Endocranial anatomy of the early prozostrodonts (Eucynodontia: Probainognathia) and the neurosensory evolution in mammal forerunners

Abstract

Prozostrodon brasiliensis and Therioherpeton cargnini are non-mammaliaformcynodonts that lived 233 million years ago (late Carnian, Late Triassic) in western Gondwana. They represent some of the earliest divergent members of the clade Prozostrodontia, which includes “tritheledontids”, tritylodontids, “brasilodontids”, and mammaliaforms (including Mammalia as crown group). Here, we studied the endocranial anatomy (cranial endocast, nerves, vessels, ducts, ear region, and nasal cavity) of these two species. Our findings suggest that during the Carnian, early prozostrodonts had a brain with well-developed olfactory bulbs, expanded cerebral hemispheres divided by the interhemispheric sulcus, and absence of an unossified zone and pineal body. The morphology of the maxillary canal represents the necessary condition for the presence of facial vibrissae. A slight decrease in encephalization is observed at the origin of the clade Prozostrodontia. This new anatomical information proovides evidence for the evolution of endocranial traits of the first prozotrodonts, a Late Triassic lineage that culminated in the origin of mammals.