Compare named fossils, a living genome, morphology matrices, bone-density measurements and molecular trees while keeping specimen facts, function, topology, clocks and COL26.8 name routing separate.
Each step names its evidence claims, with references below. Interactive Explorer states are available in the full application; the narrative remains an editorial synthesis.
AM F66763 preserves a right dentary fragment and three molars whose morphology was compared with monotreme and tribosphenic conditions.
Dental homology and affinity are interpretations; one jaw cannot establish a direct ancestor, a complete body plan or an immutable global first occurrence.
claim:event:steropodon-holotype-monotremeApproximately 26.9 million reads produced a 1.84-gigabase draft at about sixfold coverage, with 437 megabases ordered on 20 chromosomes and 18,527 predicted protein-coding genes.
Assembly gaps, one-individual sampling, annotation and comparative models prevent direct reconstruction of an ancestral genome or single-gene explanations for organismal traits.
claim:event:platypus-genome-mosaicCAGS 01-IG-1a,b documents the skull, dentition and much of the postcranium; the original matrix and limb comparisons supported a basal eutherian and scansorial interpretation.
Later combined matrices can move Eomaia outside Theria; topology and scansoriality are analytical outputs, not a directly observed ancestor or behaviour.
claim:event:eomaia-holotype-topologyBMNH PM1343B preserves skull, dentition and postcranium; the original study attributed it to approximately 160-million-year-old strata and recovered a basal eutherian position.
Commercial collection provenance, stratigraphic attribution and matrices condition the result; unconstrained tip dating yields a younger morphological age signal rather than directly redating the rock.
claim:event:juramaia-conditional-provenanceSTM33-5 preserves ectotympanic, malleus and hyoid anatomy; the published matrix recovers Ambolestes and Sinodelphys in Eutheria.
Reassignment and the resulting metatherian ghost lineage depend on sampled characters and taxa; the analysis does not observe the placental–marsupial split.
claim:event:ambolestes-therian-boundaryThe study scored 4,541 phenomic characters for 86 living and fossil species, supported by more than 12,000 annotated images, and combined them with 27 nuclear genes.
The post-K–Pg chronology and reconstructed phenotype depend on parsimony, fossil ages, ghost lineages and ancestral-state optimization; no ancestor was directly observed.
claim:event:placental-phenomic-kpg-modelThe 16,397-base-pair matrix combines 19 nuclear and 3 mitochondrial genes; Bayesian and maximum-likelihood analyses recover four major placental clades.
The Afrotheria root, dates and Gondwanan scenario are model-conditioned, later studies test alternatives, and sampled taxa from other packages remain cross-boundary inputs.
claim:event:placental-molecular-four-cladesHolotype MNHN PM69 preserves a rostrum and maxillary dentition; fourteen additional specimens extend the sampled upper and lower teeth and skull anatomy.
Stem placement and estimated 3–8 kilogram body mass derive from a character matrix and dental allometry, not observed ancestry or body mass.
claim:event:eritherium-holotype-proboscideanCT slices and thin sections show increasing compactness across ribs and limb bones, including named T. littoralis specimens MNHN.F.SAS 2 and MNHN.F.SAS 53.
Aquatic adaptation, hydrostatic control and marine grazing are functional interpretations; species succession is not a directly observed ancestor chain.
claim:event:thalassocnus-bone-density-seriesHolotype right M3 IVPP V20115 and referred teeth, astragalus, calcanei and cuboid establish the anatomical sample and locality.
A 4.5-kilogram estimate, cursoriality and tapiroid-like niche are regression and ecomorphology inferences; the taxon is not a direct lagomorph ancestor.
claim:event:mimolagus-holotype-gliresROM 55351A preserves elongated wings and a relatively small cochlea; limb proportions and cochlear size were compared with living and fossil bats.
Powered flight and absence of specialized laryngeal echolocation are functional inferences, not observed behaviour, and one specimen is not a direct ancestor.
claim:event:onychonycteris-flight-echolocationFour nuclear and three mitochondrial genes contributed 8,230 aligned base pairs; analyses group sampled rhinolophoids with megabats rather than other microbats.
Multiple origins or losses of laryngeal echolocation are alternative historical reconstructions; the topology does not directly observe the first flight or sonar event. COL26.8 routes 5,099 accepted living species to other-mammals after excluding Cetartiodactyla, Perissodactyla, Primates and Carnivora; that nomenclatural snapshot is not 5,099 dossiers and does not resolve fossil topology.
claim:event:bat-seven-gene-topology