Hemiechinus, a basal hedgehog, enters the LRT
Hemiechnus auritus is the extant long-eared hedgehog
(Fig 1) from central Asia. This is a placental and an insectivore.
Figure 1. Skull of Hemiechinus, an extant hedgehog.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/hemiechinus-skull588.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/hemiechinus-skull588.jpg?w=579″ class=”wp-image-91344 size-full” src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/hemiechinus-skull588.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Skull of Hemiechinus, an extant hedgehog.” width=”579″ height=”523″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/hemiechinus-skull588.jpg 579w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/hemiechinus-skull588.jpg?w=150&h=135 150w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/hemiechinus-skull588.jpg?w=300&h=271 300w” sizes=”(max-width: 579px) 100vw, 579px” />
Figure 1. Skull of Hemiechinus auritus, an extant hedgehog. The canine is absent here, but the space for it remains. Compare to Labidolemur in figure 2.
The female
has 8–10 nipples and often has 2–3 babies. After just one week the babies start eating solid food. This becomes important in a phylogenetic context.
Figure 1a. Hemiechinus auritus in vivo.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/hemiechinus_auritus_invivo.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/hemiechinus_auritus_invivo.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-91354″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/hemiechinus_auritus_invivo.jpg” alt=”Figure 1a. Hemiechinus auritus in vivo. ” width=”584″ height=”427″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/hemiechinus_auritus_invivo.jpg?w=584&h=427 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/hemiechinus_auritus_invivo.jpg?w=150&h=110 150w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/hemiechinus_auritus_invivo.jpg?w=300&h=219 300w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/hemiechinus_auritus_invivo.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 1a. Hemiechinus auritus in vivo.
Here
in the large reptile tree (LRT, 2336 taxa, subset Fig 3) the outgroup taxon for hedgehogs is the apatemyid Labidolemur (Fig 2), nesting at the base of the marsupial lion (Thylacoleo) clade. The hedgehog sister clade includes placental shrews and moonrats.
Hemichinus is the basalmost hedgehog tested in the LRT.
Figure 1. Thylacoleo ancestors in the LRT include Wakaleo, the Apatemyidae + Labidolemur.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dactylopsila.labidolemur588-1.jpg?w=75″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dactylopsila.labidolemur588-1.jpg?w=257″ class=”size-full wp-image-91217″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dactylopsila.labidolemur588-1.jpg” alt=”Figure 1. Thylacoleo ancestors in the LRT include Wakaleo, the Apatemyidae + Labidolemur.” width=”584″ height=”2326″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dactylopsila.labidolemur588-1.jpg?w=584&h=2326 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dactylopsila.labidolemur588-1.jpg?w=38&h=150 38w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dactylopsila.labidolemur588-1.jpg?w=75&h=300 75w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/dactylopsila.labidolemur588-1.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 2. Thylacoleo ancestors in the LRT include Wakaleo, the Apatemyidae + Labidolemur.
This calls into question
the marsupial status of Thylacoleo (Fig 2) and the other extinct apatemyids recovered here earlier this month in the LRT. In their study of Labidolemur, Silcox et al 2010 wrote, “Results from cladistic analyses of morphological data for known apatemyids and a broad sample of eutherians suggest that apatemyids are basal members of Euarchontoglires, with weak support for a sister-group relationship with Glires.”
Glires include rodents, rabbits and their kin.
In the LRT, these taxa follow plesidadapiformes and tillodonts (Fig 3), just off the bottom of the chart shown here.
Figure 2. Subset of the LRT focusin on placental hedgehogs and their marsupial ancestors
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/hedgehogs-cladogram588.jpg?w=106″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/hedgehogs-cladogram588.jpg?w=361″ class=”size-full wp-image-91350″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/hedgehogs-cladogram588.jpg” alt=”Figure 2. Subset of the LRT focusin on placental hedgehogs and their marsupial ancestors” width=”584″ height=”1659″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/hedgehogs-cladogram588.jpg?w=584&h=1659 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/hedgehogs-cladogram588.jpg?w=53&h=150 53w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/hedgehogs-cladogram588.jpg?w=106&h=300 106w, https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/hedgehogs-cladogram588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 3. Subset of the LRT focusin on placental hedgehogs and their marsupial ancestors. Traditionally marsupial lions were aligned with phalanges and wombats, but here thees taxa are widely separated. Green taxa are placentals. Red taxa are marsupials. Question marks are extinct taxa with questionable reproduction.
Wortman 1902
determined that placental reproduction evolved three times in mammals. The LRT confirms Worthman’s hypothesis.
This 3x appearance of placental reproduction
complication to the mammal subset of the LRT may be one of the reasons why prior workers have steered away from trait analysis of the clade Mammalia. Instead workers have relied on genomic studies to recover a tree topology. Unfortunately, deep time genomic studies have failed too often to replicate trait studies that include fossil taxa, like the LRT.
References
Gmelin SG 1770. Nova Comm. Acad. Sci. Petropoli vol.14 p.519
Wortman JL 1901-1903. Studies of Eocene Mammalia in the Marsh Collection, Peabody Museum. Am. Jour. Sci. 11:333–348.
wiki/Hemiechinus
wiki/Apatemyidae
wiki/Thylacoleo
Wortman 1902 was first: Three origins for placental mammals hypothesis
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2025/01/28/hemiechinus-a-basal-hedgehog-enters-the-lrt/
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