[continued from previous message]   
      
   >>> not hooved; and pantolestids are not hooved.) The consensus date for   
   >>> Ferae is 65 million years ago. Wikipedia gives a date for 73-85   
   >>> million years for Scrotifera, but the relevant nodes, depending on   
   >>> topology, are Zooamata or Ferungulata, which are younger.   
   >>>   
   >>> As support for hooves as a convergent trait, not all mesonychians   
   >>> (which are stem artiodactyls) possessed hooves. However there is   
   >>> dispute whether the hoofless mesonychians (arctocyonids) are stem-   
   >>> artiodactyls.   
   >>   
   >> It's also the case that not all (or any??) stem-perissodactyls are   
   >> hooved, and even some crown-perissodactyls aren't (chalicotheres). I'd   
   >> say that convergence in hoofiness is considerably more parsimonious   
   >> given the data, even forgetting about Dollo's Law.   
   >>   
   >   
   > I believe that notoungulates and litopterns are hoofed   
   > stem-perissodactyls. If chalicotheres are primitively clawed, this   
   > requires convergence in Hippomorpha, Ceratomorpha,   
   > Notoungulata/Litopterna, and possibly other groups.   
   >   
   It's also possible that chalicothere claws, which actually are a bit   
   weird-looking, are a real example of a reversal. I'm also wondering what   
   Ambulocetus, etc., digits look like.   
      
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