Cat-like carnivorous mammals represent a relatively homogeneous group of species whose morphology appears constrained by exclusive adaptations for meat eating. We present the most comprehensive data set of extant and extinct cat-like species to test for evolutionary transformations in size, shape and mechanical performance, that is, von Mises stress and surface traction, of the mandible. Size and shape were both quantified by means of geometric morphometrics, whereas mechanical performance was assessed applying finite element models to 2D geometry of the mandible. Additionally, we present the first almost complete composite phylogeny of cat-like carnivorans for which well-preserved mandibles are known, including representatives of 35 extant and 59 extinct species of Felidae, Nimravidae, and Barbourofelidae. This phylogeny was used to test morphological differentiation, allometry, and covariation of mandible parts within and among clades. After taking phylogeny into account, we found that both allometry and mechanical variables exhibit a significant impact on mandible shape. We also tested whether mechanical performance was linked to morphological integration. Mechanical stress at the coronoid process is higher in sabertoothed cats than in any other clade. This is strongly related to the high degree of covariation within modules of sabertooths mandibles. We found significant correlation between integration at the clade level and per-clade averaged stress values, on both original data and by partialling out interclade allometry from shapes when calculating integration. This suggests a strong interaction between natural selection and the evolution of developmental and functional modules at the clade level. [Comparative methods; felidae mandible; finite element analysis; geometric morphometrics; morphological integration; sabertooth; structural performance]

International audiencehis study describes the structural setting, petrogenesis, and geochronology of a suite of acidic magmatic rocks that are intruded in the metamorphic core of the Tertiary ophiolitic suture zone of the Sabzevar Range, NE central Iran. These intrusive bodies show tabular geometries with solid-state fabrics documenting syntectonic emplacement during crustal shortening. In the total alkalis-silica (TAS) diagram, their compositions define a medium-K calc-alkaline suite, spanning from basaltic andesite to the dacite and rhyolite fields. They show characteristic low MgO (0.15–0.60 wt%) and Ni (<20 ppm), high Sr contents, a negligible Eu anomaly, and extremely fractionated rare earth element (REEs), with high La/Yb and Sr/Y (up to 900) ratios, but very low Yb and Y contents. They also show zircon Hf isotope compositions compatible with a mid-ocean-ridge basalt (MORB)–type oceanic crust. Inverse and forward thermobarometry constrains conditions of magma crystallization in the upper-pressure field of the amphibolite facies (ca. 1.2–1.5 GPa and 750 °C). Integrated U-Pb zircon and 40Ar/39Ar white mica and amphibole geochronology constrains the Sabzevar magmatism to the late Paleocene (at ca. 58 Ma). Genesis of the Sabzevar magmatic suite is interpreted in terms of prograde, wet amphibolite melting during oceanic subduction, within a pressure-temperature range between a plagioclase-out and a hornblende-out boundary. Magma differentiation and high-pressure amphibole fractionation of pristine slab melts are proposed as the dominant factors that imparted the adakite signature in the Sabzevar structural zone. Implications in terms of the regional tectonic scenario are discussed and framed within the advancing and retreating evolution of the Neotethyan subduction during the Mesozoic–Tertiary time span

Understanding the anatomy of magma plumbing systems of active volcanoes is essential not only for unraveling magma dynamics and eruptive behaviors but also to define the geometry, depth, and temperature of the heat sources for geothermal exploration. The Pleistocene–Holocene Los Humeros volcanic complex is part of the eastern Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (central Mexico), and it constitutes one of the most important exploited geothermal fields in Mexico with ca. 90 MW of produced electricity. With the aim to decipher the anatomy (geometry and structure) of the magmatic plumbing system feeding the geothermal field at Los Humeros, we carried out a field-based petrological and thermobarometric study of the exposed Holocene lavas. Textural analysis, whole-rock major-element data, and mineral chemistry are integrated with a suite of mineral-liquid thermobarometric models. Our results support a scenario characterized by a heterogeneous multilayered system, comprising a deep (depth of ca. 30 km) basaltic reservoir feeding progressively shallower and smaller discrete magma stagnation layers and batches, up to shallow-crust conditions (depth of ca. 3 km). The evolution of melts in the feeding system is mainly controlled by differentiation processes through fractional crystallization (plagioclase + clinopyroxene + olivine + spinel). We demonstrate the inadequacy of the existing conceptual models, where a single voluminous melt-controlled magma chamber (or “Standard Model”) at shallow depths was proposed for the magmatic plumbing system at Los Humeros. We instead propose a magmatic plumbing system made of multiple, more or less interconnected, magma transport and storage layers within the crust, feeding small (ephemeral) magma chambers at shallow-crustal conditions. This revised scenario provides a new configuration of the heat source feeding the geothermal reservoir at Los Humeros, and it should be taken into account to drive future exploration and exploitation strategies.