>1. Naturwissenschaften. 2010 Oct 13. [Epub ahead of print] >New data on Mustelidae (Carnivora) from Southeast Asia: Siamogale >thailandica, a peculiar otter-like mustelid from the late middle >Miocene Mae Moh Basin, northern Thailand. >Grohe C, Chaimanee Y, de Bonis L, Yamee C, Blondel C, Jaeger JJ. >Institut International de Paleoprimatologie, Paleontologie Humaine: >Evolution et Paleoenvironnements (IPHEP, UMR-CNRS 6046), Batiment >Sciences Naturelles, 40 av. Recteur Pineau, 86022, Poitiers Cedex, >France > >We report new dental remains of Mustelidae from the late middle >Miocene of Mae Moh Basin, northern Thailand, improving the poor fossil >record of the family in Southeast Asia. Siamogale thailandica is a >poorly known mustelid, previously recorded from just a single tooth. >Here we present over a hundred new specimens attributable to this >species. S. thailandica shows a combination of primitive and >convergent features of the dentition that makes its original >subfamilial assignment to Lutrinae doubtful. Evidence from the dental >morphology suggests that it belongs to a bunodont otter-like mustelid >that evolved in convergence with "true" otters (Lutrinae) toward a >semi-aquatic way of life. Autapomorphic features such as the height >and the position of the m1 metaconid and the shape of the P4 lingual >shelf make S. thailandica unique among Mustelidae. The morphology of >this species is mostly similar to Mionictis species and Lartetictis >dubia, reported in the Miocene of North America and Europe, >respectively. These similarities could imply immigration events to >Thailand in the early or middle Miocene. Alternately, the lineage >leading to Siamogale might have deeper origins from an endemic early >Miocene Southeast Asian mustelid. >PMID: 20941478 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] Sukie (not a vet) Recommended ferret health links: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/ http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html http://www.miamiferret.org/ http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/ http://www.ferretcongress.org/ http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html all ferret topics: http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html "All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow." (2010, Steve Crandall) On change for its own sake: "You can go really fast if you just jump off the cliff." (2010, Steve Crandall) [Posted in FML 6855]