Response to'Monotreme middle ear is not primitive for Mammalia'

To date,a complete auditory apparatus(with malleus,incus,stapes,ectotym-panic and perhaps surangular)is known for only three Mesozoic mammals,the haramiyidan Arboroharamiya allinhop-soni[1],the multituberculate Sinobaatar pani[2]and the zhangheotheriid Origolestes lii[3],with subsets of these bones preserved in a handful more,including the haramiyidan Vilevolodon diplomylos[4,5]discussed here.A goal of Wang et al.[5]was to evaluate the de-bate surrounding the various interpreta-tions of these bones and to offer a cau-tionary tale about overinterpreting these structures.Because the new specimen of Vilevolodon reported by Wang et al.