Oldest skeleton of a fossil flying squirrel casts new light on the phylogeny of the group

19Citations
Citations of this article
54Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

Flying squirrels are the only group of gliding mammals with a remarkable diversity and wide geographical range. However, their evolutionary story is not well known. Thus far, identification of extinct flying squirrels has been exclusively based on dental features, which, contrary to certain postcranial characters, are not unique to them. Therefore, fossils attributed to this clade may indeed belong to other squirrel groups. Here we report the oldest fossil skeleton of a flying squirrel (11.6 Ma) that displays the gliding-related diagnostic features shared by extant forms and allows for a recalibration of the divergence time between tree and flying squirrels. Our phylogenetic analyses combining morphological and molecular data generally support older dates than previous molecular estimates (~23 Ma), being congruent with the inclusion of some of the earliest fossils (~36 Ma) into this clade. They also show that flying squirrels experienced little morphological change for almost 12 million years.

References Powered by Scopus

MAFFT: A novel method for rapid multiple sequence alignment based on fast Fourier transform

12109Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Bayesian phylogenetics with BEAUti and the BEAST 1.7

8590Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Selection of conserved blocks from multiple alignments for their use in phylogenetic analysis

8522Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Cited by Powered by Scopus

Phylogenomic analyses highlight innovation and introgression in the continental radiations of Fagaceae across the Northern Hemisphere

79Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Incomplete convergence of gliding mammal skeletons*

32Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

5S-IGS rDNA in wind-pollinated trees (Fagus L.) encapsulates 55 million years of reticulate evolution and hybrid origins of modern species

24Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Casanovas-Vilar, I., Garcia-Porta, J., Fortuny, J., Sanisidro, Ó., Prieto, J., Querejeta, M., … Alba, D. M. (2018). Oldest skeleton of a fossil flying squirrel casts new light on the phylogeny of the group. ELife, 7. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.39270

Readers' Seniority

Tooltip

PhD / Post grad / Masters / Doc 17

63%

Researcher 7

26%

Professor / Associate Prof. 3

11%

Readers' Discipline

Tooltip

Agricultural and Biological Sciences 12

44%

Earth and Planetary Sciences 10

37%

Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Bi... 3

11%

Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medic... 2

7%

Article Metrics

Tooltip
Mentions
Blog Mentions: 1
News Mentions: 9
References: 4
Social Media
Shares, Likes & Comments: 170

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free