Details:

Alternative Title:
Data from: Early evolution of the ossicular chain in Cetacea: into the middle ear gears of a semi-aquatic protocetid whale
Personal Author:
Mourlam, Mickaël ; Orliac, Maeva
Mourlam, Mickaël ; Orliac, Maeva Less -
Corporate Authors:
United States. National Marine Fisheries Service ; Southwest Fisheries Science Center (U.S.)
United States. National Marine Fisheries Service ; Southwest Fisheries Science Center (U.S.) Less -
NOAA Program & Office:
NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) ; SWFSC (Southwest Fisheries Science Center)
NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) ; SWFSC (Southwest Fisheries Science Center) Less -
Description:
Modifications of the morphology and acoustic properties of the ossicular chain are among the major changes that accompanied the adaptation of Cetacea to the aquatic environment. Thus, data on the middle ear ossicles of early whales are crucial clues to understand the first steps of the emblematic terrestrial/aquatic transition that occurred in that group. Yet, the delicate nature and very small size of these bones make their preservation in the fossil record extremely rare. Due to the scarcity of available data, major questions remain concerning the sound transmission pathways in early non-fully aquatic whales. Virtual reconstruction of a partially complete ossicular chain of an Eocene protocetid whale documents for the first time the three ossicles of a semi-aquatic archaeocete. Contrary to previous hypotheses, these ossicles present different evolutionary patterns, showing that the ossicular chain does not act as a single morphological module. Functional analyses of the different middle ear units highlight a mosaic pattern of terrestrial and aquatic signatures. This integrative anatomical and functional study brings strong evidence that protocetids were adapted to their dual acoustic environment with efficient hearing in both air and water.
Content Notes:
Supplementary material from "Early evolution of the ossicular chain in Cetacea: into the middle Ear gears of a semi-aquatic protocetid whale" are availabile via Dryad & Figshare.

Mourlam & Orliac_Ossicles Protocetid_ESM_Table S1 Table S1. Measurements of the middle ear hearing parameters.

Mourlam & Orliac_Ossicles Protocetid_ESM_Document S1. Content Text S1. Incudomallear complex orientation; Text S2. Chorda tympani hypothetical pathway; Figure S1. Spatial “incudomallear-centred” referential; Figure S2. Bone thickness maps of UM-KPG-M 73; Figure S3. Tympanic membrane area estimation; Figure S4. Stapes - Comparative plate; Figure S5. Incus - Comparative plate; Figure S6. Malleus reconstruction and comparison; Figure S7. Chorda tympani location; Figure S8. Malleus - Comparative plate; Figure S9. Middle ear’s functional profile comparison.


DOI:
http://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0k3fv2j ; http://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4668704.v1 ;
Format:
http
Publisher:
Dryad
Document Type:
Dataset
Media Type:
application/http
Dataset:
Mourlam, Mickaël; Orliac, Maeva (2019), Data from: Early evolution of the ossicular chain in Cetacea: into the middle ear gears of a semi-aquatic protocetid whale, Dryad, Dataset, https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0k3fv2j Accessed via the NOAA Institutional Repository.;Mourlam, Mickaël J.; Orliac, Maeva J. (2019). Supplementary material from "Early evolution of the ossicular chain in Cetacea: into the middle Ear gears of a semi-aquatic protocetid whale". The Royal Society. Collection. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4668704.v1 Accessed via the NOAA Institutional Repository.;
License:
https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
Rights Information:
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain
Compliance:
Library
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855

Supporting Files

• 	ESM Table	xlsx
  	Supporting materials	pdf
  	ESM Table 1	xlsx

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