Mammal Biochronology (Land Mammal Ages) Around the World From Late Miocene to Middle Pleistocene and Major Events in Horse Evolutionary History

Lorenzo Rook; Raymond L. Bernor; Leonardo S. Avilla; Omar Cirilli; Omar Cirilli; Lawrence Flynn; Advait Jukar; William Sanders; Eric Scott; Xiaoming Wang

doi:10.3389/fevo.2019.00278

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (Jul 2019)

Mammal Biochronology (Land Mammal Ages) Around the World From Late Miocene to Middle Pleistocene and Major Events in Horse Evolutionary History

Lorenzo Rook,
Raymond L. Bernor,
Leonardo S. Avilla,
Omar Cirilli,
Omar Cirilli,
Lawrence Flynn,
Advait Jukar,
William Sanders,
Eric Scott,
Xiaoming Wang

Affiliations

Lorenzo Rook: Earth Sciences Department Università di Firenze, Florence, Italy
Raymond L. Bernor: Laboratory of Evolutionary Biology, Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, Howard University, Washington, DC, United States
Leonardo S. Avilla: Laboratório de Mastozoologia, Universidade Federal Do Estado Do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Omar Cirilli: Earth Sciences Department Università di Firenze, Florence, Italy
Omar Cirilli: Dottorato di Ricerca in Scienze Della Terra, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Lawrence Flynn: Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States
Advait Jukar: Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, United States
William Sanders: Museum of Paleontology, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
Eric Scott: Department of Biology, California State University, San Bernardino, CA, United States
Xiaoming Wang: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, United States

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00278
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 7

Abstract

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Biochronology is important to vertebrate chronology because the primary temporal units developed and applied by vertebrate paleontologists for correlation of terrestrial deposits (Land Mammal Ages, LMA) are all biochronologic units. Specific mammal biochronologic scales have been developed for Europe (MN units or ELMA), Asia (ALMA), North America (NALMA), and South America (SALMA). Each timescale is based on land mammal first appearances and characteristic associations on different continental landmasses. Herein, we summarize and review the bases for recognizing mammalian biochronologic units with the most recent update of the Land Mammal Ages. We correlate these ages with the global magnetochronostratigraphic and geochronologic time scales including the major equid evolutionary events of the last 8 million years.

Published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

ISSN: 2296-701X (Online)
Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A.
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Biology (General): Evolution; Science: Biology (General): Ecology
Website: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution

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