title: Mammalian evolution. An arboreal docodont from the Jurassic and mammaliaform ecological diversification.
abstract: A new docodontan mammaliaform from the Middle Jurassic of China has skeletal features for climbing and dental characters indicative of an omnivorous diet that included plant sap. This fossil expands the range of known locomotor adaptations in docodontans to include climbing, in addition to digging and swimming. It further shows that some docodontans had a diet with a substantial herbivorous component, distinctive from the faunivorous diets previously reported in other members of this clade. This reveals a greater ecological diversity in an early mammaliaform clade at a more fundamental taxonomic level not only between major clades as previously thought.
authors: Beijing Museum of Natural History, Beijing 100050 China.
authors: Qing-Jin
authors: QJ
authors: Meng
authors: Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China.
authors: Qiang
authors: Q
authors: Ji
authors: Beijing Museum of Natural History, Beijing 100050 China.
authors: Yu-Guang
authors: YG
authors: Zhang
authors: Beijing Museum of Natural History, Beijing 100050 China.
authors: Di
authors: D
authors: Liu
authors: Committee on Evolutionary Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
authors: David M
authors: DM
authors: Grossnickle
authors: Committee on Evolutionary Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. zxluo@uchicago.edu.
authors: Zhe-Xi
authors: ZX
authors: Luo
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D002681:China; D003481:Cuspid / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000276:immunology; D003817:Dentition; D005552:Forelimb / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development; D060434:Herbivory; D007180:Incisor / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development; D008322:Mammals / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification* / Q000254:growth & development*; D008334:Mandible / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development; D010802:Phylogeny