Re: Gondwana Split Sorts Out Mammalian Evolution

["David Marjanovic" <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

> > Does anyone know if the authors included chiropterans > in their study?
Many

morphological

> > analyses place chiropterans
> > close to primates, but others seem to place them
> > quite a bit away.
>
> I don't know whether it was tested explicitly, but the summary posted the
other day listed bats among the laurasiatheres.

All molecular studies I know of ( = about 5) find them there.

> BTW, are desmostylians and embrithopods still thought to be in or near
Tethytheria?

Yes AFAIK. By morphologists, of course.

> And the million-dollar question (to my mind):  where do the South American
"ungulate" groups fit in?

Here the big disadvantage of molecular systematics! :-) I'm interested in
whether Creodonta, or some part of it (no idea about how monophyletic it's
considered to be), fits into Afrotheria. Of course this supposes that
Creodonta is not close to Carnivora, and I haven't heard anything lately
about that often postulated relationship.