Accute Hearing in Parareptiles and an Interesting Buried Comment

Impedance-Matching Hearing in Paleozoic Reptiles: Evidence of Advanced Sensory Perception at an Early Stage of Amniote Evolution

1. Johannes Müller*,

2. Linda A. Tsuji

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany


Abstract:

Background

Insights into the onset of evolutionary novelties are key to the understanding of amniote origins and diversification. The possession of an impedance-matching tympanic middle ear is characteristic of all terrestrial vertebrates with a sophisticated hearing sense and an adaptively important feature of many modern terrestrial vertebrates. Whereas tympanic ears seem to have evolved multiple times within tetrapods, especially among crown-group members such as frogs, mammals, squamates, turtles, crocodiles, and birds, the presence of true tympanic ears has never been recorded in a Paleozoic amniote, suggesting they evolved fairly recently in amniote history.

Methodology/Principal Findings

In the present study, we performed a morphological examination and a phylogenetic analysis of poorly known parareptiles from the Middle Permian of the Mezen River Basin in Russia. We recovered a well-supported clade that is characterized by a unique cheek morphology indicative of a tympanum stretching across large parts of the temporal region to an extent not seen in other amniotes, fossil or extant, and a braincase specialized in showing modifications clearly related to an increase in auditory function, unlike the braincase of any other Paleozoic tetrapod. In addition, we estimated the ratio of the tympanum area relative to the stapedial footplate for the basalmost taxon of the clade, which, at 23:1, is in close correspondence to that of modern amniotes capable of efficient impedance-matching hearing.


Conclusions/Significance

Using modern amniotes as analogues, the possession of an impedance-matching middle ear in these parareptiles suggests unique ecological adaptations potentially related to living in dim-light environments. More importantly, our results demonstrate that already at an early stage of amniote diversification, and prior to the Permo-Triassic extinction event, the complexity of terrestrial vertebrate ecosystems had reached a level that proved advanced sensory perception to be of notable adaptive significance.

Paper link above. Think gecko or aye-aye parareptile here.

The interesting comment?

If so, then adaptations to dim-light environments might have been the driving force not only in the diversification of the herein investigated taxa, but even more so in the procolophonoids, and were possibly an important factor in their survival of the Permo-Triassic extinction event. This interpretation can also be applied to Archosauriformes, another amniote clade that was not significantly affected by the Permio-Triassic extinction, and for which there is molecular data indicating that the clade Archosauria, which is nested within Archosauriformes, was ancestrally nocturnal [33]. In addition, the fact that Early Triassic synapsids living immediately after the extinction apparently had specific burrowing life habits [34] also suggests that adaptations to dim-light environments were potentially an important factor in the survival of the Permo-Triassic transition.

Cuz the UV blasted the diurnal species? Perhaps the PT was more selective after all?