Evolution of South American mammalian predators (Borhyaenoidea): anatomical and palaeobiological implications

Abstract

The evolution of South American carnivorous marsupials, the borhyaenoids, has been investigated through the functional analysis of postcranial adaptive traits and palaeobiological data. There is evidence that the evolutionary history of Borhyaenoidea proceeded from a noncursorial ancestor. The locomotion and habits of the early Palaeocene Mayulestes ferox probably approached a generalized plesiomorphic pattern for marsupial locomotion, i.e. primarily terrestrial with secondary arboreal adaptations. An exceptionally rich early Miocene Patagonian fauna has yielded various morphological predator types, from scansorial ambusher to terrestrial, incipiently cursorial, taxa. The most specialized borhyaenoid was the powerful sabretooth Thylacosmilus atrox that survived until the late Pliocene. The evolution from a scansorial pattern towards a cursorial trend, illustrated by Borhyaena tuberata, and towards the probable development of postlactational parental care in Thylacosmilus, required by its dental specialization and killing strategy, suggests a modification of the selective pressures and predatory activities of the group over evolutionary time. © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2004, 140, 487–521.