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Science 18 February 2005:
Vol. 307. no. 5712, pp. 1091 - 1094
DOI: 10.1126/science.1107808
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Reports

Stem Lagomorpha and the Antiquity of Glires

Robert J. Asher,1* Jin Meng,2 John R. Wible,3 Malcolm C. McKenna,2,4 Guillermo W. Rougier,5 Demberlyn Dashzeveg,6 Michael J. Novacek2

We describe several fossils referable to Gomphos elkema from deposits close to the Paleocene-Eocene boundary at Tsagan Khushu, Mongolia. Gomphos shares a suite of cranioskeletal characters with extant rabbits, hares, and pikas but retains a primitive dentition and jaw compared to its modern relatives. Phylogenetic analysis supports the position of Gomphos as a stem lagomorph and excludes Cretaceous taxa from the crown radiation of placental mammals. Our results support the hypothesis that rodents and lagomorphs radiated during the Cenozoic and diverged from other placental mammals close to the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary.

1 Museum für Naturkunde, Humboldt Universität, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
2 Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA.
3 Section of Mammals, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 5800 Baum Boulevard, Pittsburgh, PA 15206, USA.
4 Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA.
5 Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, School of Medicine, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA.
6 Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Geological Center, Ulan Bator, Mongolia.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: robert.asher{at}museum.hu-berlin.de

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