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Referral of Miacis jepseni Guthrie to Oödectes Wortman, and an assessment of phylogenetic relationships among early Eocene Miacidae (Mammalia: Carnivora)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Ronald E. Heinrich
Ronald E. Heinrich*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens 45701-2979
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Abstract

A phylogenetic analysis was conducted to address evolutionary relationships among the earliest members of the Miacidae (one of two early Cenozoic carnivoran families) and to ascertain the position of an ambiguous taxon, “Miacis” jepseni, with respect to the genera Miacis, Uintacyon, Vulpavus, Vassacyon, and Oödectes. The results of this analysis indicate that “Miacis” jepseni should be referred to the genus Oödectes, and both genus and currently included species are rediagnosed. The phylogenetic relationship of Oödectes to other miacids, and relationships among early Eocene miacids more generally, however, are less well resolved. Support is found for sister taxon relationships between Miacis and Vulpavus and between Uintacyon and Vassacyon, and it is suggested that this latter clade is the sister taxon to all other members of Miacidae.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 71 , Issue 6 , November 1997 , pp. 1172 - 1178
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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