A reassessment of protoceratid vertebrarterial canal morphology
Date
2022-08-31
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Publisher
Taylor and Francis
Abstract
The Protoceratidae are a family of extinct artiodactyls that have been variably allied with camelids and ruminants. One of the few synapomorphies uniting protoceratids and camelids is their unusual vertebrarterial canal morphology; the canal passes through the cervical vertebrae at an oblique angle rather than through the bases of the transverse processes. This unusual morphology has been upheld as a key piece of evidence for a close relationship between the two families. Upon reviewing the literature and examining specimens of three protoceratid genera, we have determined that protoceratids do not share a vertebrarterial canal morphology with camelids. Indeed, the vertebrarterial canal of protoceratids passes through the bases of the transverse processes, the condition found in most artiodactyls. This eliminates the only synapomorphy uniting protoceratids and camelids and leaves the phylogenetic position of protoceratids ambiguous.
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Citation
Robson, S. V., & Theodor, J. M. (2022). A Reassessment of Protoceratid Vertebrarterial Canal Morphology. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 42(2). https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2022.2129024