Postcranial morphology, functional adaptations and palaeobiology of Callistoe vincei, a predaceous metatherian from the Eocene of Salta, north-western Argentina

Callistoe vincei Babot et al., 2002 is a Paleogene borhyaenoid known from exceptionally complete postcranial elements, which provides rare information about the anat- omy and evolutionary history of metatherian predators dur- ing the South American Cenozoic. The axial skeleton of Callistoe is characterized by the peculiar transverse processes of the cervical vertebrae emphasizing lateral instead of sagit- tal traction. There is no clavicle and eighteen thoracolumbar vertebrae, of which only five are lumbars. The shoulder and elbow joints suggest movements restricted to parasagittal flexion ⁄ extension that are consistent with primarily terrestrial locomotion, as is also emphasized in Borhyaena tuberata and Lycopsis longirostrus. On the manus, the pollex is not reduced and the ungual phalanges indicate very long claws, similar to those observed in some extant digging taxa. This feature is unique to C. vincei among borhyaenoids. The knee joint is characterized by the presence of ossified patellae but shallow femoral trochleae. This joint suggests that the leg was nearly parasagittal, a position also inferred for Borhyaena. The astragalus shape is consistent with parasagittal flexion ⁄ exten- sion, as in all Miocene-Pliocene borhyaenoids. The hind foot is characterized by reduced claws in comparison with the manus as well as the slenderness of the first and fifth digits, another peculiarity of C. vincei. The habitat of Callistoe was a temperate humid forest and according to the known fossil record, Callistoe was the largest mammalian predator of its time, sharing the predator ecological niche with crocodiles.