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The skull of Anchitheriomys and a new subfamily of beavers (Castoridae, Rodentia)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

William W. Korth
Affiliation:
Rochester Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology, 928 Whalen Rd., Penfield, NY 14526
Robert J. Emry
Affiliation:
Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560

Abstract

A nearly complete skull of Anchitheriomys from the Miocene of Nebraska allows description of the cranial foramina. In skull characters, Anchitheriomys most closely resembles Agnotocastor and Neatocastor among castorids; it retains primitive features that it shares with eutypomyids (position of the posterior palatine foramina, smooth palatal surface, nearly parallel tooth rows, retention of dP3) combined with derived features (elongate rostrum, procumbent incisors) that are shared only with Agnotocastor and Neatocastor. A new subfamily, Agnotocastorinae, is erected for this group of primitive beavers.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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