Chapter 10: The Edentulous Skull of the North American Pangolin, Patriomanis americanus

Abstract

The previously unknown preorbital part of the skull of Patriomanis americanus shows that by the end of the Eocene, this North American pangolin was already like all extant pangolin species in being completely edentulous. The skull, like the postcranial skeleton, has defining pangolin characters imposed on a morphology that is otherwise quite generalized and primitive. The absence of teeth in Patriomanis reinforces its close relationship to living pangolins, but also means that some morphologic information that might have shed light on the question of pangolin origins is absent.