Origin of hedgehogs #2: this time from ringtail possums
This is the sort of thing
the large reptile tree (LRT, 2337 taxa) both struggles with and offers solutions for. Earlier the origin of hedgehogs from tree shrews derived from primates was proposed. This time another solution appears: deriving hedgehogs from arboreal marsupials like Pseudocheirus (Fig 1).
So similar, but different. This time pay attention to the teeth.
Figure 4. Hedgehogs derived from Miocene Brachyerix and extant Pseudocheirus. The teeth are similar in these taxa.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/hemiechinus-brachyerix-pseudocheirus-skull588-1.jpg?w=107″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/hemiechinus-brachyerix-pseudocheirus-skull588-1.jpg?w=364″ class=”size-full wp-image-91746″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/hemiechinus-brachyerix-pseudocheirus-skull588-1.jpg” alt=”Figure 4. Hedgehogs derived from Miocene Brachyerix and extant Pseudocheirus. The teeth are similar in these taxa.” width=”579″ height=”1628″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/hemiechinus-brachyerix-pseudocheirus-skull588-1.jpg 579w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/hemiechinus-brachyerix-pseudocheirus-skull588-1.jpg?w=53&h=150 53w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/hemiechinus-brachyerix-pseudocheirus-skull588-1.jpg?w=107&h=300 107w” sizes=”(max-width: 579px) 100vw, 579px” />
Figure 1. Hedgehogs derived from Miocene Brachyerix and extant Pseudocheirus. The teeth are similar in these taxa. Note the sculpted jugal (cyan). The tiny canine (orange) is lost in later taxa.
Again
phylogenetic miniaturization attends the genesis of a new clade. This time small terrestrial placental hedgehogs are derived from larger arboreal marsupial ring-tail possums (Fig 1). Reinterpreting the absence of a prefrontal moved hedgehogs from primates to primate-like marsupials. Descendants of Pseudocheirus in the LRT include Daubentonia, the extant aye-aye, which is often mistakenly considered a type of lemur. Another descendant in the LRT is Plesiadapis, another traditional primate.
Forming a transitional taxon is the traditional Miocene hedgehog, Brachyerix (Fig 1) missing its snout tip, and all the characters than can be scored there left blank.
Yes, if true, this indicates yet another origin for the placental mode of reproduction from marsupial ancestors by convergence.
Figure 1. Pseudocheirus, the common ringtail possum in vivo and the skull in two views. Colors added here.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/pseudocheirus_skull_invivo588.jpg?w=171″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/pseudocheirus_skull_invivo588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-90738″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/pseudocheirus_skull_invivo588.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Pseudocheirus, the common ringtail possum in vivo and the skull in two views. Colors added here.” width=”584″ height=”1022″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/pseudocheirus_skull_invivo588.jpg?w=584&h=1022 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/pseudocheirus_skull_invivo588.jpg?w=86&h=150 86w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/pseudocheirus_skull_invivo588.jpg?w=171&h=300 171w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/pseudocheirus_skull_invivo588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 2. Pseudocheirus, the common ringtail possum in vivo and the skull in two views. Colors added here.
This appears to be a novel hypothesis of interrelationships.
If not, please provide a citation so I can promote it here. The prior post was provided with an updated postscript.
Figur3 5. Madagascar hedgehog, is not a tenrec, but another member of Glires.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/lesser-hedgehog-tenrec_echinops.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/lesser-hedgehog-tenrec_echinops.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-25121″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/lesser-hedgehog-tenrec_echinops.jpg” alt=”Figur3 5. Madagascar hedgehog, is not a tenrec, but another member of Glires.” width=”584″ height=”310″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/lesser-hedgehog-tenrec_echinops.jpg?w=584&h=310 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/lesser-hedgehog-tenrec_echinops.jpg?w=150&h=80 150w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/lesser-hedgehog-tenrec_echinops.jpg?w=300&h=159 300w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/lesser-hedgehog-tenrec_echinops.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 3 Madagascar hedgehog, is not a tenrec, but here related to Pseudocheirus (Figs 1, 2).
The amount of convergence
criss-crossing the marsupials and several placental clades (also by convergence) seems to be what has made resolution of the Mammalia in the LRT so vexing and fascinating. Every day solutions appear. Improvements continue toward maximum parsimony delivered through a human filter and data gathered wherever and however it appears.
References
Hutterer R 2005. Erinaceomorpha. In Wilson DE and Reeder DM (eds). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press: 212–217.
Origin of hedgehogs from primates via phylogenetic miniaturization
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2025/02/16/origin-of-hedgehogs-2-this-time-from-ringtail-possums/
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