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Transformation and diversification in early mammal evolution

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  • Zhe-Xi Luo

    (Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA)

Abstract

The descent of mammals The evolution of mammals is often told as a linear story involving the steady acquisition of key characters developed from the ancestral reptilian state — such as a middle ear, evolved from the jaw joint, and the 'tribosphenic' (crushing and biting) molar from the simple pointed teeth of reptiles. But as Zhe-Xi Luo shows in a Review Article, a host of recently discovered fossils alters that view radically. Mammalian evolution, far from taking a direct path, is a complex branching network with a number of dead ends: mammalian features evolved repeatedly in separate lineages, and were sometimes lost.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhe-Xi Luo, 2007. "Transformation and diversification in early mammal evolution," Nature, Nature, vol. 450(7172), pages 1011-1019, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:450:y:2007:i:7172:d:10.1038_nature06277
    DOI: 10.1038/nature06277
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    Cited by:

    1. Chase D. Brownstein & Dalton L. Meyer & Matteo Fabbri & Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar & Jacques A. Gauthier, 2022. "Evolutionary origins of the prolonged extant squamate radiation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Nicole D. S. Grunstra & Fabian Hollinetz & Guillermo Bravo Morante & Frank E. Zachos & Cathrin Pfaff & Viola Winkler & Philipp Mitteroecker & Anne Maître, 2024. "Convergent evolution in Afrotheria and non-afrotherians demonstrates high evolvability of the mammalian inner ear," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Fabien Lafuma & Ian J. Corfe & Julien Clavel & Nicolas Di-Poï, 2021. "Multiple evolutionary origins and losses of tooth complexity in squamates," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-13, December.

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