Parallelism and lineage replacement of the late Miocene scimitar-toothed cats from the old and New World

Qigao Jiangzuo; Shijie Li; Tao Deng

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.105637

Parallelism and lineage replacement of the late Miocene scimitar-toothed cats from the old and New World

iScience. 2022 Nov 23;25(12):105637. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105637. eCollection 2022 Dec 22.

Authors

Qigao Jiangzuo^{1

2

3}, Shijie Li^{2

3

4}, Tao Deng^{2

3

5}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Orogenic Belts and Crustal Evolution, School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Beijing, 100871, China.
² Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 10044, China.
³ CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing 100044, China.
⁴ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
⁵ College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.

Abstract

In contrast to large-scale convergence/parallelism, the small-scale convergence/parallelism of sabertooth adaptation within closely related genera and species has been seldom investigated. Here, we describe and analyze the rich material of Nimravides catocopis, and provide evidence using a new phylogenetic analysis that Nimravides was endemic to North America. The late Miocene (10.5-6.5 Ma) Nimravides represents a lineage that shows clearly parallelism with the contemporary Old World lineage of Machairodus-Amphimachairodus.The Old World lineage experienced a higher evolutionary rate of cranial trait than the New World one did. The low density of Amphimachairodus at its first appearance in North America suggests that the derived traits did not provide a direct competitive advantage over Nimravides, but allowed Amphimachairodus to survive the significant faunal change in the early-late Hemphillian (∼6.5 Ma) in North America, a process that probably can be applied to most replacement of closely related lineages.

Keywords: Biological sciences; Evolutionary biology; Phylogenetics.