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One origin of the carnassial tooth

Tuesday, November 3, 2026 8:33

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Recent scoring changes
to the large reptile tree (LRT, 2340 taxa) moved Gulo, the terrestrial wolverine basal to bears closer to the arboreal coatimundi (Nasua, Fig 1). The skull parts are similar, but note: the rostrum is compressed = shorter in the wolverine.

A shorter rostrum is a juvenile trait in many mammals. So phylogenetic miniaturization may be part of the evolutionary transition here, many tens of millions of years ago.

Whether or not these two remain closely related in the LRT, only time will tell.

Figure 1. Left: Nasua, the extant coatimundi. Right: Gulo, the extant wolverine basal to bears. Blue triangle points to fourth premolar, the one that enlarges in Gulo to become a shearing carnassial.

The carnassial = fourth premolar.
Nasua has two large molars (green) plus one more vestige molar. All three are behind a fourth premolar no larger than premolars 2 and 3.

By contrast, Gulo has only one transverse molar (green) twice as wide as the molars in Nasua. More to the point: this molar is aft of a greatly enlarged and elongated premolar 4 (blue).

The coatimundi diet
is omnivorous = plant matter and small vertebrates and invertebrates. This jungle genus forages on the forest floor and higher up, among tree branches, as in related basal primates.

The wolverine diet
is more focused on carrion and small- to medium-size prey, plus berries, roots and seeds. The carnassial teeth of this terrestrial + arboreal taxon enable wolverines to crush frozen flesh (in winter) and thick bones.

Apparently
no previous reports have phylogenetically localized the transition from an ordinary set of teeth to one with a carnassial tooth before.

Genetic studies, which are so popular today, overlook such trifles.

Convergent appearances of shearing teeth
appear in Hyaenodonta, Oxyaenodonta, the pre-mammal Repenomamus and Serrasalmimus, a piranha-mimic pycnodont related to barracudas in the LRT.

References

wiki/Carnassial

Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2026/11/03/one-origin-of-the-carnassial-tooth/

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