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This is a directory of articles and essays on various aspects of mammalian (and
pre-mammalian) evolution. It's an attempt to keep track of my scribblings and musings on
some of the history behind my useful and very attractive body. Why did I only replace my
teeth a maximum of once? Where did my mother get her breasts from, and how did she manage
to provide milk? How is it that I'm able to appreciate 1930s Folk Music more fully than a
lizard can? Why haven't I got a Meckelian groove for my ear bones?
Although written with the invaluable guidance of scientific papers, the resulting notes
aren't reminiscent of any anatomy text book which will ever be published. While some of
the pieces could be termed in-you-face evolutionary considerations, why stop there? Let's
get into and under the skin, explore the bones and think about sex.
Two sections are presently available: A. Bits of bodies B.
Lots of bodies (systematics).
Further articles can be expected.
Some very concise and relatively jargon-free introductions to mammals and relatives of the
Mesozoic can be found at:
Mammal Shorts. The language is so straightforward, even I can understand it.
A. Bits of bodies
Definitions:
What's a mammal? Drawing lines round Mammalia.
Size comparisons:
How heavy is a hedgehog? A weights and measures table of extant European mammals,
which will provide some vaguely useful comparisons for our Mesozoic predecessors.
Breasts: Putting the Mamms onto Mammals
2,700 words on the evolution of lactation and mammary glands.
Eggs: Unscrambled Eggs. 2,000 words on eggs and
endothermy.
Sex: Tachyglossus aculeatus provides
intimate details on making love and lust; A Tachy Tale of Sex.
Skeleton: Ukhaatherium nessovi, the naked
eutherian, a quick sketch of a mammalian postcranial
skeleton from the Upper Cretaceous.
Earnotes: Yunnanodon invites you to enjoy
some developments concerning early mammalian (and pre-mammalian) inner ears.
More Earnotes: Prokennalestes, briefly
takes up the story in the Cretaceous.
Multi ears: A bit on multi ears, the inner ears of
Mongolian multituberculates from the Upper Cretaceous.
Multi brains: Brain casts (endocasts) of
Kryptobaatar. How clever were multituberculates?
Lower jaws: Dryolestes leiriensis is
accompanied by Meckel's groove; jawing on about the story of the lower jaw.
Teeth: Seven Phases of teeth (Postcanine), a
seven part glance at the evolution of postcanine
dentition.
More teeth:
All the better to bite you with. 1,200 words on the form and functions of postcanines
in mammls.
Beaks: Ornithorhynchus anatinus
introduces its beak; A Platy Approach to Making Sense of Things.
Venom:
Some mammals fight dirty. A brief look at a Paleocene poisoner with a few words on
extant venomous mammals.
Tarsal spurs and venom:
Of spurs and venom. The history of tarsal spurs in mammals.
B. Lots of bodies (systematics)
Eucynodonts
The Evolution of Mesozoic Mammals, a Rough Sketch. This is
a narrative overview of mammalian and pre-mammalian developments from the Lower Triassic
onwards.
Non-mammals
The Origins of
Eucynodonts. A 1,500 word summary of eucynodont ancestry.
Non-mammalian Eucynodonts. An overview ranging from the Lower
Triassic until the Lower Cretaceous.
Non-therian mammals
Multituberculata. The multis were one of the dominant mammalian
orders of the northern hemisphere. They seem to have dawned by the Middle Jurassic, and
met their doom in the Eocene.
Multis, how they used to be seen.
1,200 words on historical interpretations of multituberculates.
The Guimarota multituberculates. Meet the paulchoffies,
a two thousand word tribute.
Ornithorhynchidae features Monotreme,
monotreme, wherefrom art thou?. Considerations on the origins of the duckbilled platypus
and co.
Therians
Some notes on the history
and diversity of placental mammals. A 2,800 word tour of placental evolution by Self
MY.
PLEASE NOTE: THIS PROJECT IS NOT SCIENTIFIC. IT IS A HOBBY.
"I was looking for information on an old mammal and found this lot. What is this
project?"
It's got lots of information on old mammals. For a short bit of background information, see
here.
Trevor Dykes, April 2005. Most recent addition: 16.2.2006.
Ktdykes@arcor.de
