Moeritherium and manatees are now big beavers in the LRT
Apparently
we all should have seen this one coming. Actually a few did (see below).
Unfortunately the LRT suffered from taxon exclusion, until…
A few days ago
Castor, the beaver, (Figs 1, 2), entered the large reptile tree (LRT, 2328 taxa) alongside Plesiadapis (Fig 1), the most primitive rodent.
After a moment of insight,
that addition of Castor paved the way for a better understanding of the traditionally odd and out-of-place Moeritherium (Figs 1, 2) and its extant relatives, the aquatic sirenians (Figs 1, 2). Without Castor, this interrelationships likely would have continued to go unnoticed. That’s why I preach: Taxon addition resolves all phylogenetic problems.
Long-legged elephants moved away from sirenians and hyraxes yesterday.
Today, sirenians moved away from hyraxes, which remain with extinct liptoterns.
Figure 1. Sirenian ancestors include Pleasiadapis, Castor, Moeritherium and Prorastomus leading to Dusisiren.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/castor_v_dusisiren.jpg?w=125″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/castor_v_dusisiren.jpg?w=426″ class=”size-full wp-image-90302″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/castor_v_dusisiren.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Sirenian ancestors include Pleasiadapis, Castor, Moeritherium and Prorastomus leading to Dusisiren.” width=”584″ height=”1403″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/castor_v_dusisiren.jpg?w=584&h=1403 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/castor_v_dusisiren.jpg?w=62&h=150 62w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/castor_v_dusisiren.jpg?w=125&h=300 125w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/castor_v_dusisiren.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 1. Sirenian ancestors include Pleasiadapis, Castor, Moeritherium and Prorastomus leading to Dusisiren.
Beavers are at home swimming underwater,
so this is a more parsimonious niche match that recovers them alongside similar aquatic herbivores, the manatees and dugongs, based on LRT trait analysis.
The small retracted naris (pink) fused to the edge of the frontal of sirenians is a trait shared with elephants – by convergence. Such traits led to the earlier confusion.
Figure 1. Moeritherium compared to Phosphatherium, Plesiadapis and Castor, the beaver and Dusisiren, the manatee.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/plesiadapis.castor.dusisiren.skull588.jpg?w=70″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/plesiadapis.castor.dusisiren.skull588.jpg?w=240″ class=”size-full wp-image-90304″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/plesiadapis.castor.dusisiren.skull588.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Moeritherium compared to Phosphatherium, Plesiadapis and Castor, the beaver and Dusisiren, the manatee.” width=”584″ height=”2487″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/plesiadapis.castor.dusisiren.skull588.jpg?w=584&h=2487 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/plesiadapis.castor.dusisiren.skull588.jpg?w=35&h=150 35w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/plesiadapis.castor.dusisiren.skull588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 1. Moeritherium compared to Phosphatherium, Plesiadapis and Castor, the beaver and Dusisiren, the manatee. Note the oddly deep jugal (cyan).
There are many undiscovered transitional taxa
between Plesiadapis and Castor, between Castor and Moeritherium, etc. Let’s see if future discoveries will confirm the present hypothesis or not.
A good hypothesis is predictive.
Figure 3. Subset of the LRT focusing on Sirenia and their ancestors in the Rodentia.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/sirenians.beavers.cladogram2024.jpg?w=245″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/sirenians.beavers.cladogram2024.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-90309″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/sirenians.beavers.cladogram2024.jpg” alt=”Figure 3. Subset of the LRT focusing on Sirenia and their ancestors in the Rodentia.” width=”584″ height=”715″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/sirenians.beavers.cladogram2024.jpg?w=584&h=715 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/sirenians.beavers.cladogram2024.jpg?w=123&h=150 123w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/sirenians.beavers.cladogram2024.jpg?w=245&h=300 245w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/sirenians.beavers.cladogram2024.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 3. Subset of the LRT focusing on Sirenia and their ancestors in the Rodentia. This topology gives manatees a set of aquatic ancestors.
This appears to be a novel hypothesis of interrelationships.
If not, please provide a citation so I can promote it here.
A few sites linking manatees and beavers appear online.
Fun rap battle YouTube video featuring manatees and beavers.
Five interesting facts about manatees – their tail is similar to that of beavers
A reddit video featuring a rare, northern mini-manatee = beaver.
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2024/12/07/moeritherium-and-manatees-are-now-big-beavers-in-the-lrt/
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