2006/08/30 by P. David Polly, Gina D. Wesley‐Hunt, Ronald E. Heinrich +2 · 2 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Wildlife Ecology and Conservation #Ecology and biodiversity studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2006.00586.x
openalex publication_date 2006/08/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Abstract: An ossified auditory bulla of a basal carnivoran is described for the first time. Although broken, the bulla of Viverravus acutus (Viverravidae, Carnivora) appears to have enclosed the middle ear and to have been composed exclusively of an ectotympanic bone. The structure of the bulla and other basicranial features support the hypothesis that viverravids lie phylogenetically outside crown-group Carnivora and that the last common ancestor of living carnivorans may have existed as recently as 42 million years ago, not 60–70 million years ago as suggested by some authors.