@article{doi101111j1469185x1968tb00966x,
    author = "Crompton, A. W. and Jenkins, Farish A.",
    title = "MOLAR OCCLUSION IN LATE TRIASSIC MAMMALS",
    year = "1968",
    journal = "Biological reviews/Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society",
    abstract = "Summary 1. A new genus and species of late Triassic mammal, Megazostrodon rudnerae, from Lesotho in southern Africa is described. The molars are similar to those of the British Eozostrodon parvus except that they are slightly larger and the upper molars have a large external cingulum supporting well‐developed cusps. 2. Molar occlusion is discussed in two groups of late Triassic mammals: Eoxostrodon and the closely related Megazostrodon on one the hand and the unnamed primitive symmetrodonts on the other. It is shown that in Eoxostrodon the upper and lower molars did not have matching occlusal surfaces upon eruption but that wear produced matching occlusal surfaces. These surfaces are confined to the internal surface of the upper molars and the external surface of the lower molars and form a series of wide‐angled triangles. The main cusp of an upper molar occluded between the main and posterior subsidiary cusp of the lower molar and the main cusp of the lower molar occluded between the main and anterior subsidiary cusp of the upper molar, 3. It is shown that the molars of Docodon and HaIdanodon were possibly derived from those of a primitive mammal such as Eozostrodon. The transition involved the development on the upper molars of an internal extension which, as it increased in size, established contact with the dorsal surfaces of two adjacent lower molars. The process involved is fundamentally different from that leading to tribosphenic molars. 4. In Megaxostrodon the main cusp of the upper molars occluded between the posterior and anterior subsidiary cusps of two adjacent lower molars, i.e. more posteriorly than in Eozostrodon. Primitive Rhaetic symmetrodonts were derived from mammals which had this type of occlusion and which were also closely related to Eoxostrodon and Megaxostrodon. The transition involved a rotation of the subsidiary cusps of the upper molars externally and those of the lower molars internally. This rotation increased the shearing surfaces between occluding upper and lower molars. Cusp rotation was carried further in the acute‐angled symmetrodonts (Peralestes and Spalacotherium) and pantotheres. It appears that marked cusp rotation was coupled with the acquisition of transverse movements of the lower jaw during mastication. Transverse movement was apparently not possible in cynodonts, in Eoxostrodon (and related forms) and in Docodon. 5. The evolution of therian molars involves cusp rotation as originally proposed by the Cope—Osborn theory. Criticisms of the Cope—Osborn theory are re‐evaluated in light of the new late Triassic material. 6. In Rhaetic symmetrodonts, molar wear produces matching occlusal facets, but the amount of attrition necessary to produce these facets was considerably less than in Eoxostrodon. In acute‐angled symmetrodonts and in pantotheres, the molars erupt with more precise occlusal surfaces and attrition was not necessary to produce matching surfaces. 7. On the basis of the structure of the molar teeth it was concluded that Eozostrodon, Megazostrodon and Erythrotherium were closely related to the Rhaetic symmetrodonts. Slightly different occlusal relationships between upper and lower molars indicated that in these early mammals constant occlusal relations were being established. 8. Primitive cynodonts, such as Thrinaxodon, are characterized by alternate tooth replacement; there is a total lack of a constant occlusal relationship between upper and lower postcanine teeth. In Thrinaxodon individual postcanines were replaced several times. The crown structures of successive generations of postcanines were different so that a freshly erupted postcanine tooth had a crown structure quite distinct from the tooth which it replaced. It has been shown that the crown structure of one of the generations of postcanine teeth of Thrinaxodon is almost identical to that of Eozostrodon except that Thrinaxodon postcanines have a single root, On the basis of this similarity and the over‐all structure of the primitive cynodont skull, it was concluded that Rhaetic mammals (excluding ictidosaurs and haramyids) could be derived from primitive cynodonts. 9. All the orders of Jurassic mammals (with the possible exception of multituber‐culates) were probably derived from late Triassic mammals. The apparent close relationship of late Triassic mammals is evidence of a monophyletic origin of this class.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-185x.1968.tb00966.x",
    doi = "10.1111/j.1469-185x.1968.tb00966.x",
    openalex = "W2051415186",
    references = "doi101098rstb19360005, doi101098rstb19630002, doi101111j109583121964tb00925x, doi101111j109636421949tb00883x, doi101111j109636421966tb00081x, doi101111j109636421968tb00519x, doi101111j146979981963tb01994x, doi101111j155856461959tb03026x, doi1023071374075, doi105962bhltitle3460"
}

@article{doi101111j109636421973tb00786x,
    author = "Kermack, Kenneth A. and Mussett, Frances and Rigney, Harold W.",
    title = "The lower jaw of Morganucodon",
    year = "1973",
    journal = "Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society",
    abstract = "The genus Morganucodon is found in Yunnan, China, in normal (non-karstic) sedimentary deposits (Lufeng beds) of probable Rhaetian age; and in Wales in karstic deposits in the Carboniferous Limestone. These latter deposits cannot be younger than Sinnemurian or older than Rhaetic. A new suborder—Morganucodonta—of the Triconodonta is created for Morganucodon and its allies. Morganucodon and Eozostrodon are not synonyms. The lower jaw of Morganucodon resembles closely that of an advanced cynodont, except for the presence of a squamosal-dentary joint in the former. There was no reduction in the functional importance of the reptilian (quadrate-articular) jaw-joint in passing from the cynodont condition to that of Morganucodon. The mechanism of shearing is discussed. The action of the cheek-teeth is pure shear. Primarily, the function of the squamosal-dentary articulation was to resist couples produced by the shearing, thus primitively, the presence of efficient shearing cheek-teeth is associated with a squamosal-dentary articulation. The skull of Morganucodon will be described in a later paper.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1973.tb00786.x",
    doi = "10.1111/j.1096-3642.1973.tb00786.x",
    openalex = "W2043175112",
    references = "doi101001jama193602770270072040, doi101098rspb19570051, doi101111j109636421968tb00519x, doi101111j1469185x1968tb00966x, doi101130spe28p1, doi101371journalpcbi1004789, doi1023071374075, doi1023072257405, doi105281zenodo18028457, doi105962bhltitle82144"
}

@article{kermack1973the1,
    author = "Kermack, K. A. and Mussett, F. and Rigney, H. W",
    title = "The lower jaw of Morganucodon",
    year = "1973",
    journal = "Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, v. 53, p. 87- 175",
    note = "talkorigins\_source = {true}; raw\_reference = {Kermack, K. A., Mussett, F., and Rigney, H. W., 1973, The lower jaw of Morganucodon: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, v. 53, p. 87- 175.}"
}

@article{doi101002ajpa1330460213,
    author = "Kay, Richard F.",
    title = "The evolution of molar occlusion in the Cercopithecidae and early catarrhines",
    year = "1977",
    journal = "American Journal of Physical Anthropology",
    abstract = "Abstract Those Eocene prosimians which are possible catarrhine ancestors have four blade‐like crests on each lower molar. Each crest shears in sequence across two upper molar crests. Occluding crests are concavely curved to hold the foods being sheared. Each of two medial lower molar crests bordering the principal crushing surface shear past single upper molar crests at about the same time the lateral lower molar crests contact the second rank of upper molar crests. Grinding and crushing areas are restricted to hypoconid, trigonid, and protocone surfaces. Oligocene catarrhine molars have increased crushing‐grinding capacities and maintained but modify their shearing. As the crushing surface of the protocone expands and a crushing hypocone is added, the “second rank” upper molar shearing crests are functionally reduced. At the same time medial crests are increasingly emphasized so that the total shearing capacity remains virtually unchanged. Marginal shearing blades are straight edged; leading edges of occluding blades are set at different angles to the occlusal plane so that blades contact at only one point at any given time. Early Primates have separate crushing basins surrounded by shearing blades. Catarrhines tend to link expanding crushing surfaces anteroposteriorly into a continuous surface between all molars. A cladistic analysis based on both new and previously recognized characters indicates that: 1, Apidium may be more closely related to Aegyptopithecus than to Parapithecus; 2, cercopithecids are derived from a Parapithecus ‐related stock; 3, Oreopithecus could equally well have come from an Apidium or Aegyptopithecus stock.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.1330460213",
    doi = "10.1002/ajpa.1330460213",
    openalex = "W2145541011",
    references = "doi101038205135a0, doi101111j109636421970tb00728x, doi1023072412851"
}

@article{doi101017s0094837300006539,
    author = "Sepkoski, J. John",
    title = "A kinetic model of Phanerozoic taxonomic diversity II. Early Phanerozoic families and multiple equilibria",
    year = "1979",
    journal = "Paleobiology",
    abstract = "The kinetic model of taxonomic diversity predicts that the long-term diversification of taxa within any large and essentially closed ecological system should approximate a logistic process controlled by changes in origination and extinction rates with changing numbers of taxa. This model is tested with a new compilation of numbers of metazoan families known from Paleozoic stages (including stage-level subdivisions of the Cambrian). These data indicate the occurrence of two intervals of logistic diversification within the Paleozoic. The first interval, spanning the Vendian and Cambrian, includes an approximately exponential increase in families across the Precambrian-Cambrian Boundary and a “pseudo-equilibrium” through the Middle and Late Cambrian, caused by diversity-dependent decrease in origination rate and increase in extinction rate. The second interval begins with a rapid re-diversification in the Ordovician, which leads to a tripling of familial diversity during a span of 50 Myr; by the end of the Ordovician diversity attains a new dynamic equilibrium that is maintained, except for several extinction events, for nearly 200 Myr until near the end of the Paleozoic. A “two-phase” kinetic model is constructed to describe this heterogeneous pattern of early Phanerozoic diversification. The model adequately describes the “multiple equilibria,” the asymmetrical history of the “Cambrian fauna,” the extremely slow initial diversification of the later “Paleozoic fauna,” and the combined patterns of origination and extinction in both faunas. It is suggested that this entire pattern of diversification reflects the early success of ecologically generalized taxa and their later replacement by more specialized taxa.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1017/s0094837300006539",
    doi = "10.1017/s0094837300006539",
    openalex = "W2504649407",
    references = "bretsky1968evolution, doi1010160012825272900724, doi101017s0094837300004917, doi101038260204c0, doi101086627723, doi101093aesa383396, doi101111j155856461963tb03295x, doi101144gsjgs13130289, doi101306m12367, doi1015159781400881376, doi10182618200093301197301, doi1023071483846, doi1023072405671, doi1023072412728, doi102475ajs2748833, doi104095100784, doi105281zenodo16238847, doi105962bhltitle4489, doi105962bhltitle66379, doi107312simp93764, openalexw2145250129"
}

@article{doi101111j146979981979tb03964x,
    author = "Alexander, R. McN. and Jayes, A. S. and Maloiy, G. M. O. and Wathuta, E. M.",
    title = "Allometry of the limb bones of mammals from shrews (Sorex) to elephant (Loxodonta)",
    year = "1979",
    journal = "Journal of Zoology",
    abstract = "Measurements have been made of the principal leg bones of 37 species representing almost the full range of sizes of terrestrial mammals. The lengths of corresponding bones tend to be proportional to (body mass) 0·35 and the diameters to (body mass) 0·36, except in the family Bovidae in which the exponents for length are much nearer the value of 0·25 predicted by McMahon's (1973) theory of elastic similarity. Comparisons are made between mammals of similar size belonging to different orders.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1979.tb03964.x",
    doi = "10.1111/j.1469-7998.1979.tb03964.x",
    openalex = "W2166794716"
}

@article{doi101111j109636421980tb00852x,
    author = "Evans, Susan E.",
    title = "The skull of a new eosuchian reptile from the Lower Jurassic of South Wales",
    year = "1980",
    journal = "Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society",
    abstract = "Journal Article The skull of a new eosuchian reptile from the Lower Jurassic of South Wales Get access SUSAN E. EVANS SUSAN E. EVANS 1Department of Zoology, University College London WC1 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 70, Issue 3, November 1980, Pages 203–264, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1980.tb00852.x Published: 28 June 2008 Article history Accepted: 01 February 1980 Published: 28 June 2008",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1980.tb00852.x",
    doi = "10.1111/j.1096-3642.1980.tb00852.x",
    openalex = "W1969257346",
    references = "doi101002jmor1051110306, doi101098rstb19570003, doi101111j109636421973tb00786x, doi101111j146979981972tb01731x, openalexw2261909166, openalexw3140893762"
}

@article{doi101111j109636421981tb01127x,
    author = "Kermack, Kenneth A. and Mussett, Frances and Rigney, Harold W.",
    title = "The skull of Morganucodon",
    year = "1981",
    journal = "Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society",
    abstract = "Morganucodon is a triconodont (atherian) mammal from the Lower Jurassic. Two species are described: M. oehleri from China and M. watsoni from Wales. The skull in M. watsoni is 26 mm long; M. oehleri is slightly larger. The dentition is differentiated functionally into incisors, canines, premolars and molars. The pineal foramen is closed. The prefrontals, postfrontals and postorbitals are lost. Septomaxilla, quadratojugal, tabular and pterygoid flanges are retained. The bony external nares are unpaired. The nasal cavity had the mammalian complement of turbinals. The posterior palate has ridges and troughs similar to those in tritylodonts, triconodonts and multituberculates. The alisphenoid ascending process is narrow and is not in contact with the anterior lamina of the petrosal, lying lateral to it. There is a cavum epiptericum, as in late therapsids. The anterior lamina forms the lateral braincase wall, perforated by the foramina pseudovale and pseudorotundum. There is a squamosal-dentary articulation, but the reptilian jaw joint is retained. The ear resembles that in later therapsids, with the tympanum in the lower jaw. The small quadrate was moveable, buttressed medially be a large stapes. Sound conduction from the tympanum was via articular, quadrate and stapes. The systematic position of Morganucodon is discussed.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1981.tb01127.x",
    doi = "10.1111/j.1096-3642.1981.tb01127.x",
    openalex = "W1988693384",
    references = "doi101001jama193602770270072040, doi1010079789401169011, doi101038142004a0, doi101098rstb19630002, doi101111j109636421973tb00786x, doi101126science15437541333, doi101146annureven10010165000525, doi1015159781400876433, doi1023071419812, doi1023072407154, doi1023072421869, doi105962bhltitle118972, doi105962bhltitle15687, doi105962bhltitle82144, openalexw2912468146"
}

@article{doi10108002724634198810011681,
    author = "Jenkins, Farish A. and Schaff, Charles R.",
    title = "The Early Cretaceous mammal Gobiconodon (Mammalia, Triconodonta) from the Cloverly Formation in Montana",
    year = "1988",
    journal = "Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology",
    abstract = "ABSTRACT Gobiconodon ostromi, sp. nov., described from two partial skeletons collected from the Cloverly Formation in southcentral Montana, is closely related to Gobiconodon borissiaki Trofimov (1978) from the Early Cretaceous of Mongolia. The unusual dental characters of this new form are enlarged caniniform incisors, reduced canines, and replacement of the molariform teeth that lie distal to the presumptive premolars. Despite the fact that the molariform occlusal pattern is the same as in Amphilestes of the Middle Jurassic and the overall structure of the molariform teeth is comparable to that in amphilestid triconodonts, the dentition is otherwise so anomalous that Gobiconodon is assigned to a new family. The scapula possesses a supraspinous fossa and an apparently large coracoid. The humerus exhibits large deltopectoral and medial crests, and protuberant epicondyles; the planes of the proximal and distal halves of this bone are substantially offset. The pelvis conforms to a generalized mammalian pattern. A deep fossa of unknown function occurs on the dorsal surface of the lesser trochanter; the greater trochanter extends distally well down onto the shaft. A spur-like bone appears to represent an extratarsal element. In overall body size, Gobiconodon ostromi, sp. nov., is comparable to Didelphis virginiana but in its limb and vertebral proportions is more robust.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.1988.10011681",
    doi = "10.1080/02724634.1988.10011681",
    openalex = "W2041142773",
    references = "doi101002aja1001370304, doi101002jmor1051670308, doi101002jmor1051850203, doi101098rstb19760022, doi101111j109636421981tb01127x, doi101111j109636421985tb01500x, doi101111j1469185x1968tb00966x, doi105281zenodo16386718, doi105962bhltitle3460, openalexw1539913220"
}

@article{doi101126science2740914,
    author = "Biewener, Andrew A.",
    title = "Scaling Body Support in Mammals: Limb Posture and Muscle Mechanics",
    year = "1989",
    journal = "Science",
    abstract = "The scaling of bone and muscle geometry in mammals suggests that peak stresses (ratio of force to cross-sectional area) acting in these two support elements increase with increasing body size. Observations of stresses acting in the limb bones of different sized mammals during strenuous activity, however, indicate that peak bone stress is independent of size (maintaining a safety factor of between 2 and 4). It appears that similar peak bone stresses and muscle stresses in large and small mammals are achieved primarily by a size-dependent change in locomotor limb posture: small animals run with crouched postures, whereas larger species run more upright. By adopting an upright posture, large animals align their limbs more closely with the ground reaction force, substantially reducing the forces that their muscles must exert (proportional to body mass) and hence, the forces that their bones must resist, to counteract joint moments. This change in limb posture to maintain locomotor stresses within safe limits, however, likely limits the maneuverability and accelerative capability of large animals.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.2740914",
    doi = "10.1126/science.2740914",
    openalex = "W2001793234",
    references = "doi101017cbo9781139167826, doi101126science17940791201, doi101152ajpregu19772335r243, doi101152physrev1972521129, doi101242jeb1011187, doi101242jeb1381301, doi101242jeb9711, doi1015159781400853724, doi1023072530028, doi104159harvard9780674184404, doi105962bhltitle11332, openalexw1534787790"
}

@article{doi101098rspb19970238,
    author = "Prinz, Jon F. and Lucas, Peter W.",
    title = "An optimization model for mastication and swallowing in mammals",
    year = "1997",
    journal = "Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences",
    abstract = "Mammalian mastication is a process combining simultaneous food comminution and lubrication. The initiation of swallowing, which is voluntary, has been thought to depend on separate thresholds for food particle size and for particle lubrication. Instead of this duality, we suggest that swallowing is initiated when it is sensed that a batch of food particles is binding together under viscous forces so as to form a bolus. Bolus formation ensures that when the food mass is swallowed, it will pass the pharyngeal region safely without risk of inhaling small particles into the lower respiratory tract. Crucial for bolus formation is food particle size reduction by mastication. This allows the tongue to pack particles together tightly by pressure against the hard palate. A major function of salivation is to fill the gradually reducing spaces between particles, so increasing viscous cohesion and promoting bolus formation. If swallowing is delayed, excessive saliva floods the bolus, separating particles and reducing cohesion. Swallowing then becomes more precarious. Our model suggests that there is an optimum moment for a mammal to swallow, defined in terms of a peak cohesive force between food particles. The model is tested on human mastication with two foods, brazil nut and raw carrot, which have very different particle size breakdown rates. The peak cohesive force is much greater with brazil nuts but both foods are predicted to be swallowed after similar numbers of chews despite the very different food particle size reductions achieved at that stage. The predicted number of chews to swallow is in broad agreement with published data.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1997.0238",
    doi = "10.1098/rspb.1997.0238",
    openalex = "W1990462467",
    references = "doi101038285160a0"
}

@article{doi10108002724634199810011115,
    author = "Wilson, Jeffrey A. and Sereno, Paul C.",
    title = "Early Evolution and Higher-Level Phylogeny of Sauropod Dinosaurs",
    year = "1998",
    journal = "Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology",
    abstract = "ABSTRACT Although sauropods played a major role in terrestrial ecosystems during much of the Mesozoic Era, little effort has been directed toward diagnosing Sauropoda and establishing higher-level interrelationships among sauropods. As a consequence, the origin and evolution of major skeletal adaptations in sauropods has remained largely speculative. The cladistic analysis presented here focuses on higher-level relationships among sauropods. Based on 109 characters (32 cranial, 24 axial, 53 appendicular) for 10 sauropod taxa, the most parsimonious arrangement places four genera (Vulcanodon, Shunosaurus, Barapasaurus, and Omeisaurus) as a sequence of sister-taxa to a group of advanced sauropods, defined here as Neosauropoda. Neosauropoda, in turn, is composed of the sister-clades Diplodocoidea and Macronaria; the latter is a new taxon that includes Haplocanthosaurus, Camarasaurus, and Titanosauriformes. Titanosauriformes includes Brachiosauridae and Somphospondyli, a new taxon uniting Euhelopus and Titanosauria. Among macronarians, the position of Haplocanthosaurus is the least stable as a result of the absence of cranial remains. The basic structure of the phylogeny is resilient to various tests and establishes the evolutionary sequence of many functionally significant sauropod adaptations, such as the digitigrade posture of the manus in neosauropods. Other characteristic sauropod adaptations, such as narrow tooth crowns, increases in length and number of cervical vertebrae, and bifid neural spines, are shown to have evolved more than once. As these results underscore, the higher-level phylogeny of sauropods must be based on a broad sampling of character data. The fossil record of sauropods, although relatively limited during the early phase of the radiation (Late Triassic through Early Jurassic), nonetheless indicates that all major clades were established prior to the Late Jurassic, when substantial faunal interchange among major continental regions was still possible. The functional, temporal, and biogeographic implications of the higher-level phylogeny of sauropods are explored.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.1998.10011115",
    doi = "10.1080/02724634.1998.10011115",
    openalex = "W1981694118",
    references = "crossref1976allosaurus, doi1010079789400904095, doi101038063003a0, doi101038114085a0, doi10108002724634199110011386, doi10108002724634199410011523, doi10108002724634199410011524, doi10108002724634199710011027, doi101093oxfordjournalsafrafa100309, doi101098rstb19950125, doi101111j109583121965tb00944x, doi101111j109636421985tb00871x, doi101111j150239311985tb00690x, doi101126science2562999, doi101126science2665183267, doi101127njgpa210199841, doi1023071292217, doi1023073514751, doi1023073514816, doi102307jctv143mdjg, doi102475ajss31695411, doi102475ajss319111253, doi102475ajss321125417, doi102475ajss32313381, doi105281zenodo16171435, doi105860choice331556, openalexw1025856234, openalexw2173200745, openalexw2472827083, openalexw616953834, openalexw653009579"
}

@book{doi101353book59141,
    author = "Nowak, Ronald M.",
    title = "Walker's Mammals of the World",
    year = "1999",
    booktitle = "Johns Hopkins University Press eBooks",
    abstract = "From aardwolves and bandicoots to yapoks and zorillas, Ernest P. Walker's Mammals of the World is the most comprehensive-the pre-eminent-reference work on mammals. Now, completely revised and updated, this fascinating guide is better than ever. Providing complete account of every genus of mammal in all historical time, the sixth edition is 25 percent longer than its predecessor. Of the previous generic accounts, 95 percent have been substantively modified, and there are 80 new ones-among them, three remarkable, large ungulates recently discovered in the forests of Indochina. New also is full account of the woolly mammoth, now known to have survived until less than 4,000 years ago. Each section of the book describes one genus and includes facts such as scientific and common names, the number and distribution of species, measurements and physical traits, habitat, locomotion, daily and seasonal activity, population dynamics, home range, social life, reproduction, and longevity. Textual summaries present accurate, well-documented descriptions of the physical characteristics and living habits of mammals in every part of the world. As in the last two editions, the names and distributions of every species of every genus are listed in systematic order. These lists have now been cross-checked to ensure coverage of all species in the comprehensive new Smithsonian guide, Mammal Species of the World. Facts on the biology of mammals have been brought together from more than 2,700 newly cited references, nearly all published in the last decade. Also new are the latest data on reproduction, longevity, fur harvests, numbers in the wild and in captivity, and conservation status. The sixth edition also records all official classifications of every mammal species and subspecies in the massive 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. The illustrations-more than 1,700-include virtually every genus of mammal. Among them are pictures by such noted wildlife photographers as Leonard Lee Rue III, Bernhard Grzimek, David Pye, and Warren T. Houck. Mammals pictured here for the first time include the just-discovered giant muntjac deer of Viet Nam, rodent known only from the Solomon Islands, large fruit bat whose male suckles the young, and an extremely rare web-footed tenrec of Madagascar. Since its publication in 1964, Walker's Mammals of the World has become favorite guide to the natural world for general readers as well as an invaluable resource for professionals. This sixth edition represents more than half century of scholarship-Ernest P. Walker himself devoted more than thirty years to the original project-and remains true to Walker's vision, smoothly combining thorough scholarship with popular, readable style to preserve and enhance what the Washington Post called a landmark of zoological literature.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1353/book.59141",
    doi = "10.1353/book.59141",
    openalex = "W1579928530"
}

@article{doi101126science1058476,
    author = "Luo, Zhe‐Xi and Crompton, A. W. and Sun, Ailin",
    title = "A New Mammaliaform from the Early Jurassic and Evolution of Mammalian Characteristics",
    year = "2001",
    journal = "Science",
    abstract = {A fossil from the Early Jurassic (Sinemurian, approximately 195 million years ago) represents a new lineage of mammaliaforms, the extinct groups more closely related to the living mammals than to nonmammaliaform cynodonts. It has an enlarged cranial cavity, but no postdentary trough on the mandible, indicating separation of the middle ear bones from the mandible. This extends the earliest record of these crucial mammalian features by some 45 million years and suggests that separation of the middle ear bones from the mandible and the expanded brain vault could be correlated. It shows that several key mammalian evolutionary innovations in the ear region, the temporomandibular joint, and the brain vault evolved incrementally through mammaliaform evolution and long before the differentiation of the living mammal groups. With an estimated body weight of only 2 grams, its coexistence with other larger mammaliaforms with similar "triconodont-like" teeth for insectivory within the same fauna suggests a great trophic diversity within the mammaliaform insectivore feeding guild, as inferred from the range of body sizes.},
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1058476",
    doi = "10.1126/science.1058476",
    openalex = "W1980409596",
    references = "cifelli1998triconodont, doi101007978146122784737, doi10108002724634199810011048, doi101111j109636421973tb00786x, doi101111j109636421981tb01127x"
}

@article{doi101126science1063830,
    author = "Wang, Yuan and Hu, Yaoming and Meng, Jin and Li, Chuankui",
    title = "An Ossified Meckel's Cartilage in Two Cretaceous Mammals and Origin of the Mammalian Middle Ear",
    year = "2001",
    journal = "Science",
    abstract = "An ossified Meckel's cartilage has been recovered from two early Cretaceous mammals from China. This element is similar to Meckel's cartilage in prenatal and some postnatal extant mammals and indicates the relationship of Meckel's cartilage with the middle ear in early mammals. The evidence shows that brain expansion may not be the initial factor that caused the separation of postdentary bones from the dentary as middle ear ossicles during mammalian evolution. The failure of the dentary to seize reduced postdentary elements during ontogeny of early mammals is postulated as an alternative mechanism for the separation. Modifications of both feeding and hearing apparatuses in early mammals may have led to the development of the definitive mammalian middle ear.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1063830",
    doi = "10.1126/science.1063830",
    openalex = "W2085856353"
}

@article{doi101126science1067179,
    author = "Murphy, William J. and Eizirik, Eduardo and O’Brien, Stephen J. and Madsen, Ole and Scally, Mark and Douady, Christophe J. and Teeling, Emma C. and Ryder, Oliver A. and Stanhope, Michael J. and de Jong, Wilfried W. and Springer, Mark S.",
    title = "Resolution of the Early Placental Mammal Radiation Using Bayesian Phylogenetics",
    year = "2001",
    journal = "Science",
    abstract = "Molecular phylogenetic studies have resolved placental mammals into four major groups, but have not established the full hierarchy of interordinal relationships, including the position of the root. The latter is critical for understanding the early biogeographic history of placentals. We investigated placental phylogeny using Bayesian and maximum-likelihood methods and a 16.4-kilobase molecular data set. Interordinal relationships are almost entirely resolved. The basal split is between Afrotheria and other placentals, at about 103 million years, and may be accounted for by the separation of South America and Africa in the Cretaceous. Crown-group Eutheria may have their most recent common ancestry in the Southern Hemisphere (Gondwana).",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1067179",
    doi = "10.1126/science.1067179",
    openalex = "W2101671848",
    references = "doi10103831927, doi10103835054550, doi10103846536, doi101080106351500750049752, doi101093bioinformatics149817, doi101093bioinformatics178754, doi101093oxfordjournalsmolbeva026160, doi101093sysbio422182, doi1023071447682, doi1023072992540, rambaut1998estimating"
}

@article{doi101073pnas012579799,
    author = "West, Geoffrey B. and Woodruff, William H. and Brown, James H.",
    title = "Allometric scaling of metabolic rate from molecules and mitochondria to cells and mammals",
    year = "2002",
    journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences",
    abstract = "The fact that metabolic rate scales as the three-quarter power of body mass (M) in unicellular, as well as multicellular, organisms suggests that the same principles of biological design operate at multiple levels of organization. We use the framework of a general model of fractal-like distribution networks together with data on energy transformation in mammals to analyze and predict allometric scaling of aerobic metabolism over a remarkable 27 orders of magnitude in mass encompassing four levels of organization: individual organisms, single cells, intact mitochondria, and enzyme molecules. We show that, whereas rates of cellular metabolism in vivo scale as M(-1/4), rates for cells in culture converge to a single predicted value for all mammals regardless of size. Furthermore, a single three-quarter power allometric scaling law characterizes the basal metabolic rates of isolated mammalian cells, mitochondria, and molecules of the respiratory complex; this overlaps with and is indistinguishable from the scaling relationship for unicellular organisms. This observation suggests that aerobic energy transformation at all levels of biological organization is limited by the transport of materials through hierarchical fractal-like networks with the properties specified by the model. We show how the mass of the smallest mammal can be calculated (approximately 1 g), and the observed numbers and densities of mitochondria and respiratory complexes in mammalian cells can be understood. Extending theoretical and empirical analyses of scaling to suborganismal levels potentially has important implications for cellular structure and function as well as for the metabolic basis of aging.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.012579799",
    doi = "10.1073/pnas.012579799",
    openalex = "W2137330513"
}

@article{doi101242jeb20591315,
    author = "Fischer, Martin S. and Schilling, Nadja and Schmidt, Manuela and Haarhaus, Dieter and Witte, Hartmut",
    title = "Basic limb kinematics of small therian mammals",
    year = "2002",
    journal = "Journal of Experimental Biology",
    abstract = "SUMMARY A comparative study of quantitative kinematic data of fore- and hindlimb movements of eight different mammalian species leads to the recognition of basic principles in the locomotion of small therians. The description of kinematics comprises fore- and hindlimb movements as well as sagittal spine movements including displacement patterns of limb segments, their contribution to step length, and joint movements. The comparison of the contributions of different segments to step length clearly shows the proximal parts (scapula,femur) to produce more than half of the propulsive movement of the whole limb at symmetrical gaits. Basically, a three-segmented limb with zigzag configuration of segments is mainly displaced at the scapular pivot or hip joint, both of which have the same vertical distance to the ground. Two segments operate in matched motion during retraction of the limb. While kinematic parameters of forelimbs are independent of speed and gait (with the scapula as the dominant element), fundamental changes occur in hindlimb kinematics with the change from symmetrical to in-phase gaits. Forward motion of the hindlimbs is now mainly due to sagittal lumbar spine movements contributing to half of the step length. Kinematics of small therian mammals are independent of their systematic position, their natural habitat, and also of specific anatomical dispositions (e.g. reduction of fingers, toes, or clavicle). In contrast, the possession of a tail influences `pelvic movements'.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.205.9.1315",
    doi = "10.1242/jeb.205.9.1315",
    openalex = "W2109609391",
    references = "doi101002jmor1051410102, doi101002sici10968644200005112187aidajpa930co2b, doi10108002724634198810011681, doi101111j146979981971tb02189x, doi101111j146979981977tb03249x, doi101111j174817161969tb04415x, doi101126science1058476, openalexw1534787790, openalexw2139969703, openalexw3081581194, openalexw3147525738"
}

@article{openalexw78894702,
    author = "Luo, Zhe‐Xi and Kielan‐Jaworowska, Zofia and Cifelli, Richard L.",
    title = "In quest for a phylogeny of Mesozoic mammals",
    year = "2002",
    journal = "reroDoc Digital Library",
    abstract = "We propose a phylogeny of all major groups of Mesozoic mammals based on phylogenetic analyses of 46 taxa and 275 osteological and dental characters, using parsimony methods (Swofford 2000). Mammalia sensu lato (Mammaliaformes of some authors) are monophyletic. Within mammals, Sinoconodon is the most primitive taxon. Sinoconodon, morganu− codontids, docodonts, and Hadrocodium lie outside the mammalian crown group (crown therians + Monotremata) and are, successively, more closely related to the crown group. Within the mammalian crown group, we recognize a funda− mental division into australosphenidan (Gondwana) and boreosphenidan (Laurasia) clades, possibly with vicariant geo− graphic distributions during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. We provide additional derived characters supporting these two ancient clades, and we present two evolutionary hypotheses as to how the molars of early monotremes could have evolved. We consider two alternative placements of allotherians (haramiyids + multituberculates). The first, supported by strict consensus of most parsimonious trees, suggests that multituberculates (but not other alllotherians) are closely re− lated to a clade including spalacotheriids + crown therians (Trechnotheria as redefined herein). Alternatively, allotherians can be placed outside the mammalian crown group by a constrained search that reflects the traditional emphasis on the uniqueness of the multituberculate dentition. Given our dataset, these alternative topologies differ in tree−length by only \textasciitilde 0.6\% of the total tree length; statistical tests show that these positions do not differ significantly from one another. Simi− larly, there exist two alternative positions of eutriconodonts among Mesozoic mammals, contingent on the placement of other major mammalian clades. Of these, we tentatively favor recognition of a monophyletic Eutriconodonta, nested within the mammalian crown group. We suggest that the “obtuse−angle symmetrodonts” are paraphyletic, and that they lack reliable and unambiguous synapomorphies.",
    openalex = "W78894702",
    references = "cifelli1998triconodont, doi101007978146122784737, doi101007978146139249113, doi10103835054544, doi10103835054550, doi101038356121a0, doi10108002724634198810011681, doi10108002724634199810011048, doi101080106351500750049752, doi101098rstb19630002, doi101098rstb19760022, doi101111j109600311988tb00514x, doi101111j109636421973tb00786x, doi101111j109636421984tb00544x, doi101111j109636421985tb01500x, doi101111j155856461983tb05533x, doi1023071445584, doi105281zenodo16386718, doi105281zenodo18028696, doi105860choice355657, doi105962bhltitle3460, heinrich1998late, openalexw1539913220, openalexw1988829823, openalexw610180004"
}

@article{doi101017s1464793103006134,
    author = "Evans, Susan E.",
    title = "At the feet of the dinosaurs: the early history and radiation of lizards",
    year = "2003",
    journal = "Biological reviews/Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society",
    abstract = "Lizards, snakes and amphisbaenians together constitute the Squamata, the largest and most diverse group of living reptiles. Despite their current success, the early squamate fossil record is extremely patchy. The last major survey of squamate palaeontology and evolution was published 20 years ago. Since then, there have been major changes in systematic theory and methodology, as well as a steady trickle of new fossil finds. This review examines our current understanding of the first 150 million years of squamate evolution in the light of the new data and changing ideas. Contrary to previous reports, no squamate fossils are currently documented before the Jurassic. Nonetheless, indirect evidence predicts that squamates had evolved by at least the middle Triassic, and had diversified into existing major lineages before the end of this period. There is thus a major gap in the squamate record at a time when key morphological features were evolving. With the exception of fragmentary remains from Africa and India, Jurassic squamates are known only from localities in northern continents (Laurasia). The situation improves in the Early Cretaceous, but the southern (Gondwanan) record remains extremely poor. This constrains palaeobiogeographic discussion and makes it difficult to predict centres of origin for major squamate clades on the basis of fossil evidence alone. Preliminary mapping of morphological characters onto a consensus tree demonstrates stages in the sequence of acquisition for some characters of the skull and postcranial skeleton, but many crucial stages--most notably those relating to the acquisition of squamate skull kinesis--remain unclear.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1017/s1464793103006134",
    doi = "10.1017/s1464793103006134",
    openalex = "W2170009771",
    references = "doi101002jmor1051110306, doi10108000222938400770131, doi10108002724634199210011475, doi101098rstb19830079, doi101111j109636421978tb00376x, doi101111j136531211990tb00103x, doi1016710272463420020220286lftlca20co2, doi105860choice325663, openalexw2261909166, openalexw337536883"
}

@article{doi101073pnas0334222100,
    author = "Springer, Mark S. and Murphy, William J. and Eizirik, Eduardo and O’Brien, Stephen J.",
    title = "Placental mammal diversification and the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary",
    year = "2003",
    journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences",
    abstract = {Competing hypotheses for the timing of the placental mammal radiation focus on whether extant placental orders originated and diversified before or after the Cretaceous-Tertiary (KT) boundary. Molecular studies that have addressed this issue suffer from single calibration points, unwarranted assumptions about the molecular clock, andor taxon sampling that lacks representatives of all placental orders. We investigated this problem using the largest available molecular data set for placental mammals, which includes segments of 19 nuclear and three mitochondrial genes for representatives of all extant placental orders. We used the ThorneKishino method, which permits simultaneous constraints from the fossil record and allows rates of molecular evolution to vary on different branches of a phylogenetic tree. Analyses that used different sets of fossil constraints, different priors for the base of Placentalia, and different data partitions all support interordinal divergences in the Cretaceous followed by intraordinal diversification mostly after the KT boundary. Four placental orders show intraordinal diversification that predates the KT boundary, but only by an average of 10 million years. In contrast to some molecular studies that date the rat-mouse split as old as 46 million years, our results show improved agreement with the fossil record and place this split at 16-23 million years. To test the hypothesis that molecular estimates of Cretaceous divergence times are an artifact of increased body size subsequent to the KT boundary, we also performed analyses with a "KT body size" taxon set. In these analyses, interordinal splits remained in the Cretaceous.},
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0334222100",
    doi = "10.1073/pnas.0334222100",
    openalex = "W2109258478",
    references = "crossref1977chapter, crossref1977patterns, doi101023a1011317930838, doi10103831927, doi10103835054544, doi10103835054550, doi101093oxfordjournalsmolbeva003811, doi101093oxfordjournalsmolbeva025892, doi101126science1067179, doi101126science1068700, doi101159000452856, doi105860choice355657, openalexw1599677799, openalexw3217097258"
}

@article{doi101126science1090718,
    author = "Luo, Zhe‐Xi and Ji, Qiang and Wible, John R. and Yuan, Chong-Xi",
    title = "An Early Cretaceous Tribosphenic Mammal and Metatherian Evolution",
    year = "2003",
    journal = "Science",
    abstract = "Derived features of a new boreosphenidan mammal from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of China suggest that it has a closer relationship to metatherians (including extant marsupials) than to eutherians (including extant placentals). This fossil dates to 125 million years ago and extends the record of marsupial relatives with skeletal remains by 50 million years. It also has many foot structures known only from climbing and tree-living extant mammals, suggesting that early crown therians exploited diverse niches. New data from this fossil support the view that Asia was likely the center for the diversification of the earliest metatherians and eutherians during the Early Cretaceous.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1090718",
    doi = "10.1126/science.1090718",
    openalex = "W2089259767",
    references = "doi107312kiel11918"
}

@article{doi1016660094837320030290605etatoo20co2,
    author = "Sidor, Christian A.",
    title = "Evolutionary trends and the origin of the mammalian lower jaw",
    year = "2003",
    journal = "Paleobiology",
    abstract = "The single bony element forming the lower jaw of living mammals, the dentary, has been interpreted as representing the culmination of a long and gradual evolutionary trend. Numerous fossil nonmammalian synapsids (“mammal-like reptiles”) show varying degrees of enlargement of the dentary and concomitant reduction in the postdentary bones. To quantitatively reexamine patterns of morphological change in the evolution of the mammalian lower jaw, measurement and discrete character data were collected from 322 fossil synapsid mandibles spanning Late Carboniferous through Jurassic time. Measurements confirm that the relative contribution of the dentary increased in theriodont (advanced therapsid) evolution with regard to both stratigraphic and phylogenetic position. However, dentary enlargement and postdentary reduction failed to typify all therapsid subclades. Qualitative characters of the mandible were used to quantify morphological similarity with regard to the early mammal Morganucodon. Analyses contrasting stratigraphic and phylogenetic position with mammalian similarity indicate that mandibular evolution was primarily conservative, with only anomodont therapsids evolving substantial morphological novelty. Scaling analyses comparing the area of the dentary and postdentary regions to jaw length uniformly show isometry or slight positive allometry, although cynodont therapsids have a smaller postdentary region than any other therapsid subgroup. These results suggest that body size decreases cannot fully explain the reduction of the postdentary bones. Finally, step size bias was tested as a mechanism for explaining long-term trends. Qualitative data reveal no significant difference in the magnitude of character changes occurring in mammalian and nonmammalian directions.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1666/0094-8373(2003)029<0605:etatoo>2.0.co;2",
    doi = "10.1666/0094-8373(2003)029<0605:etatoo>2.0.co;2",
    openalex = "W2177302411",
    references = "doi101002jmor1051470404, doi101017s0094837300014056, doi10108002724634198810011708, doi101111j109600311988tb00514x, doi101111j155856461994tb02211x, doi101126science10246376, doi101126science28654431342, doi101130spe28p1, doi1023072413376, doi104324978020376680411"
}

@book{doi101093oso97801985076040010001,
    author = "Kemp, T. S.",
    title = "The Origin and Evolution of Mammals",
    year = "2004",
    booktitle = "Oxford University Press eBooks",
    abstract = "Mammals are the dominant large animals of today, occurring in virtually every environment. This book is an account of the remarkable fossil records that document their origin since the extinction of the dinosaurs. Tracing their evolution over the last 35 million years. For the first time presented in one single volume Kemp unveils the exciting DNA sequence evidence which coupled with fossil evidence challenges current thinking on the relationships amongst mammal and their inferred history.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198507604.001.0001",
    doi = "10.1093/oso/9780198507604.001.0001",
    openalex = "W368351854"
}

@book{doi107312kiel11918,
    author = "Kielan‐Jaworowska, Zofia and Cifelli, Richard L. and Luo, Zhe‐Xi",
    title = "Mammals from the Age of Dinosaurs",
    year = "2004",
    booktitle = "Columbia University Press eBooks",
    abstract = "The fossil record on Mesozoic mammals has expanded by orders of magnitude over the past quarter century. New specimens, some of them breathtakingly complete, have been found in nearly all parts of the globe at a rapid pace. Coupled with the application of new scientific approaches and techniques, these exciting discoveries have led to profound changes in our interpretation of early mammal history. Mesozoic mammals have come into their own as a rich source of information for evolutionary biology. Their record of episodic, successive radiations speaks to the pace and mode of evolution. Early mammals were small, but they provide key information on the morphological transformations that led to modern mammals, including our own lineage of Placentalia. Significant and fast-evolving elements of the terrestrial biota for much of the Mesozoic, early mammals have played an increasingly important role in studies of paleoecology, faunal turnover, and historical biogeography. The record of early mammals occupies center stage for testing molecular evolutionary hypotheses on the timing and sequence of mammalian radiations. Organized according to phylogeny, this book covers all aspects of the anatomy, paleobiology, and systematics of all early mammalian groups, in addition to the extant mammalian lineages extending back into the Mesozoic.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.7312/kiel11918",
    doi = "10.7312/kiel11918",
    openalex = "W56091193"
}

@article{doi101126science1116047,
    author = "Falkowski, Paul G. and Katz, Miriam and Milligan, Allen J. and Fennel, Katja and Cramer, Benjamin S. and Aubry, M.-P. and Berner, Robert A. and Novacek, Michael J. and Zapol, Warren M.",
    title = "The Rise of Oxygen over the Past 205 Million Years and the Evolution of Large Placental Mammals",
    year = "2005",
    journal = "Science",
    abstract = "On the basis of a carbon isotopic record of both marine carbonates and organic matter from the Triassic-Jurassic boundary to the present, we modeled oxygen concentrations over the past 205 million years. Our analysis indicates that atmospheric oxygen approximately doubled over this period, with relatively rapid increases in the early Jurassic and the Eocene. We suggest that the overall increase in oxygen, mediated by the formation of passive continental margins along the Atlantic Ocean during the opening phase of the current Wilson cycle, was a critical factor in the evolution, radiation, and subsequent increase in average size of placental mammals.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1116047",
    doi = "10.1126/science.1116047",
    openalex = "W2042504402",
    references = "doi101038nature03102, doi101146annurevecolsys36102003152631"
}

@article{doi101126science1123026,
    author = "Ji, Qiang and Luo, Zhe‐Xi and Yuan, Chong-Xi and Tabrum, Alan R.",
    title = "A Swimming Mammaliaform from the Middle Jurassic and Ecomorphological Diversification of Early Mammals",
    year = "2006",
    journal = "Science",
    abstract = "A docodontan mammaliaform from the Middle Jurassic of China possesses swimming and burrowing skeletal adaptations and some dental features for aquatic feeding. It is the most primitive taxon in the mammalian lineage known to have fur and has a broad, flattened, partly scaly tail analogous to that of modern beavers. We infer that docodontans were semiaquatic, convergent to the modern platypus and many Cenozoic placentals. This fossil demonstrates that some mammaliaforms, or proximal relatives to modern mammals, developed diverse locomotory and feeding adaptations and were ecomorphologically different from the majority of generalized small terrestrial Mesozoic mammalian insectivores.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1123026",
    doi = "10.1126/science.1123026",
    openalex = "W1997099039",
    references = "doi101111j109636421973tb00786x, openalexw78894702"
}

@article{doi101038nature05627,
    author = "Luo, Zhe‐Xi and Chen, Peiji and Li, Gang and Chen, Meng",
    title = "A new eutriconodont mammal and evolutionary development in early mammals",
    year = "2007",
    journal = "Nature",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05627",
    doi = "10.1038/nature05627",
    openalex = "W1986167653",
    references = "doi101002jmor1051470404, doi101002sici1097010x19990415285119aidjez330co2z, doi101007978146122784737, doi101038416816a, doi101038nature01420, doi101038nature03102, doi10108002724634198810011681, doi101098rstb19760022, doi1011211416972, doi101126science1085672, doi101126science1090718, doi101126science1123026, doi105860choice325665, doi107312kiel11918"
}

@article{doi101038nature06277,
    author = "Luo, Zhe‐Xi",
    title = "Transformation and diversification in early mammal evolution",
    year = "2007",
    journal = "Nature",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06277",
    doi = "10.1038/nature06277",
    openalex = "W2146098040",
    references = "doi101007978146122784737, doi10100797814684216682, doi101023a1011317930838, doi101038416816a, doi101038nature01420, doi101038nature03102, doi101038nature05627, doi101038nature05634, doi101046j10958312200300146x, doi101073pnas0334222100, doi101073pnas0606028103, doi10108002724634198810011708, doi101093molbevmsl150, doi101098rstb19760022, doi101111j109636421973tb00786x, doi101111j109636421981tb01127x, doi101126science1067179, doi101126science1085672, doi101126science28554362031a, doi105860choice355657, doi105962bhltitle118972, doi105962bhltitle3460, doi107312kiel11918, openalexw1539913220, openalexw78894702"
}

@article{doi101111j1469185x200900094x,
    author = "Langer, Max C. and Ezcurra, Martín D. and Bittencourt, Jonathas S. and Novas, Fernando E.",
    title = "The origin and early evolution of dinosaurs",
    year = "2009",
    journal = "Biological reviews/Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society",
    abstract = {The oldest unequivocal records of Dinosauria were unearthed from Late Triassic rocks (approximately 230 Ma) accumulated over extensional rift basins in southwestern Pangea. The better known of these are Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis, Pisanosaurus mertii, Eoraptor lunensis, and Panphagia protos from the Ischigualasto Formation, Argentina, and Staurikosaurus pricei and Saturnalia tupiniquim from the Santa Maria Formation, Brazil. No uncontroversial dinosaur body fossils are known from older strata, but the Middle Triassic origin of the lineage may be inferred from both the footprint record and its sister-group relation to Ladinian basal dinosauromorphs. These include the typical Marasuchus lilloensis, more basal forms such as Lagerpeton and Dromomeron, as well as silesaurids: a possibly monophyletic group composed of Mid-Late Triassic forms that may represent immediate sister taxa to dinosaurs. The first phylogenetic definition to fit the current understanding of Dinosauria as a node-based taxon solely composed of mutually exclusive Saurischia and Ornithischia was given as "all descendants of the most recent common ancestor of birds and Triceratops". Recent cladistic analyses of early dinosaurs agree that Pisanosaurus mertii is a basal ornithischian; that Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis and Staurikosaurus pricei belong in a monophyletic Herrerasauridae; that herrerasaurids, Eoraptor lunensis, and Guaibasaurus candelariensis are saurischians; that Saurischia includes two main groups, Sauropodomorpha and Theropoda; and that Saturnalia tupiniquim is a basal member of the sauropodomorph lineage. On the contrary, several aspects of basal dinosaur phylogeny remain controversial, including the position of herrerasaurids, E. lunensis, and G. candelariensis as basal theropods or basal saurischians, and the affinity and/or validity of more fragmentary taxa such as Agnosphitys cromhallensis, Alwalkeria maleriensis, Chindesaurus bryansmalli, Saltopus elginensis, and Spondylosoma absconditum. The identification of dinosaur apomorphies is jeopardized by the incompleteness of skeletal remains attributed to most basal dinosauromorphs, the skulls and forelimbs of which are particularly poorly known. Nonetheless, Dinosauria can be diagnosed by a suite of derived traits, most of which are related to the anatomy of the pelvic girdle and limb. Some of these are connected to the acquisition of a fully erect bipedal gait, which has been traditionally suggested to represent a key adaptation that allowed, or even promoted, dinosaur radiation during Late Triassic times. Yet, contrary to the classical "competitive" models, dinosaurs did not gradually replace other terrestrial tetrapods over the Late Triassic. In fact, the radiation of the group comprises at least three landmark moments, separated by controversial (Carnian-Norian, Triassic-Jurassic) extinction events. These are mainly characterized by early diversification in Carnian times, a Norian increase in diversity and (especially) abundance, and the occupation of new niches from the Early Jurassic onwards. Dinosaurs arose from fully bipedal ancestors, the diet of which may have been carnivorous or omnivorous. Whereas the oldest dinosaurs were geographically restricted to south Pangea, including rare ornithischians and more abundant basal members of the saurischian lineage, the group achieved a nearly global distribution by the latest Triassic, especially with the radiation of saurischian groups such as "prosauropods" and coelophysoids.},
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-185x.2009.00094.x",
    doi = "10.1111/j.1469-185x.2009.00094.x",
    openalex = "W2121596487",
    references = "chatterjee2013a, crossref1998encyclopedia, currie2009stratigraphy, doi1010160031018281900924, doi1010160031018295000178, doi101016c20090644421, doi101016jjsames200504002, doi101016jpalaeo200606041, doi101016s0012825203000825, doi101016s0016699580800386, doi101016s0016699583800205, doi101016s0031018298001175, doi101017cbo9780511628948, doi101017s0094837300010575, doi101017s1477201906001970, doi101017s1477201907002040, doi101017s1477201907002246, doi101017s1477201907002271, doi101017s247526300000091x, doi10103820167, doi10106313060577, doi101073pnas0606028103, doi10108002724634199410011538, doi10108002724634199510011271, doi10108002724634199810011115, doi10108002724634199910011124, doi101098rspb20042692, doi101098rspb20080715, doi101098rspl18870117, doi101098rstb19990489, doi101111j109636421985tb01796x, doi101111j10963642200400130x, doi101126science1143325, doi101126science21545391501, doi101126science2645160828, doi101126science2845414616, doi101126science3616622, doi101127njgpa210199841, doi101144gsjgs14720321, doi1012060003009020073021taoeoa20co2, doi101525california97805202420980010001, doi1015468gbdyof, doi1016710272463420020220510toomka20co2, doi1016710272463420072773tclagn20co2, doi101671a1097, doi1023071292217, doi1023071441916, doi1023073889325, doi102475ajss319111253, doi102475ajss32313381, doi104202app20080415, doi10432497802030907329, doi105281zenodo16120887, doi105281zenodo16171435, doi105281zenodo16246150, doi105860choice325663, doi105860choice393984, doi105860choice465038, doi107146moggeosciv32i140904, doi10718895fylantbak30809522, openalexw114509570, openalexw1496509561, openalexw1535663436, openalexw205674743, openalexw2242116350, openalexw2788234611, openalexw2991310333, openalexw3208547338, openalexw3215057009, padian1989presence, rowe1989a, walker1964triassic"
}

@article{doi1012066231,
    author = "Wible, John R. and Rougier, Guillermo W. and Novacek, Michael J. and Asher, Robert J.",
    title = "The Eutherian Mammal Maelestes gobiensis from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia and the phylogeny of cretaceous eutheria",
    year = "2009",
    journal = "Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History",
    abstract = "the second new eutherian mammal to be named from the rich Mongolian Late Cretaceous locality of Ukhaa Tolgod, Ukhaatherium nessovi Novacek et al., 1997, being the first. Maelestes is only the seventh Late Cretaceous eutherian known from the skull and the upper and lower dentitions, and the fifth known from some postcranial elements. The type and only known specimen, PSS-MAE 607, is described and illustrated in detail. The type is amended to include: an incomplete skull, left dentary, atlas, axis, last cervical and first 11 thoracic vertebrae, 11 partial ribs, incomplete scapula, clavicle, humerus, and proximal radius and ulna. An astragalus on a separate block was referred to Maelestes by Wible et al. (",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1206/623.1",
    doi = "10.1206/623.1",
    openalex = "W2156439494",
    references = "doi101001jama191104260090143037, doi101007978146139249113, doi101038142004a0, doi10103824856, doi101038nature05854, doi10108002724634198810011681, doi101098rstb19760022, doi101111j109636421984tb00544x, doi101126science1067179, doi101126science1483667220, doi101126science1503697743, doi101126science28354061310, doi1023072412851, doi105281zenodo16386718, doi105281zenodo3382461, doi105860choice355657, doi105962bhltitle118972, openalexw2471089135, openalexw3206657856, openalexw610180004"
}

@article{openalexw2428095555,
    author = "Evans, Susan E. and Borsuk-Bialynicka, M",
    title = "A SMALL LEPIDOSAUROMORPH REPTILE FROM THE EARLY TRIASSIC OF POLAND",
    year = "2009",
    abstract = "Evans, S.E. and Borsuk−Bialynicka, M. 2009. A small lepidosauromorph reptile from the Early Triassic of Poland. Palaeontologia Polonica 65, 179–202. The Early Triassic karst deposits of Czatkowice quarry near Krakow, southern Poland, has yielded a diversity of fish, amphibians and small reptiles. Two of these reptiles are lepido− sauromorphs, a group otherwise very poorly represented in the Triassic record. The smaller of them, Sophineta cracoviensis gen. et sp. n., is described here. In Sophineta the unspecial− ised vertebral column is associated with the fairly derived skull structure, including the tall facial process of the maxilla, reduced lacrimal, and pleurodonty, that all resemble those of early crown−group lepidosaurs rather then stem−taxa. Cladistic analysis places this new ge− nus as the sister group of Lepidosauria, displacing the relictual Middle Jurassic genus Marmoretta and bringing the origins of Lepidosauria closer to a realistic time frame. Key wor ds: Reptilia, Lepidosauria, Triassic, phylogeny, Czatkowice, Poland.",
    openalex = "W2428095555"
}

@article{doi101126science1194830,
    author = "Smith, Felisa A. and Boyer, Alison G. and Brown, James H. and Costa, Daniel P. and Dayan, Tamar and Ernest, S. K. Morgan and Evans, Alistair R. and Fortelius, Mikael and Gittleman, John L. and Hamilton, Marcus J. and Harding, Larisa E. and Lintulaakso, Kari and Lyons, S. Kathleen and McCain, Christy M. and Okie, Jordan G. and Saarinen, Juha and Sibly, Richard M. and Stephens, Patrick R. and Theodor, Jessica M. and Uhen, Mark D.",
    title = "The Evolution of Maximum Body Size of Terrestrial Mammals",
    year = "2010",
    journal = "Science",
    abstract = "The extinction of dinosaurs at the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary was the seminal event that opened the door for the subsequent diversification of terrestrial mammals. Our compilation of maximum body size at the ordinal level by sub-epoch shows a near-exponential increase after the K/Pg. On each continent, the maximum size of mammals leveled off after 40 million years ago and thereafter remained approximately constant. There was remarkable congruence in the rate, trajectory, and upper limit across continents, orders, and trophic guilds, despite differences in geological and climatic history, turnover of lineages, and ecological variation. Our analysis suggests that although the primary driver for the evolution of giant mammals was diversification to fill ecological niches, environmental temperature and land area may have ultimately constrained the maximum size achieved.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1194830",
    doi = "10.1126/science.1194830",
    openalex = "W2078822756",
    references = "doi101017s0022336000059126, doi101038324148a0, doi101038nature03102, doi101038nature06277, doi101073pnas251548698, doi101371journalpbio0050022"
}

@book{doi101525california97805202572140010001,
    title = "Cenozoic Mammals of Africa",
    year = "2010",
    abstract = "Abstract This volume is a comprehensive review of the African mammalian fossil record over the past 65 million years. The book includes current taxonomic and systematic revisions of all African mammal taxa, detailed compilations of fossil site occurrences, and a wealth of information regarding paleobiology, phylogeny, and biogeography. Primates, including hominins, are particularly well covered. The discussion addresses the systematics of endemic African mammals, factors relating to species richness, and a summary of isotopic information. The work also provides contextual information about Cenozoic African tectonics, chronostratigraphy of sites, paleobotany, and global and regional climate change. Updating our understanding of this important material with the wealth of research from the past three decades, this volume is an essential resource for anyone interested in the evolutionary history of Africa and the diversification of its mammals.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520257214.001.0001",
    doi = "10.1525/california/9780520257214.001.0001",
    openalex = "W420749915"
}

@article{doi101098rstb20110014,
    author = "Bromham, Lindell",
    title = "The genome as a life-history character: why rate of molecular evolution varies between mammal species",
    year = "2011",
    journal = "Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences",
    abstract = "DNA sequences evolve at different rates in different species. This rate variation has been most closely examined in mammals, revealing a large number of characteristics that can shape the rate of molecular evolution. Many of these traits are part of the mammalian life-history continuum: species with small body size, rapid generation turnover, high fecundity and short lifespans tend to have faster rates of molecular evolution. In addition, rate of molecular evolution in mammals might be influenced by behaviour (such as mating system), ecological factors (such as range restriction) and evolutionary history (such as diversification rate). I discuss the evidence for these patterns of rate variation, and the possible explanations of these correlations. I also consider the impact of these systematic patterns of rate variation on the reliability of the molecular date estimates that have been used to suggest a Cretaceous radiation of modern mammals, before the final extinction of the dinosaurs.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0014",
    doi = "10.1098/rstb.2011.0014",
    openalex = "W2146636518",
    references = "doi101038nature03102, doi101098rspb19960088"
}

@article{doi101111j14754983201101094x,
    author = "Clemens, William A.",
    title = "New morganucodontans from an Early Jurassic fissure filling in Wales (United Kingdom)",
    year = "2011",
    journal = "Palaeontology",
    abstract = "Abstract: Two new genera and species of morganucodontans, Bridetherium dorisae and Paceyodon davidi, are recognized as members of the Morganucodon ‐sphenodont fauna preserved in a fissure filling (Pant 4) exposed in Pant Quarry, Vale of Glamorgan, southern Wales. Both taxa are based on isolated molariforms. Mode of occlusion of upper and lower molariforms in B. dorisae differs from the embrasure shearing pattern of Megazostrodon and the offset pattern characteristic of Morganucodon. Lack of a clear correlation between different patterns of occlusion and morphologies of their molariforms supports the working hypothesis that a close correlation between function and morphology of the molars characteristic of therian mammals, for example, was not present in morganucodontans. P. davidi is based on an isolated morganucodontan molariform that is significantly larger than any yet discovered. Several isolated morganucodontan‐like molariforms cannot be referred to these taxa. The new Welsh morganucodontans added to records from other sites indicate the group achieved considerable taxonomic diversity and a near global distribution by the Early Jurassic.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4983.2011.01094.x",
    doi = "10.1111/j.1475-4983.2011.01094.x",
    openalex = "W1696291360",
    references = "doi101038nature08838, doi101073pnas050586297, doi10108002724634198810011708, doi101111j109636421973tb00786x, doi101111j109636421980tb00852x, doi101111j109636421981tb01127x, doi101111j1469185x1968tb00966x, doi101126science1058476, doi105860choice325663, doi107312kiel11918"
}

@article{doi101126science1211028,
    author = "Meredith, Robert W. and Janečka, Jan E. and Gatesy, John and Ryder, Oliver A. and Fisher, Colleen A. and Teeling, Emma C. and Goodbla, Alisha and Eizirik, Eduardo and Simão, Taiz L. L. and Stadler, Tanja and Rabosky, Daniel L. and Honeycutt, Rodney L. and Flynn, John J. and Ingram, Colleen M. and Steiner, Cynthia and Williams, Tiffani L. and Robinson, Terence J. and Burk-Herrick, Angela and Westerman, Michael and Ayoub, Nadia A. and Springer, Mark S. and Murphy, William J.",
    title = "Impacts of the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution and KPg Extinction on Mammal Diversification",
    year = "2011",
    journal = "Science",
    abstract = "Previous analyses of relations, divergence times, and diversification patterns among extant mammalian families have relied on supertree methods and local molecular clocks. We constructed a molecular supermatrix for mammalian families and analyzed these data with likelihood-based methods and relaxed molecular clocks. Phylogenetic analyses resulted in a robust phylogeny with better resolution than phylogenies from supertree methods. Relaxed clock analyses support the long-fuse model of diversification and highlight the importance of including multiple fossil calibrations that are spread across the tree. Molecular time trees and diversification analyses suggest important roles for the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution and Cretaceous-Paleogene (KPg) mass extinction in opening up ecospace that promoted interordinal and intraordinal diversification, respectively. By contrast, diversification analyses provide no support for the hypothesis concerning the delayed rise of present-day mammals during the Eocene Period.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1211028",
    doi = "10.1126/science.1211028",
    openalex = "W2140803428",
    references = "doi101016jtree200610002, doi101023a1011317930838, doi101038381226a0, doi101038nature05634, doi101038nature09705, doi101038nature10291, doi101073pnas0334222100, doi101073pnas1016876108, doi101093sysbiosyp031, doi101101gr5918807, doi101126science1067179, doi101353book59141"
}

@article{doi1012063521,
    author = "Nesbitt, Sterling J.",
    title = "The Early Evolution of Archosaurs: Relationships and the Origin of Major Clades",
    year = "2011",
    journal = "Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History",
    abstract = {Archosaurs have a 250 million year record that originated shortly after the Permian-Triassic extinction event and is continued today by two extant clades, the crocodylians and the avians. The two extant lineages exemplify two bauplan extremes among a diverse and complex evolutionary history, but little is known about the common ancestor of these lineages. Renewed interest in early archosaurs has led to nearly a doubling of the known taxa in the last 20 years. This study presents a thorough phylogenetic analysis of 80 species-level taxa ranging from the latest Permian to the early part of the Jurassic using a dataset of 412 characters. Each terminal taxon is explicitly described and all specimens used in the analysis are clearly stated. Additionally, each character is discussed in detail and nearly all of the character states are illustrated in either a drawing or highlighted on a specimen photograph. A combination of novel characters and comprehensive character sampling has bridged previously published analyses that focus on particular archosauriform subclades. A well-resolved, robustly supported consensus tree (MPTs = 360) found a monophyletic Archosauria consisting of two major branches, the crocodylian-line and avian-line lineages. The monophyly of clades such as Ornithosuchidae, Phytosauria, Aetosauria, Crocodylomorpha, and Dinosauria is supported in this analysis. However, phytosaurs are recovered as the closest sister-taxon to Archosauria, rather than basal crocodylian-line archosaurs, for the first time. Among taxa classically termed as "rauisuchians," a monophyletic poposauroid clade was found as the sister-taxon to a group of paraphyletic "rauisuchians" and monophyletic crocodylomorphs. Hence, crocodylomorphs are well nested within a clade of "rauisuchians," and are not more closely related to aetosaurs than to taxa such as Postosuchus. Basal crocodylomorphs such as Hesperosuchus and similar forms ("Sphenosuchia") were found as a paraphyletic grade leading to the clade Crocodyliformes. Among avian-line archosaurs, Dinosauria is well supported. A monophyletic clade containing Silesaurus and similar forms is well supported as the sister-taxon to Dinosauria. Pterosaurs are robustly supported at the base of the avian-line. A time-calibrated phylogeny of Archosauriformes indicates that the origin and initial diversification of Archosauria occurred during the Early Triassic following the Permian-Triassic extinction. Furthermore, all major basal archosaur clades except Crocodylomorpha were established by the end of the Anisian. Early archosaur evolution is characterized by high rates of homoplasy, long ghost lineages, and high rates of character evolution. The rate of character evolution among archosaurs in the Early Triassic is unmatched relative to archosaur rates for the remainder of the Triassic. These data imply that much of the early history of Archosauria has not been recovered from the fossil record. Not only were archosaurs diverse by the Middle Triassic, but they had nearly a cosmopolitan biogeographic distribution by the end of the Anisian.},
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1206/352.1",
    doi = "10.1206/352.1",
    openalex = "W2009094188",
    references = "benton1983dinosaur, boulenger1904vion, doi101002jmor10018, doi101007bf02101113, doi101007bf02986571, doi1010160034666791900282, doi101016jcretres200405002, doi101016jgeobios200304008, doi101016jjsames200504002, doi101016s001669959880123x, doi101016s0031018298001175, doi101017s0006323197005100, doi101017s0016756807003925, doi101017s0022336000026706, doi101017s1477201906001970, doi101017s1477201907002040, doi101017s1477201907002271, doi101038114085a0, doi101038248168a0, doi10108002724634199110011386, doi10108002724634199110011426, doi10108002724634199210011473, doi10108002724634199310011511, doi10108002724634199410011523, doi10108002724634199410011524, doi10108002724634199410011538, doi10108002724634199610011283, doi10108002724634199910011124, doi10108002724634199910011178, doi10108002724634199910011201, doi10108002724634200310010947, doi10108008912960600719988, doi101093oxfordjournalsafrafa100309, doi101098rspb20043047, doi101098rspb20071370, doi101098rspl18870117, doi101098rstb19610007, doi101098rstb19650003, doi101098rstb19830079, doi101098rstb19850092, doi101098rstb19990489, doi101111j00310239200300301x, doi101111j109600311988tb00514x, doi101111j10960031200800217x, doi101111j109636421985tb01796x, doi101111j109636422001tb01313x, doi101111j109636422001tb01314x, doi101111j10963642200700325x, doi101126science10246376, doi101126science1101012, doi101126science1143325, doi101126science1144066, doi101126science1161833, doi101126science1874180947, doi101126science2562999, doi101126science2665183267, doi101126science2725264986, doi101126science28454232137, doi101127njgpa210199841, doi101144gslsp20032170111, doi101146annurevearth251435, doi1012060003009020042860001mptaso20co2, doi1012060003009020073021taoeoa20co2, doi101371journalpone0002995, doi1016710272463420020220510toomka20co2, doi1016710272463420020220593cvancf20co2, doi10167102724634200727350asoitp20co2, doi1016710390290218, doi101671a1097, doi102475ajss319111253, doi102475ajss321125417, doi105962bhlpart22965, doi107146moggeosciv32i140904, galton1977onstaurikosaums, nesbitt2009a, openalexw1574544995, openalexw2183707334, openalexw2310875238, openalexw2894525608, openalexw834136096, padian1990the, riggs2003isotopic, rowe1989a, sereno1997the, smith1990osteology, walker1964triassic, welles1954new"
}

@article{doi101098rspb20130508,
    author = "Gerkema, Menno P. and Davies, Wayne I. L. and Foster, F. and Menaker, Michael and Hut, Roelof A.",
    title = "The nocturnal bottleneck and the evolution of activity patterns in mammals",
    year = "2013",
    journal = "Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences",
    abstract = "In 1942, Walls described the concept of a 'nocturnal bottleneck' in placental mammals, where these species could survive only by avoiding daytime activity during times in which dinosaurs were the dominant taxon. Walls based this concept of a longer episode of nocturnality in early eutherian mammals by comparing the visual systems of reptiles, birds and all three extant taxa of the mammalian lineage, namely the monotremes, marsupials (now included in the metatherians) and placentals (included in the eutherians). This review describes the status of what has become known as the nocturnal bottleneck hypothesis, giving an overview of the chronobiological patterns of activity. We review the ecological plausibility that the activity patterns of (early) eutherian mammals were restricted to the night, based on arguments relating to endothermia, energy balance, foraging and predation, taking into account recent palaeontological information. We also assess genes, relating to light detection (visual and non-visual systems) and the photolyase DNA protection system that were lost in the eutherian mammalian lineage. Our conclusion presently is that arguments in favour of the nocturnal bottleneck hypothesis in eutherians prevail.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.0508",
    doi = "10.1098/rspb.2013.0508",
    openalex = "W2123307680",
    references = "doi101001jama194302840160064031, doi101016jcell200901052, doi10103831927, doi101038nature03102, doi101038nature05634, doi101038nature10291, doi101086422766, doi101111j1469185x201000122x, doi101126science1177265, doi101126science1200043, doi101126science1224126, doi101126science1229237, doi101146annurevph57030195000441, doi101152physrev000152003, doi101242jeb029009, doi1023071437897, doi105860choice425260, roaf1943the"
}

@article{doi101126science1229237,
    author = "O’Leary, Maureen A. and Bloch, Jonathan I. and Flynn, John J. and Gaudin, Timothy J. and Giallombardo, Andres and Giannini, Norberto P. and Goldberg, Suzann L. and Kraatz, Brian and Luo, Zhe‐Xi and Meng, Jin and Ni, Xijun and Novacek, Michael J. and Perini, Fernando A. and Randall, Zachary S. and Rougier, Guillermo W. and Sargis, Eric J. and Silcox, Mary and Simmons, Nancy B. and Spaulding, Michelle and Velazco, Paúl M. and Weksler, Marcelo and Wible, John R. and Cirranello, Andrea L.",
    title = "The Placental Mammal Ancestor and the Post–K-Pg Radiation of Placentals",
    year = "2013",
    journal = "Science",
    abstract = "To discover interordinal relationships of living and fossil placental mammals and the time of origin of placentals relative to the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary, we scored 4541 phenomic characters de novo for 86 fossil and living species. Combining these data with molecular sequences, we obtained a phylogenetic tree that, when calibrated with fossils, shows that crown clade Placentalia and placental orders originated after the K-Pg boundary. Many nodes discovered using molecular data are upheld, but phenomic signals overturn molecular signals to show Sundatheria (Dermoptera + Scandentia) as the sister taxon of Primates, a close link between Proboscidea (elephants) and Sirenia (sea cows), and the monophyly of echolocating Chiroptera (bats). Our tree suggests that Placentalia first split into Xenarthra and Epitheria; extinct New World species are the oldest members of Afrotheria.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1229237",
    doi = "10.1126/science.1229237",
    openalex = "W1992714434",
    references = "doi101007978146139246016, doi101023a1011317930838, doi10103835054550, doi101038416816a, doi101038nature05634, doi101038nature10291, doi101073pnas0334222100, doi10108002724634198810011708, doi10108002724634199910011129, doi101080106351501753462876, doi10108010635150802429642, doi101093bioinformaticsbtl446, doi101093molbevmsp259, doi101093molbevmss020, doi101093nar22224673, doi101098rstb19920117, doi101109gce20105676129, doi101111j109600311994tb00179x, doi101111j109600311999tb00270x, doi101111j10960031200800217x, doi101126science1067179, doi101126science1105113, doi101126science1154339, doi101126science1211028, doi1012066231, doi101353book59141, doi10166600948373200632236eohiet20co2, doi1023071223169, doi1023071375443, doi105281zenodo18028696, doi107312kiel11918, openalexw2982931797, openalexw78894702"
}

@article{doi104202app000162013,
    author = "Świło, Marlena and Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz and Sulej, Tomasz",
    title = "Mammal-like tooth from the Upper Triassic of Poland",
    year = "2013",
    journal = "Acta Palaeontologica Polonica",
    abstract = "Recent Triassic discoveries have extended the record of near-mammals (Mammaliaformes) back to the Norian, about 215 Ma, and reveal a significant diversity of Late Tri-assic (Norian-Rhaetian) forms. We now add to this Late Tri-assic diversity a nearly complete double-rooted right lower molariform tooth (ZPAL V.33/734) from the Polish Upper Triassic that is significant because it comes from uppermost Norian–lower Rhaetian rocks and is the first discovery of a mammal-like tooth in the Mesozoic of Poland. The de-scribed tooth shows transitional dental morphology between advanced cynodonts and mammaliaforms and it appears to represent a basal mammaliaform (genus Hallautherium), probably belonging to Morganucodonta.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.4202/app.00016.2013",
    doi = "10.4202/app.00016.2013",
    openalex = "W2160311717",
    references = "doi101111j14754983201101094x"
}

@article{doi101080147720192014960486,
    author = "Debuysschere, M. and Gheerbrant, Emmanuel and Allain, Ronan",
    title = "Earliest known European mammals: a review of the Morganucodonta from Saint-Nicolas-de-Port (Upper Triassic, France)",
    year = "2014",
    journal = "Journal of Systematic Palaeontology",
    abstract = "The Rhaetian locality of Saint-Nicolas-de-Port (France) has yielded the most abundant and diverse mammalian assemblage known from the Late Triassic. Most of the material remains undescribed. We review here the morganucodonts from Saint-Nicolas-de-Port. We identify the upper and lower molariforms of the genus Brachyzostrodon. We also identify in the site Morganucodon peyeri, previously known from the Late Triassic of Hallau (Switzerland), as well as the genera Paceyodon and Paikasigudodon. The description of the new species Megazostrodon chenali sp. nov. extends the stratigraphical and geographical range of the genus, previously known from the Early Jurassic of southern Africa. Finally, another new morganucodont, Rosierodon anceps gen. et sp. nov., is described. The Morganucodonta is recognized as the most diverse order of Late Triassic mammals. Current fossil data suggest that Europe was the centre of initial diversification of morganucodonts at the end of the Triassic, and that morganucodonts were not much affected by the extinction event at the Triassic/Jurassic transition.http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:0D30F723-7D65-49B7-8375-BF916BFA0BBA",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2014.960486",
    doi = "10.1080/14772019.2014.960486",
    openalex = "W2083153249",
    references = "doi101038nature06277, doi101038nature08838, doi101073pnas050586297, doi10108002724634198810011708, doi101111j109636421981tb01127x, doi101111j14754983201101094x, doi101126science21545391501, doi105860choice325663, doi107312kiel11918, openalexw1539913220, openalexw616953834"
}

@misc{debuysschere2015earliest,
    author = "Debuysschere, M. and Gheerbrant, E. and Allain, R.",
    title = "Earliest known European mammals: a review of the Morganucodonta from Saint-Nicolas-de-Port (Upper Triassic, France)",
    year = "2015",
    publisher = "Taylor \& Francis",
    abstract = "The Rhaetian locality of Saint-Nicolas-de-Port (France) has yielded the most abundant and diverse mammalian assemblage known from the Late Triassic. Most of the material remains undescribed. We review here the morganucodonts from Saint-Nicolas-de-Port. We identify the upper and lower molariforms of the genus <i>Brachyzostrodon</i>. We also identify in the site <i>Morganucodon peyeri</i>, previously known from the Late Triassic of Hallau (Switzerland), as well as the genera <i>Paceyodon</i> and <i>Paikasigudodon</i>. The description of the new species <i>Megazostrodon chenali</i> sp. nov. extends the stratigraphical and geographical range of the genus, previously known from the Early Jurassic of southern Africa. Finally, another new morganucodont, <i>Rosierodon anceps</i> gen. et sp. nov., is described. The Morganucodonta is recognized as the most diverse order of Late Triassic mammals. Current fossil data suggest that Europe was the centre of initial diversification of morganucodonts at the end of the Triassic, and that morganucodonts were not much affected by the extinction event at the Triassic/Jurassic transition.http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:0D30F723-7D65-49B7-8375-BF916BFA0BBA",
    url = "https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Earliest\_known\_European\_mammals\_a\_review\_of\_the\_Morganucodonta\_from\_Saint\_Nicolas\_de\_Port\_Upper\_Triassic\_France\_/1234027/4",
    doi = "10.6084/m9.figshare.1234027.v4",
    openalex = "W4394156327"
}

@article{doi101038nature14905,
    author = "Martin, Thomas and Marugán‐Lobón, Jesús and Vullo, Romain and Martín‐Abad, Hugo and Luo, Zhe‐Xi and Buscalioni, Ángela D.",
    title = "A Cretaceous eutriconodont and integument evolution in early mammals",
    year = "2015",
    journal = "Nature",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14905",
    doi = "10.1038/nature14905",
    openalex = "W1907899470",
    references = "luo2011developmental"
}

@article{doi101111brv12280,
    author = "Lovegrove, Barry G.",
    title = "A phenology of the evolution of endothermy in birds and mammals",
    year = "2016",
    journal = "Biological reviews/Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society",
    abstract = "Recent palaeontological data and novel physiological hypotheses now allow a timescaled reconstruction of the evolution of endothermy in birds and mammals. A three-phase iterative model describing how endothermy evolved from Permian ectothermic ancestors is presented. In Phase One I propose that the elevation of endothermy - increased metabolism and body temperature (T b) - complemented large-body-size homeothermy during the Permian and Triassic in response to the fitness benefits of enhanced embryo development (parental care) and the activity demands of conquering dry land. I propose that Phase Two commenced in the Late Triassic and Jurassic and was marked by extreme body-size miniaturization, the evolution of enhanced body insulation (fur and feathers), increased brain size, thermoregulatory control, and increased ecomorphological diversity. I suggest that Phase Three occurred during the Cretaceous and Cenozoic and involved endothermic pulses associated with the evolution of muscle-powered flapping flight in birds, terrestrial cursoriality in mammals, and climate adaptation in response to Late Cenozoic cooling in both birds and mammals. Although the triphasic model argues for an iterative evolution of endothermy in pulses throughout the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, it is also argued that endothermy was potentially abandoned at any time that a bird or mammal did not rely upon its thermal benefits for parental care or breeding success. The abandonment would have taken the form of either hibernation or daily torpor as observed in extant endotherms. Thus torpor and hibernation are argued to be as ancient as the origins of endothermy itself, a plesiomorphic characteristic observed today in many small birds and mammals.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12280",
    doi = "10.1111/brv.12280",
    openalex = "W2346237294",
    references = "doi101002ara20206, doi101016jcub201408034, doi101016jcub201508003, doi101038nature11146, doi101038nature12424, doi101038nature12973, doi101038nature13467, doi101038nature13718, doi101073pnas1203238109, doi101073pnas1519387112, doi101086422766, doi101086425185, doi101098rspb20110238, doi101098rspb20130508, doi101111brv12157, doi101111j1469185x201100190x, doi101126science1180219, doi101126science1200043, doi101126science1206196, doi101126science1213780, doi101126science1228753, doi101126science1253143, doi101126science1253293, doi101371journalpone0068714, doi1016660094837320030290605etatoo20co2, doi1016710272463420050250865hitrif20co2"
}

@article{doi1010800891296320181471477,
    author = "Sulej, Tomasz and Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz and Tałanda, Mateusz and Dróżdż, Dawid and Hara, Ewa",
    title = "A new early Late Triassic non-mammaliaform eucynodont from Poland",
    year = "2018",
    journal = "Historical Biology",
    abstract = "Bicuspid, tricuspid and tetracuspid postcanine teeth of a new non-mammaliaform eucynodont, Polonodon woznikiensis gen. et sp. nov. from the mid-late Carnian (early Late Triassic) of Woźniki clay-pit, Silesia (southern Poland) show incipient root division. They are similar to teeth of Dromatheriidae from the Carnian (early Late Triassic) to the Rhaetian (late Late Triassic) of Europe, India, and USA and the dentition of brasilodontids from the early Norian (mid Late Triassic) of Brazil. The P. woznikiensis teeth differ from those of the latter group mostly in the absence of cingulum. Some of the new fossils from Silesia provide the oldest Laurasian record of eucynodont teeth with the main cusp (a) anterior edge very long as the mesial cusp b is placed much lower than cusp c (distal). The contemporaneous Alemoatherium huebneri, from Gondwana, had similar postcanines. The findings from Poland indicate that this postcanine morphology was present in non-mammaliaform cynodonts from both hemispheres as early as the mid-late Carnian. The distal end of the humerus from the same locality is also described.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2018.1471477",
    doi = "10.1080/08912963.2018.1471477",
    openalex = "W2807064803",
    references = "doi101111j14754983201101094x"
}

@article{doi1010800272463420191635135,
    author = "Jäger, Kai R. K. and Gill, Pamela G. and Corfe, Ian J. and Martin, Thomas",
    title = "Occlusion and dental function of Morganucodon and Megazostrodon",
    year = "2019",
    journal = "Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology",
    abstract = "A functional analysis of a well-preserved snout of the early-diverging mammaliaform Morganucodon watsoni, with matching upper and lower dentitions, and of the holotype of Megazostrodon rudnerae, showed that both taxa had a primarily orthal occlusal path. In Morganucodon, the direction was individually variable and either strictly orthal or slightly distally or mesially inclined. An analysis with the Occlusal Fingerprint Analyser (OFA) software confirmed an earlier hypothesis that the main cusp A of the upper molars occluded between cusps b and a of the lower antagonists. According to the OFA analysis, there was more extensive contact between cusp a and the preceding anterior upper molar than previously assumed, showing some similarities to the two-on-one pattern described for Megazostrodon. According to our analyses, the molars of Morganucodon and Megazostrodon had an adaptation to piercing, as well as shear-cutting. ‘Shearing flanks,’ which were the focus of previous studies, seem to be a result of attrition, rather than functional areas in themselves. The posterior upper molars in Morganucodon were rotated along their longitudinal axis and lingually inclined within the tooth row, resulting in a triangle between M1 and M2 into which the large m2 can occlude. Together, this suggests a predetermined tooth placement and that contrary to previous hypothesis Morganucodon did not rely on extensive wear in order to form a precise occlusion.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2019.1635135",
    doi = "10.1080/02724634.2019.1635135",
    openalex = "W2972848431",
    references = "doi101111j14754983201101094x"
}

@article{doi101371journalpbio3000494,
    author = "Upham, Nathan S. and Esselstyn, Jacob A. and Jetz, Walter",
    title = "Inferring the mammal tree: Species-level sets of phylogenies for questions in ecology, evolution, and conservation",
    year = "2019",
    journal = "PLoS Biology",
    abstract = {Big, time-scaled phylogenies are fundamental to connecting evolutionary processes to modern biodiversity patterns. Yet inferring reliable phylogenetic trees for thousands of species involves numerous trade-offs that have limited their utility to comparative biologists. To establish a robust evolutionary timescale for all approximately 6,000 living species of mammals, we developed credible sets of trees that capture root-to-tip uncertainty in topology and divergence times. Our "backbone-and-patch" approach to tree building applies a newly assembled 31-gene supermatrix to two levels of Bayesian inference: (1) backbone relationships and ages among major lineages, using fossil node or tip dating, and (2) species-level "patch" phylogenies with nonoverlapping in-groups that each correspond to one representative lineage in the backbone. Species unsampled for DNA are either excluded ("DNA-only" trees) or imputed within taxonomic constraints using branch lengths drawn from local birth-death models ("completed" trees). Joining time-scaled patches to backbones results in species-level trees of extant Mammalia with all branches estimated under the same modeling framework, thereby facilitating rate comparisons among lineages as disparate as marsupials and placentals. We compare our phylogenetic trees to previous estimates of mammal-wide phylogeny and divergence times, finding that (1) node ages are broadly concordant among studies, and (2) recent (tip-level) rates of speciation are estimated more accurately in our study than in previous "supertree" approaches, in which unresolved nodes led to branch-length artifacts. Credible sets of mammalian phylogenetic history are now available for download at http://vertlife.org/phylosubsets, enabling investigations of long-standing questions in comparative biology.},
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000494",
    doi = "10.1371/journal.pbio.3000494",
    openalex = "W2991998196",
    references = "doi10100703064746897, doi101007s1091401693638, doi101023a1011317930838, doi101038416816a, doi101038nature05634, doi101038nature06277, doi101038nature10291, doi101038nature11631, doi101038nature22897, doi101038nature25794, doi101073pnas1319091111, doi101073pnas1519387112, doi101093acprofoso97801985670280010001, doi101093bioinformaticsbts199, doi101093jmammalgyx147, doi101093jmammalgyy179, doi101093molbevmsm193, doi101093molbevmsv037, doi101093sysbiosyr047, doi101093sysbiosyr107, doi101093sysbiosyv080, doi101098rspb20120683, doi101111evo12681, doi101126science1157704, doi101126science1211028, doi101126science1229237, doi101371journalpone0089543, doi101371journalpone0183070, doi1026879424"
}

@article{doi101038s41598020791594,
    author = "Jäger, Kai R. K. and Cifelli, Richard L. and Martin, Thomas",
    title = "Molar occlusion and jaw roll in early crown mammals",
    year = "2020",
    journal = "Scientific Reports",
    abstract = "Triconodontidae are considered the first carnivorous crown mammals. A virtual reconstruction of the masticatory cycle in the Late Jurassic Priacodon showed that triconodontid dental function is characterized by precise cutting on elongated crests. The combination of traits linked to both carnivorous diets (e.g. fore-aft cutting edges) and insectivorous diets (transverse crests and lobes) suggests a varied faunivorous diet appropriate to the small body size of most triconodontids. Total length of molar shear decreased with wear, suggesting a dietary shift during ontogeny. Embrasure occlusion is confirmed for P. fruitaensis as indicated by premolar positioning, facet orientation, and collision areas. Embrasure occlusion is considered a general feature of all Eutriconodonta, whereas the previously assumed Morganucodon-like pattern is limited to few early mammaliaforms. Unlike modern carnivores, significant roll of around 10° of the active hemimandible occurred during the power stroke. Roll was likely passive in Triconodontidae in contrast to active roll described for extant therians. The triconodontid molar series was highly uniform and adapted to a precise fit, with self-sharpening lower molar cusps. Whereas the uniformity ensured good cutting capabilities, it likely put the dentition under greater constraints, conserving the highly stereotyped nature of triconodontid molars for 60-85 Ma.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-79159-4",
    doi = "10.1038/s41598-020-79159-4",
    openalex = "W3117931449",
    references = "doi101038nature03102, doi101038s4159801700112z, doi10108002724634198810011708, doi101111j109636421970tb00728x, doi101111j14754983201101094x, doi101186174170071060, doi101353book59141, doi105962bhltitle118972, doi107312kiel11918, openalexw1539913220, openalexw78894702"
}

@article{doi101073pnas2012437117,
    author = "Sulej, Tomasz and Krzesiński, G. and Tałanda, Mateusz and Wolniewicz, Andrzej S. and Błażejowski, Błażej and Bonde, Niels and Gutowski, Piotr and Sienkiewicz, Maksymilian and Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz",
    title = "The earliest-known mammaliaform fossil from Greenland sheds light on origin of mammals",
    year = "2020",
    journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences",
    abstract = {Synapsids are unique in having developed multirooted teeth and complex occlusions. These innovations evolved in at least two lineages of mammaliamorphs (Tritylodontidae and Mammaliaformes). Triassic fossils demonstrate that close to the origins of mammals, mammaliaform precursors were "experimenting" with tooth structure and function, resulting in novel patterns of occlusion. One of the most surprising examples of such adaptations is present in the haramiyidan clade, which differed from contemporary mammaliaforms in having two rows of cusps on molariform crowns adapted to omnivorous/herbivorous feeding. However, the origin of the multicusped tooth pattern present in haramiyidans has remained enigmatic. Here we describe the earliest-known mandibular fossil of a mammaliaform with double molariform roots and a crown with two rows of cusps from the Late Triassic of Greenland. The crown morphology is intermediate between that of morganucodontans and haramiyidans and suggests the derivation of the multicusped molariforms of haramiyidans from the triconodont molar pattern seen in morganucodontids. Although it is remarkably well documented in the fossil record, the significance of tooth root division in mammaliaforms remains enigmatic. The results of our biomechanical analyses (finite element analysis [FEA]) indicate that teeth with two roots can better withstand stronger mechanical stresses like those resulting from tooth occlusion, than teeth with a single root.},
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2012437117",
    doi = "10.1073/pnas.2012437117",
    openalex = "W3092147603",
    references = "doi101080147720192014960486"
}

@article{doi101093zoolinneanzlab039,
    author = "Grossnickle, David M. and Weaver, Lucas N. and Jäger, Kai R. K. and Schultz, Julia A.",
    title = "The evolution of anteriorly directed molar occlusion in mammals",
    year = "2021",
    journal = "Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society",
    abstract = "Abstract In non-mammalian synapsids and early mammals, evolutionary transformations in the feeding and hearing apparatuses are posited to have been prerequisites for the radiation of extant mammals. Unlike most vertebrates, including many early synapsids, mammals have precise dental occlusion, a lower jaw composed of one bone, and middle ear ossicles derived from ancestral jaw bones. We illuminate a related functional transition: therian mammals (eutherians and metatherians) evolved anteriorly directed chewing strokes, which are absent in other synapsid lineages. Anteriorly directed jaw movement during occlusion necessitates anteriorly directed muscle force vectors, and we posit that a shift in muscle orientation is reflected in the fossil record by the evolutionary appearance of a posteriorly positioned angular process in cladotherians (therians and their close kin). Anteriorly directed occlusion might have been absent in earlier synapsids because of the presence of attached middle ear elements in the posterior region of the jaw that prohibited the posterior insertion of jaw musculature. These changes to the masticatory apparatus in cladotherians are likely to have permitted the evolution of novel masticatory movements, including grinding in both the anterior and medial directions (e.g. rodents and ungulates, respectively). Thus, this evolutionary transition might have been a crucial prerequisite for the dietary diversification of therians.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab039",
    doi = "10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab039",
    openalex = "W3179343064",
    references = "doi101002ajpa1330400210, doi101002jmor1051470404, doi101016s0169534797012731, doi101038s41598020791594, doi101093oso97801985076040010001, doi101353book485, doi101371journalpbio3000494, doi1023071378712, doi1023071445584, doi105860choice326223, doi107312kiel11918"
}

@article{doi101111brv12822,
    author = "Grigg, Gordon C. and Nowack, Julia and Bicudo, J. Eduardo P. W. and Bal, Naresh C. and Woodward, Holly N. and Seymour, Roger S.",
    title = "Whole‐body endothermy: ancient, homologous and widespread among the ancestors of mammals, birds and crocodylians",
    year = "2021",
    journal = "Biological reviews/Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society",
    abstract = "-ATPase (SERCA) in skeletal muscle, similar to a process seen in some fishes. This similarity prompted our realisation that the capacity for whole-body endothermy could even have pre-dated the divergence of Amniota into Synapsida and Sauropsida, leading us to hypothesise the homology of whole-body endothermy in birds and mammals, in contrast to the current assumption of their independent (convergent) evolution. To explore the extent of similarity between muscle NST in mammals and birds we undertook a detailed review of these processes and their control in each group. We found considerable but not complete similarity between them: in extant mammals the 'slippage' is controlled by the protein sarcolipin (SLN), in birds the SLN is slightly different structurally and its role in NST is not yet proved. However, considering the multi-millions of years since the separation of synapsids and diapsids, we consider that the similarity between NST production in birds and mammals is consistent with their whole-body endothermy being homologous. If so, we should expect to find evidence for it much earlier and more widespread among extinct amniotes than is currently recognised. Accordingly, we conducted an extensive survey of the palaeontological literature using established proxies. Fossil bone histology reveals evidence of sustained rapid growth rates indicating tachymetabolism. Large body size and erect stature indicate high systemic arterial blood pressures and four-chambered hearts, characteristic of tachymetabolism. Large nutrient foramina in long bones are indicative of high bone perfusion for rapid somatic growth and for repair of microfractures caused by intense locomotion. Obligate bipedality appeared early and only in whole-body endotherms. Isotopic profiles of fossil material indicate endothermic levels of body temperature. These proxies led us to compelling evidence for the widespread occurrence of whole-body endothermy among numerous extinct synapsids and sauropsids, and very early in each clade's family tree. These results are consistent with and support our hypothesis that tachymetabolic endothermy is plesiomorphic in Amniota. A hypothetical structure for the heart of the earliest endothermic amniotes is proposed. We conclude that there is strong evidence for whole-body endothermy being ancient and widespread among amniotes and that the similarity of biochemical processes driving muscle NST in extant birds and mammals strengthens the case for its plesiomorphy.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12822",
    doi = "10.1111/brv.12822",
    openalex = "W4200490813",
    references = "cubo2020were, doi101016jgr202008003, doi101016s0092867400814105, doi101017pab201519, doi101038262207a0, doi101038nature11264, doi101038ncomms9296, doi101038s4155901910473, doi101038srep06196, doi1010719781486300679, doi101073pnas1206625109, doi101086283547, doi101093biolinneanblw044, doi101093sysbiosyw033, doi101096fj020367com, doi101098rstb20190136, doi101098rstb20190142, doi101111brv12137, doi101111j10958312201001431x, doi101126sciadvaaw4486, doi101126science1187443, doi101126science493968, doi101126scienceaal4853, doi101152physiol000162016, doi101152physrev000152003, doi1012063521, doi101210er20020012, doi101371journalpone0011613, doi101371journalpone0033539, doi101371journalpone0069361, doi105860choice355657, doi107717peerj1778, doi107717peerj7764, köhler2012seasonal, pontzer2009biomechanics, seymour1976dinosaurs, zhao2019ontogenetic"
}

@misc{luo2022fig,
    author = "Luo, Zhe-Xi and Bhullar, Bhart-Anjan S. and Crompton, Alfred W. and Neander, April I. and Rowe, Timothy B.",
    title = "Fig. 5 in Reexamination of the mandibular and dental morphology of the Early Jurassic mammaliaform Hadrocodium wui",
    year = "2022",
    publisher = "Zenodo",
    abstract = "Fig. 5. Comparative morphology of mandibular canals and tooth alveoli in cross sections. A. The mammaliaform Hadrocodium wui Luo, Crompton, and Sun, 2001 (holotype, IVPP 8275) from the Lower Lufeng Formation, Lower Jurassic of Yunnan, China; transverse section of mandible through anterior root of p3 (A1): the main cusp of a tall p3 occludes into its maxillary pit on the palate, and the upper P3 is more lingually inclined than the lower p3; transverse section through anterior root of m1 (A2): the mandibular canal is lateral to the root alveoli of the postcanines; the upper M1 is more inclined lingually than the lower m1; the main cusp of lower m1 occludes into its pit on the palate; the asterisk indicates that the labial alveolar margin is lower on the lingual alveolar margin at the point of the arrow. B. The morganucodontan Morganucodon oehleri Rigney, 1963, (BMNH 2858) from the Lower Lufeng Formation, Lower Jurassic of China; cross section through the anterior root of m2: oval outline with long diameter at 0.25 mm, and short diameter at 0.15 mm; mandibular canal is lateral to the side of roots. C, D. The docodontan Docodon victor Schultz, Bhullar, and Luo, 2019 (as revised by Schultz et al. 2019) from the Morrison Formation, Upper Jurassic of Wyoming, USA. C. YPM 11826, cross section through a root alveolus of m5; mandibular canal cross section in oval outline with the long diameter at 0.8 mm and short diameter at 0.6 mm. D. YPM 11823, mandibular canal cross section through anterior root of m5; circular outline diameter 0.6 mm. The mandibular canal is ventro-lateral to the apices of roots in docodontans. E. The eutriconodontan Juchilestes liaoningensis Gao, Wilson, Luo, Maga, Meng, and Wang, 2009 (DMNH 2607) from the Yixian Formation, Lower Cretaceous of China, as a representative for root canal pattern for crown mammals, in which the mandibular canal is ventral to the root apices.",
    url = "https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.12198160",
    doi = "10.5281/zenodo.12198160"
}

@misc{benton2023figure,
    author = "Benton, Michael J. and Gill, Pamela G. and Whiteside, David I.",
    title = "Figure 2 in Finding the world's oldest mammals: sieving, dialectical materialism, and squabbles",
    year = "2023",
    publisher = "Zenodo",
    abstract = "Figure 2. Historically important mammaliaform (A–J) and reptile (K–O) fossils from Bristol and South Wales Late Triassic/Early Jurassic fissures. A–C, Haramiyid mammaliaform fossils; Charles Moore's Holwell 1850s and 1860s collection, showing typical display boxes with BRLSI M213 and M218 (A), BRLSI M216, a molar of 'Microlestes moorei', now Thomasia moorei (B), two examples (of four) of BRLSI M220, haramiyid anterior teeth (C). D, CAMZM Eo D45, from the Parrington collection in Cambridge, a Morganucodon watsoni right dentary, medial view; Pontalun 3. E, Jaw composite of Morganucodon watsoni (Gill et al. 2014), medial view comprising three scans, including CAMZM Eo D45; anterior is from Pontalun 3 specimen NHMUK PV M85507 with complete incisor row; prepared in Bristol in 2003 by Felix Marx. F, SEM medial image of Morganucodon sp., a UCL prepared left dentary fragment and molar (m1?) NHMUK PV M23035; from Pant 2, which yielded a huge amount of material in 1955. G, NHMUK PV M27273, the only toothed specimen of a Kuehneotherium jaw in the UCL collection, prepared by David Pacey in 1973 for his PhD, under the supervision of K.A. Kermack; Pant 4. H, Kuehneotherium praecursoris tooth CAMZM Sy 87, buccal view; Pontalun 3. I, NHMUK M45079, mid-row left lower molar of Kuehneotherium sp., in lingual view; Pant 5, 1979, the last fissure collection made by the UCL team, in 1979–80. J, NHMUK R7119, right paratype dentary of Oligokyphus, antero-medial view, W.G. Kühne collection; Windsor Hill Quarry prepared either during his World war 2 internment on the Isle of Man or later; first of the fissure vertebrates to be reconstructed from isolated bones only. K, BRSUG 29383, mid and posterior part of left dentary of Gephyrosaurus bridensis in lateral view; Pontalun 3, prepared in Bristol by Maurice White, technician of R.J.G. Savage. L, NHMUK R9249, lateral view of left syntype maxilla of Clevosaurus hudsoni; collected in 1937–38 by F.G. Hudson, Cromhall Quarry. M, NHMUK R 6099, first archosaur fossil (a crocodylomorph) recorded from Cromhall; Kühne collection, 1948. N, BRSUG 1823, Kuehneosaurus latus, right scapula, medial view; Tom Fry collection, c. 1948. O, NHMUK R36832, a slightly disarticulated front skeleton of Clevosaurus hudsoni; P.L. Robinson collection (probably) 1954. Photo credits: Matt Williams and BRLSI (A–C), Andrew Conith (F), Ron Every (H), Mike Cawthorne (N); other photographs taken by the authors.",
    url = "https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.11240485",
    doi = "10.5281/zenodo.11240485"
}

@article{doi101002jmor21554,
    author = "Avedik, Annika and Duque‐Correa, Maria J. and Clauß, Marcus",
    title = "Avoiding the lockdown: Morphological facilitation of transversal chewing movements in mammals",
    year = "2023",
    journal = "Journal of Morphology",
    abstract = "The evolution of mammals is characterized, amongst other developments, by an increasing relevance of effective food processing in form of an increasingly durable dentition, complex occlusal surfaces, and transverse chewing movements. Some factors have received increasing attention for the facilitation of the latter, such as the configuration of the jaw joint, the chewing muscle arrangement and lever arms, or the reduction of interlocking cusps on the cheek teeth occlusal surface. By contrast, the constraining effect of the anterior dentition (incisors and canines) on transverse chewing motions, though known, has received less comprehensive attention. Here, we give examples of this constraint in extant mammals and outline a variety of morphological solutions to this constraint, including a reduction of the anterior dentition, special arrangements of canines and incisors, the nesting of the mandibular cheek teeth within the maxillary ones, and the use of different jaw positions for different dental functions (cropping vs. grinding). We suggest that hypselodont anterior canines or incisors in some taxa might represent a compensatory mechanism for self-induced wear during a grinding chewing motion. We propose that the diversity in anterior dentition among mammalian herbivores, and the evolutionary trend towards a reduction of the anterior dentition in many taxa, indicates that the constraining effect of the anterior dentition, which is rigidly linked to the cheek teeth by the osseous jaws, represents a relevant selective pressure in mammalian evolution.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.21554",
    doi = "10.1002/jmor.21554",
    openalex = "W4316464430",
    references = "doi101093zoolinneanzlab039"
}

@article{doi101007s00114023018683,
    author = "Averianov, Alexander O. and Martin, Thomas and Лопатин, А. В. and Skutschas, Pavel P. and Vitenko, Dmitry D. and Schellhorn, Rico and Kolosov, P. N.",
    title = "On the way from Asia to America: eutriconodontan mammals from the Early Cretaceous of Yakutia, Russia",
    year = "2023",
    journal = "Die Naturwissenschaften",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-023-01868-3",
    doi = "10.1007/s00114-023-01868-3",
    openalex = "W4385475993",
    references = "doi101038nature03102, doi101038nature05234, doi101038nature14905, doi101038s41598020791594, doi10108002724634198810011681, doi101080147720192010488045, doi101111j109583122001tb01368x, doi101126science1063830, doi105252geodiversitas2022v44a25, doi107312kiel11918, openalexw2786463731"
}

@article{doi101038s41467023426067,
    author = "Wang, Haibing and Wang, Yuan",
    title = "Middle ear innovation in Early Cretaceous eutherian mammals",
    year = "2023",
    journal = "Nature Communications",
    abstract = "The middle ear ossicles in modern mammals are repurposed from postdentary bones in non-mammalian cynodonts. Recent discoveries by palaeontological and embryonic studies have developed different models for the middle ear evolution in mammaliaforms. However, little is known about the evolutionary scenario of the middle ear in early therians. Here we report a detached middle ear preserved in a new eutherian mammal from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota. The well-preserved articulation of the malleus and incus suggest that the saddle-shaped incudomallear joint is a major apomorphy of Early Cretaceous eutherians. By contrast to the distinct saddle-like incudomallear articulation in therians, differences between the overlapping versus the half-overlapping incudomallear joints in monotremes and stem mammals would be relatively minor. The middle ear belongs to the microtype by definition, indicating its adaptation to high-frequency hearing. Current evidence indicates that significant evolutionary innovations of the middle ear in modern therians evolved in Early Cretaceous.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42606-7",
    doi = "10.1038/s41467-023-42606-7",
    openalex = "W4387965828",
    references = "doi101093zoolinneanzlab039"
}

@article{doi101098rstb20220544,
    author = "Clauß, Marcus and Fritz, Julia and Hummel, Jürgen",
    title = "Teeth and the gastrointestinal tract in mammals: when 1 + 1 = 3",
    year = "2023",
    journal = "Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences",
    abstract = "Both teeth and the digestive tract show adaptations that are commonly interpreted in the context of trophic guilds-faunivory, herbivory and omnivory. Teeth prepare food for the digestive tract, and dental evolution focuses on increasing durability and functionality; in particular, size reduction of plant particles is an important preparation for microbial fermentative digestion. In narratives of digestive adaptations, microbes are typically considered as service providers, facilitating digestion. That the majority of 'herbivorous' (and possibly 'omnivorous') mammals display adaptations to maximize microbes' use as prey-by harvesting the microbes multiplying in their guts-is less emphasized and not reflected in trophic labels. Harvesting of microbes occurs either via coprophagy after separation from indigestible material by a separation mechanism in the hindgut, or from a forestomach by a 'washing mechanism' that selectively removes fines, including microbes, to the lower digestive tract. The evolution of this washing mechanism as part of the microbe farming niche opened the opportunity for the evolution of another mechanism that links teeth and guts in an innovative way-the sorting and cleaning of not-yet-sufficiently-size-reduced food that is then re-submitted to repeated mastication (rumination), leading to unprecedented chewing and digestive efficiency. This article is part of the theme issue 'Food processing and nutritional assimilation in animals'.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0544",
    doi = "10.1098/rstb.2022.0544",
    openalex = "W4387652102",
    references = "doi101093zoolinneanzlab039"
}

@article{doi103390d15040544,
    author = "Fitch, Adam J. and Haas, Merle and C’Hair, Wayne and Ridgley, Eugene and Ridgley, Ben and Oldman, Devin and Reynolds, Crystal and Lovelace, David M.",
    title = "A New Rhynchosaur Taxon from the Popo Agie Formation, WY: Implications for a Northern Pangean Early-Late Triassic (Carnian) Fauna",
    year = "2023",
    journal = "Diversity",
    abstract = "New discoveries in the lower Popo Agie Formation (lower carbonate unit) of central Wyoming necessitated a reevaluation of USNM 494329 from the same unit, the only known hyperodapedontine rhynchosaur in western North America. Well known from Gondwanan deposits, hyperodapedontines appear to be restricted to the Carnian age (Late Triassic), with the exception of Teyumbaita in the earliest Norian age (Late Triassic) of Brazil. Initially assigned to c.f. ‘Hyperodapedon’ sanjuanensis, our phylogenetic analyses reject this hypothesis, in support of a sister relationship between USNM 494329 (Beesiiwo cooowuse, gen. et. sp. nov.) and Oryctorhynchus bairdi forming an early-diverging clade that is only distantly related to ‘H.’ sanjuanensis. Five additional specimens recovered from the lower Popo Agie are described. Three are referred to B. cooowuse, and another two are placed closer to Hyperodapedon and the remainder of Hyperodapedontinae. Our analysis demonstrates potential temporal distinction between a grade of earliest-diverging hyperodapedontines (including all Wyoming taxa) and a exclusively Late Carnian, Southern Pangaean hyperodapedontine clade (including ‘H.’ sanjuanensis). We consider the lower Popo Agie Formation to represent the first nonmarine Late Triassic unit of Western North America that can be confidently restricted to the Carnian age.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.3390/d15040544",
    doi = "10.3390/d15040544",
    openalex = "W4363675375",
    references = "doi101038s4158602205133x"
}

@article{doi101002spp21587,
    author = "Tanaka, Tomonori and Chiba, Kentaro and Ikeda, Tadahiro and Ryan, Michael J.",
    title = "A new neoceratopsian (Ornithischia, Ceratopsia) from the Lower Cretaceous Ohyamashimo Formation (Albian), southwestern Japan",
    year = "2024",
    journal = "Papers in Palaeontology",
    abstract = "Abstract The herbivorous dinosaur clade Ceratopsia flourished in the northern hemisphere during the Late Jurassic to Late Cretaceous. Previous palaeobiogeographic studies have suggested that their initial diversification occurred in Asia, with early‐branching neoceratopsians extending their geographical range to North America sometime during the Barremian to Albian. However, the specific timing and mode of their dispersal from Asia to North America remains unknown. Here we describe a new, early‐branching neoceratopsian, Sasayamagnomus saegusai gen. et sp. nov., from the Albian Ohyamashimo Formation in southwestern Japan, representing the easternmost fossil record of ceratopsians in Asia. Sasayamagnomus exhibits three diagnostic features in the jugal, squamosal and coracoid, respectively, and also has a unique combination of characters in the lacrimal. Our phylogenetic analysis indicates that Sasayamagnomus forms a clade with Aquilops americanus, one of the earliest neoceratopsians from North America, followed by the sister taxon Auroraceratops rugosus from China. The present time‐calibrated phylogenetic tree indicates that the immigration of neoceratopsians from Asia to North America occurred during the latest Aptian or early Albian, refining the previously suggested timeframe. This aligns with fragmentary neoceratopsian fossil records from the Lower Cretaceous of North America and the initial formation of the Bering land bridge. Furthermore, the simultaneous occurrence of global warming (which enabled the development of extensive forests in the Arctic region) and the emergence of the Bering land bridge during the Aptian–Albian, probably played a crucial role in facilitating the immigration of neoceratopsians from Asia to North America.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1587",
    doi = "10.1002/spp2.1587",
    openalex = "W4402205120",
    references = "doi101007s00114023018683, doi1010800272463420181509866, son2022a"
}

@article{doi101038s41467024544255,
    author = "Matamales‐Andreu, Rafel and Kammerer, Christian F. and Angielczyk, Kenneth D. and Simões, Tiago R. and Mujal, Eudald and Galobart, Àngel and Fortuny, Josep",
    title = "Early–middle Permian Mediterranean gorgonopsian suggests an equatorial origin of therapsids",
    year = "2024",
    journal = "Nature Communications",
    abstract = "Therapsids were a dominant component of middle-late Permian terrestrial ecosystems worldwide, eventually giving rise to mammals during the early Mesozoic. However, little is currently known about the time and place of origin of Therapsida. Here we describe a definitive therapsid from the lower-?middle Permian palaeotropics, a partial skeleton of a gorgonopsian from the island of Mallorca, western Mediterranean. This specimen represents, to our knowledge, the oldest gorgonopsian record worldwide, and possibly the oldest known therapsid. Using emerging relaxed clock models, we provide a quantitative timeline for the origin and early diversification of therapsids, indicating a long ghost lineage leading to the evolutionary radiation of all major therapsid clades within less than 10 Myr, in the aftermath of Olson's Extinction. Our findings place this unambiguous early therapsid in an ancient summer wet biome of equatorial Pangaea, thus suggesting that the group originated in tropical rather than temperate regions.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54425-5",
    doi = "10.1038/s41467-024-54425-5",
    openalex = "W4405459550",
    references = "doi101016jearscirev2022103948, doi101016jpalaeo2022111043, doi101038s4155902302200y, doi101038s4158602204963z, doi101098rsbl20200750, doi101139cjes20150100"
}

@article{doi1010800891296320242308214,
    author = "Jia, Lei and Li, Ning and Dong, Liyang and Shi, Jianru and Kang, Zhishuai and Wang, Suozhu and Xu, Shi-Chao and You, Hai‐Lu",
    title = "A new stegosaur from the late Early Cretaceous of Zuoyun, Shanxi Province, China",
    year = "2024",
    journal = "Historical Biology",
    abstract = "Stegosaurs are a minor but iconic clade of ornithischian dinosaurs. They range from the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous, but are rare and poorly represented in the Cretaceous. Before this study, there were only four valid taxa from the Cretaceous: Paranthodon, Wuerhosaurus homheni, Wuerhosaurus ordosensis and Mongolostegus exspectabilis. Here, we describe a new stegosaur, Yanbeilong ultimus gen. et sp. nov. from the late Early Cretaceous Zuoyun Formation (Albian in age) of Zuoyun County, Shanxi Province, P. R. China. Yanbeilong represents one of the latest records of a stegosaurian taxon in the world. Compared to other stegosaurs, Yanbeilong has several unique characteristics in dorsal vertebrae and ilio-sacral block: it has a higher neural arch and smaller neural canal of dorsal vertebrae, and it has fewer number of fused vertebrae/sacrals and fenestrae/sacral ribs in the ilio-sacral block. Although phylogenetic analysis shows that Yanbeilong is recovered as the sister taxon to a clade containing Stegosaurus stenops and Wuerhosaurus homheni, it differs from these two taxa in several anatomical characters of dorsasacral vertebrae ribs, sacral ribs, caudal vertebrae and ilium.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2024.2308214",
    doi = "10.1080/08912963.2024.2308214",
    openalex = "W4391402911",
    references = "doi101007s00114023018683"
}

@article{doi101093zoolinneanzlae062,
    author = "Hoffmann, Simone and Malik, Ramza Shahid and Vidyasagar, Arjun and Gill, Pamela G.",
    title = "The inner ear and stapes of the basal mammaliaform Morganucodon revisited: new information on labyrinth morphology and promontorial vascularization",
    year = "2024",
    journal = "Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society",
    abstract = "Abstract Based on high-resolution computed tomography scanning, we provide new insights into the inner ear and stapedial morphology of Morganucodon from the Early Jurassic of St Brides. At the base of mammaliaforms, Morganucodon plays a pivotal role in understanding the sequence of character acquisition from basal cynodonts to mammals, including the detachment of the middle ear and the evolution of high-frequency hearing. Advancements in imaging technology enabled us to revise or newly describe crucial anatomy that was not accessible for the original description of Morganucodon. Based on 37 petrosals, we can confirm that the apex of the cochlear canal is expanded in Morganucodon, suggestive of a lagena macula. A gently raised crest along the abneural margin is reminiscent of (although much shallower than) the secondary lamina base of other Mesozoic mammaliaforms. The venous circum-promontorial plexus, which surrounded the inner ear in several basal mammaliaforms, was connected to the cochlear labyrinth in Morganucodon through numerous openings along the secondary lamina base. Two petrosals contain fragmentary stapes, which differ substantially from previously described isolated stapes attributed to Morganucodon in having peripherally placed crura and an oval and bullate footplate. Based on the revised stapedial morphology, we question the traditional view of an asymmetrical bicrural stapes as the plesiomorphic condition for Mammaliaformes.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae062",
    doi = "10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae062",
    openalex = "W4398166869",
    references = "doi101111j14754983201101094x"
}

@article{doi101111pala12692,
    author = "Huang, E. J. and Wilson, Jacob D. and Bhullar, Bhart‐Anjan S. and Bever, Gabriel S.",
    title = "High‐precision body mass predictors for small mammals: a case study in the Mesozoic",
    year = "2024",
    journal = "Palaeontology",
    abstract = "Abstract Body mass is a pivotal quantity in palaeobiology but must be inferred from an imperfect fossil record. We analyse the performance of regression models derived from various dentoskeletal predictors in mammals to inform fossils from the early, Mesozoic history of this radiation. Our focus is on the critical small end of the size spectrum; critical because the earliest mammals were small, because small size persisted onto the stems of the major extant radiations, and because small mammals compose a large proportion of crown diversity. The sampling strategy is diverse in terms of both phylogeny and skeletal predictors: the former allows a general application, while the latter enables comparison of various models. Linear regressions based on extant small mammals indicate a universal correlation of body mass with observed measurements, but with clear differences in precision. Postcranial predictors outperform jaw and dental metrics, with certain femoral joint dimensions providing surprisingly precise predictions. Our results indicate complex patterns of size evolution within the small‐bodied category, including the possibility that multiple Mesozoic species approached the theoretical lower limit of mammalian body size. The ability to study such dynamics only becomes possible when predicting body mass within a strict, highly focused phylogenetic context. The heuristic value of the models we provide here is not limited to the Mesozoic but is applicable to small‐bodied mammals of any geologic age.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12692",
    doi = "10.1111/pala.12692",
    openalex = "W4392469766",
    references = "doi101017cbo9781139167826, doi101038nmeth2089, doi101038s41598020791594, doi101093jmammalgyx147, doi101111j17447429200700272x, doi101111j2041210x201000044x, doi101126science1211028, doi101126science1229237, doi101152physrev1947274511, doi101371journalpbio3000494, openalexw1558456135"
}

@article{doi101126sciadvado4555,
    author = "Newham, Elis and Corfe, Ian J. and Brewer, Philippa and Bright, Jen A. and Fernández, Vincent and Gostling, Neil J. and Hoffmann, Simone and Jäger, Kai R. K. and Kague, Érika and Lovrić, Goran and Marone, Federica and Panciroli, Elsa and Schneider, Philipp and Schultz, Julia A. and Suhonen, Heikki and Witchell, Alex and Gill, Pamela G. and Martin, Thomas",
    title = "The origins of mammal growth patterns during the Jurassic mammalian radiation",
    year = "2024",
    journal = "Science Advances",
    abstract = "We use synchrotron x-ray tomography of annual growth increments in the dental cementum of mammaliaforms (stem and crown fossil mammals) from three faunas across the Jurassic to map the origin of patterns of mammalian growth patterns, which are intrinsically related to mammalian endothermy. Although all fossils studied exhibited slower growth rates, longer life spans, and delayed sexual maturity relative to comparably sized extant mammals, the earliest crown mammals developed significantly faster growth rates in early life that reduced at sexual maturity, compared to stem mammaliaforms. Estimation of basal metabolic rates (BMRs) suggests that some fossil crown mammals had BMRs approaching the lowest rates of extant mammals. We suggest that mammalian growth patterns first evolved during their mid-Jurassic adaptive radiation, although growth remained slower than in extant mammals.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ado4555",
    doi = "10.1126/sciadv.ado4555",
    openalex = "W4401387302",
    references = "doi101006anbe20001530, doi101016jnimb201309030, doi101016s0169534702025788, doi101038nature05835, doi101038nmeth2089, doi101038s41598020791594, doi101046j13652818200201010x, doi101098rsbl20050378, doi101111j14610248200701034x, doi101152physrev000472006, doi107312kiel11918"
}

@article{doi101007s10914025097494,
    author = "Sankhyan, Anek R. and Abbas, Sayyed Ghyour and Jasinski, Steven E. and Khan, Muhammad Akbar and Mahmood, Khalid",
    title = "Rare carnivorous mammals from a diverse fossil assemblage from the Middle Siwaliks of Haritalyangar area, Himachal Pradesh, North India",
    year = "2025",
    journal = "Journal of Mammalian Evolution",
    abstract = "Abstract Newly collected fossil carnivoran material from the Haritalyangar and Nurpur Middle Siwalik sequences of Himachal Pradesh (India) include at least five taxa and two new species including Mustelidae (‘ Martes ’ lydekkeri, Circamustela bhapralensis sp. nov., Mustelidae indet.), Viverridae (Vishnuictis plectilodous sp. nov.), and Felidae (indeterminate basal Felinae). These findings include the first upper jaw material of ‘ Martes ’ lydekkeri, a rare mustelid known only from lower jaw specimens, suggesting potentially closer relationships with European mustelids. Additionally, we report the first identification of Circamustela from the Siwaliks of the Indian subcontinent, despite nearly two centuries of fossil collection in the region. This material represents a new species Circamustela bhapralensis sp. nov. Circamustela, originating in Europe, eventually migrated to the Indian subcontinent before its extinction, and the smaller body size of the new species may suggest a trend toward decreasing body size in this taxon. Fossil viverrid material also represents a new species, Vishnuictis plectilodous sp. nov., the youngest species yet known for the genus. This new material implies an increase in morphological complexity in the m1 of these viverrids, potentially also suggesting an increase in dietary diversity within this lineage. The new viverrid species may also represent the largest viverrid yet known. Mandibular material of a feline is also described, providing further information on the biodiversity of the fossil carnivorans in the region. These new specimens add important information to our knowledge of the ancient biodiversity of the region, the evolutionary history of several carnivoran mammals, and the carnivoran guild of southern Asia.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-025-09749-4",
    doi = "10.1007/s10914-025-09749-4",
    openalex = "W4408741391",
    references = "doi101017s0094837300014056, doi101038s41598020791594, doi101111j146979981869tb07286x, doi101130001676062000112394dfsagp20co2, doi101525california97805202572140010001, doi101666009483732002281faecit20co2, doi1023071005467, doi1023075708, openalexw126620708, openalexw3119383700, openalexw628275096"
}

@article{doi101073pnas2516082122,
    author = "Wilken, Alec T. and Snipes, Chelsie C. G. and Ross, Callum F. and Luo, Zhe‐Xi",
    title = "Biomechanics of the mandibular middle ear of the cynodont Thrinaxodon and the evolution of mammal hearing",
    year = "2025",
    journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences",
    abstract = ". In contrast, bone conducted sound through the mandibular bones barely met our estimated hearing threshold. Our findings suggest that, like modern mammals, cynodonts were already reliant on a soft tissue tympanum to receive airborne sound, albeit with limited sensitivity to high frequencies. This is a detailed biomechanical evaluation of tympanum function in the cynodont predecessors of mammals and yields insight into the sequence of functional innovations during the evolution of mammal hearing.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2516082122",
    doi = "10.1073/pnas.2516082122",
    openalex = "W4417134368",
    references = "doi101038s4155902302200y"
}

@article{doi1010800272463420252601790,
    author = "Lopatin, Alexey V. and Averianov, Alexander O.",
    title = "Reappraisal of a multituberculate mammal Buginbaatar transaltaiensis from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia",
    year = "2025",
    journal = "Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology",
    abstract = "A multituberculate mammal Buginbaatar transaltaiensis from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Nemegt Formation at the Khaychin Ula I locality in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia, is herein redescribed based on high-resolution computed tomography (CT) scans. It is more derived than multituberculates from the Campanian Djadokhta and Barungoyot formations of the Gobi Desert in having a P4 that is less than half the labiolingual width than the M1, a greater number of cusps on M1 and m1, and in the labial row of P4, a longer lingual cusp row on M1, subcrescent molar cusps, p3 absent, and p4 with a reduced cusp number and labial and lingual ridges. Our phylogenetic analysis does not support the recognition of a monophyletic Djadochtatherioidea. Contrary to the prevailing view, the Late Cretaceous Mongolian multituberculates constitute a paraphyletic array of taxa that underwent a gradual acquisition of derived traits, ultimately resulting in the emergence of the Taeniolabidoidea. Taeniolabidoidea have an Asiatic origin with Buginbaatar placed as outgroup according to the employed phylogenetic definition. The Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) East Asian multituberculate taxa Yubaatar and Erythrobaatar are basally divergent taeniolabidoids.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2025.2601790",
    doi = "10.1080/02724634.2025.2601790",
    openalex = "W7128727382",
    references = "doi101007s00114023018683, doi101038s41586025089646"
}

@misc{doi10110120250924678280,
    author = "Tseng, Z. Jack and Li, Qian and Ting, Suyin",
    title = "Brawn before bite in endemic Asian mammals after the end-Cretaceous extinction",
    year = "2025",
    booktitle = "bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)",
    abstract = "Summary The first 10 million years (Myr) following the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction marked a period of global greenhouse conditions and dramatic rise of placental mammals. Because ∼80\% of known terrestrial sections capturing post-K-Pg mammal recovery come from North America, a substantial knowledge gap exists in the tempo and mode of recovery in Asia, where only 3\% of global sites are located and most contain species found nowhere else. We show that isolated Paleocene placental assemblages from China (1) exhibited high mean tooth size and disparity early in the Paleocene, (2) shifted in their dental shape in parallel with regional and global environmental changes later in the Paleocene, and (3) achieved maximum dental shape-performance covariation near the end of the first 10 Myr post-K-Pg. This ‘brawn before bite’ transformation, coupled with prolonged dental shape versus performance variability, favors a scenario whereby many living orders of placental mammals were borne out of phenotypically and functionally plastic ancestral assemblages, including those in tropical south China, during the Paleocene.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.09.24.678280",
    doi = "10.1101/2025.09.24.678280",
    openalex = "W4414594436",
    references = "doi101002ar25652"
}

@article{doi101111joa70010,
    author = "Funston, Gregory F and Kynigopoulou, Zoi and Williamson, Thomas E and Brusatte, Stephen L",
    title = "Palaeohistology and life history of the early Palaeocene taeniodont Conoryctes comma (Mammalia: Eutheria).",
    year = "2025",
    journal = "Journal of anatomy",
    abstract = "The life histories of Palaeocene mammals are poorly known, but may have been central to their success in diversifying across terrestrial ecosystems after the end-Cretaceous extinction. Among these mammalian groups, the eutherian Taeniodonta are particularly enigmatic, with few modern analogues and no living descendants, despite being one of the only lineages to apparently traverse the Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K-Pg) boundary. Here, we investigate the life history of an early Palaeocene taeniodont, Conoryctes comma, based on a multi-individual, multi-element sample. Nearly all elements sampled exhibit similar osteohistological architecture, with a small internal zone of compacted coarse cancellous bone surrounded by an internal cortex of periosteally derived fibrolamellar bone of variable thickness, and an outer cortex of lamellar bone. The well-vascularized fibrolamellar complex in the limb bones, lacking cyclical growth marks, is indicative of overall rapid growth to near adult body size. Cyclical growth marks are present in the outer cortex after the transition to slow-growing lamellar bone, but not in the inner cortex, suggesting sexual maturity was reached in 1 year. In some elements, an internal non-cyclical growth mark shares histological similarities with weaning marks in living mammals and other contemporary Palaeocene mammals, and occurred at the body size predicted for this transition in therian mammals. The unusual presence of compacted coarse cancellous bone near the midshafts of multiple limb bones may be related to cortical thickening, and is similar to the arrangement described in some fossorial mammals, supporting previous assertions of this lifestyle in Conoryctes. Altogether, these palaeohistological signals suggest a life history in C. comma similar to living eutherians, despite uncertainty about whether it is within crown Placentalia or a close outgroup. Thus, our data are consistent with an early origin of placental-like reproductive strategies in their eutherian ancestors, although this attribute was likely shared more broadly among Mesozoic mammal lineages prior to the end-Cretaceous extinction.",
    url = "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12397073/",
    doi = "10.1111/joa.70010",
    openalex = "W4412394202",
    pmcid = "PMC12397073",
    pmid = "40657952",
    references = "doi101086273307, doi101086410622, doi101093nqs5vi146318i, doi1011112041210x13087, doi101111j1469, doi101126science1229237, doi1016710272463420000200115lbhoth20co2, doi1018900814941, openalexw1904943263, openalexw2184264297"
}

@article{doi101111pala70004,
    author = "Janis, Christine M. and Martín‐Serra, Alberto and Theodor, Jessica M. and Scott, Craig S.",
    title = "Down to earth: therian mammals became more terrestrial towards the end of the Cretaceous",
    year = "2025",
    journal = "Palaeontology",
    abstract = "Abstract The end Cretaceous extinctions had a profound effect on mammalian diversity, especially on metatherians (marsupials and their extinct relatives). Could mammalian substrate preference have influenced differential survival patterns? The plant fossil record shows changing angiosperm leaf anatomy during the last ten million years of the Cretaceous that would have resulted in a greater richness of terrestrial understory habitats, and work by other researchers implies that terrestrial (vs arboreal) substrate preference promoted increased survival over the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary for both mammals and birds. Here we use fragmentary postcranial remains of Late Cretaceous mammals and show that, at least in the Western Interior of North America, therian mammals were becoming more terrestrial in their locomotor mode towards the end of the Cretaceous.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.70004",
    doi = "10.1111/pala.70004",
    openalex = "W4409124871",
    references = "doi101016jearscirev2023104630"
}

@article{doi107554elife108917,
    author = "Tseng, Z. Jack and Li, Qian and Ting, Suyin",
    title = "Brawn before bite in endemic Asian mammals after the end-Cretaceous extinction",
    year = "2025",
    journal = "eLife",
    abstract = "The first 10 million years (Myr) following the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction marked a period of global greenhouse conditions and dramatic rise of placental mammals. Because ∼80\% of known terrestrial sections capturing post-K-Pg mammal recovery come from North America, a substantial knowledge gap exists in the tempo and mode of recovery in Asia, where only 3\% of sites are located and most contain species found nowhere else. We show that isolated Paleocene placental assemblages from China (1) reached high tooth size disparity early in the Paleocene, (2) tracked regional and global environmental changes in their dental shape later in the Paleocene, and (3) achieved maximum dental shape-performance integration near the end of the first 10 Myr post-K-Pg. This ‘brawn before bite’ transformation, coupled with prolonged dental shape versus performance variability, favors a scenario whereby many living orders of placental mammals were borne out of phenotypically and functionally plastic ancestral assemblages, including those in tropical south China, during the Paleocene.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.108917",
    doi = "10.7554/elife.108917",
    openalex = "W4417462569",
    references = "doi101002ar25652"
}

@article{doi107554elife1089171,
    author = "Tseng, Z. Jack and Li, Qian and Ting, Suyin",
    title = "Brawn before bite in endemic Asian mammals after the end-Cretaceous extinction",
    year = "2025",
    journal = "eLife",
    abstract = "The first 10 million years (Myr) following the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction marked a period of global greenhouse conditions and dramatic rise of placental mammals. Because ∼80\% of known terrestrial sections capturing post-K-Pg mammal recovery come from North America, a substantial knowledge gap exists in the tempo and mode of recovery in Asia, where only 3\% of sites are located and most contain species found nowhere else. We show that isolated Paleocene placental assemblages from China (1) reached high tooth size disparity early in the Paleocene, (2) tracked regional and global environmental changes in their dental shape later in the Paleocene, and (3) achieved maximum dental shape-performance integration near the end of the first 10 Myr post-K-Pg. This ‘brawn before bite’ transformation, coupled with prolonged dental shape versus performance variability, favors a scenario whereby many living orders of placental mammals were borne out of phenotypically and functionally plastic ancestral assemblages, including those in tropical south China, during the Paleocene.",
    url = "https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.108917.1",
    doi = "10.7554/elife.108917.1",
    openalex = "W4417462552",
    references = "doi101002ar25652"
}