossil skulls. Despite its infrequent preservation in sloths, the premaxilla ...
-
Article
Form and Function in the Xenarthra–an Introduction to the Symposium Proceedings Volume
This special issue of the Journal of Mammalian Evolution represents the proceedings from a symposium held in conjunction with the 9th International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology (ICVM IX, Punta del Este, Urug...
-
Article
Recent Advances on Variability, Morpho-Functional Adaptations, Dental Terminology, and Evolution of Sloths
The occasion of the Xenarthra Symposium during the ICVM 9 meeting allowed us to reflect on the considerable advances in the knowledge of sloths made by the “X-community” over the past two decades, particularly...
-
Article
A possible function for an enigmatic synapomorphy of Didelphis
A conspicuous synapomorphy of the marsupial genus Didelphis is the hypertrophied spinous process of cervical vertebrae (C). The tall, thick spinous processes of C2 to C6 interlock preventing any movement of the n...
-
Article
Endless Forms Most Beautiful and Most Wonderful: South American Mammals
-
Article
The Phylogeny of Living and Extinct Pangolins (Mammalia, Pholidota) and Associated Taxa: A Morphology Based Analysis
The present study was undertaken in order to effect a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the order Pholidota, examining seven of the eight currently recognized extant species (absent is Manis culionensis, for...
-
Article
The Entotympanic of Pangolins and the Phylogeny of the Pholidota (Mammalia)
Entotympanics are independent elements present in the auditory bullae of various eutherians. An entotympanic has been reported for extant pangolins of the Order Pholidota, but the actual distribution of this e...
-
Article
The Phylogeny of the Myrmecophagidae (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Vermilingua) and the Relationship of Eurotamandua to the Vermilingua
A cladistic investigation of the phylogenetic relationships among the three extant anteater genera and the three undoubted extinct myrmecophagid genera is performed based upon osteological characteristics of t...
-
Article
Reexamination of the morphological evidence for the cohort Epitheria (Mammalia, Eutheria)
Novacek and co-workers recognized a monophyletic clade Epitheria, comprising all eutherians except edentates and the extinct palaeoryctoids, on the basis of two synapomorphies: a stirrupshaped stapes and a for...
