Cretaceous fossil reveals a new pattern in mammalian middle ear evolution

The evolution of the mammalian middle ear is thought to provide an example of ‘recapitulation’—the theory that the present embryological development of a species reflects its evolutionary history. Accumulating data from both developmental biology and palaeontology have suggested that the transformation of post-dentary jaw elements into cranial ear bones occurred several times in mammals 1 , 2 . In addition, well-preserved fossils have revealed transitional stages in the evolution of the mammalian middle ear 1 , 3 , 4 . But questions remain concerning middle-ear evolution, such as how and why the post-dentary unit became completely detached from the dentary bone in different clades of mammaliaforms. Here we report a definitive mammalian middle ear preserved in an eobaatarid multituberculate mammal, with complete post-dentary elements that are well-preserved and detached from the dentary bones. The specimen reveals the transformation of the surangular jaw bone from an independent element into part of the malleus of the middle ear, and the presence of a restricted contact between the columelliform stapes and the flat incus. We propose that the malleus–incus joint is dichotomic in mammaliaforms, with the two bones connecting in either an abutting or an interlocking arrangement, reflecting the evolutionary divergence of the dentary–squamosal joint 4 . In our phylogenetic analysis, acquisition of the definitive mammalian middle ear in allotherians such as this specimen was independent of that in monotremes and therians. Our findings suggest that the co-evolution of the primary and secondary jaw joints in allotherians was an evolutionary adaptation allowing feeding with unique palinal (longitudinal and backwards) chewing. Thus, the evolution of the allotherian auditory apparatus was probably triggered by the functional requirements of the feeding apparatus.