External brain morphology of the late Oligocene musteloid carnivoran Bavarictis gaimersheimensis
Clemens Mödden and Mieczysław Wolsan
The carnivoran mammal Bavarictis gaimersheimensis is the type and only species of the genus, known from a single locality (Gaimersheim 1-2, MP 27-28, 24.5-26 Myr) in southern Germany. An endocranial cast of the holotype of this species indicates a low degree of posterior and ventral neopallial expansion (little overlap of the cerebellum and the piriform lobes by the neopallium, the middle portion of the rhinal fissure only slightly and smoothly elevated), and a distinctive pattern of neopallial convulations, characterized by the presence of a Y-shaped fissure mediodorsally (consisting of the ansate sulcus anteromedially, the coronal sulcus anterolaterally, and the lateral sulcus posteriorly) and an arched suprasylvian sulcus lateroventrally. The status of the cruciate sulcus is uncertain because the corresponding part of the braincase is not preserved. The species is presently best placed incertae sedis among basal musteloids.
Key words: Musteloidea, Carnivora, brain, morphology, phylogeny, Oligocene.
Clemens Mödden [c.moedden@geo.uni-mainz.de], Institut für Geowissenschaften, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, D-55099 Mainz, Germany; Mieczysław Wolsan [wolsan@twarda.pan.pl], Instytut Paleobiologii PAN, ul. Twarda 51/55, PL-00-818 Warszawa, Poland.
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