Fig. 29. Character trace for Character 4 in Basicranial Morphology And Relationships Of Antillean Heptaxodontidae (Rodentia, Ctenohystrica, Caviomorpha)

Fig. 29. Character trace for Character 4: Absence/presence of pessulus traversing stapedial obturator foramen (0, white; 1, black; vertical striping, equivocality). The wide distribution of the pessulus indicates that it is probably a primitive feature in ctenohystricans. It is highly likely that there are many other occurrences of pessuli in taxa not investigated here. ''Echimyidae'' here refers to Proechimys and Dactylomys only.