Pucadelphyda Carnivorous Trophic Niche Diversification in Palaeocene-Eocene South America

L. M. Carneiro's dataset from 2026 analyzes the diversification of carnivorous trophic niches among Pucadelphyda (Metatheria) during the Palaeocene and early Eocene in South America. It includes phylogenetic, morphometric, and morphofunctional analyses of sparassodonts from localities like Tiupampa and Itaboraí. The 2.2 MB dataset is available in TNT, DOCX, and XLSX formats under a CC-BY-4.0 license.

Use Cases

• Phylogenetic analysis of sparassodont relationships based on the included TNT file.
• Principal component analysis (PCA) of carnivorous morphospace based on morphometric and morphofunctional variables.
• Comparative biomechanical analysis of jaw trade-offs, such as between Xenocynus and Patene.
• Studying the evolution of carnassialized lower molars across the Palaeocene and Eocene.

Strengths

• Includes data from two key Palaeogene mammal-bearing localities: Tiupampa and Itaboraí.
• Combines multiple analytical approaches: phylogenetic, morphometric, and morphofunctional.
• Released under a permissive CC-BY-4.0 license for reuse.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for some analyses.
• The dataset is small (2.2 MB), potentially limiting the volume of raw observational data.

Provenance

Source

figshare, author L. M. Carneiro

Collection Method

Likely compiled from fossil specimen measurements and phylogenetic character coding.

Time Range

Palaeocene and early Eocene

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-27 10:10:46; freshness should be verified.

Geography

South America