Adalatherium

Adalatherium; Temporal range: Late Cretaceous-Paleocene, 70–66 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Clade:	†Gondwanatheria
Family:	†Adalatheriidae; Krause et. al, 2020
Genus:	†Adalatherium; Krause et. al, 2020
Species:	†A. hui
Binomial name
	†Adalatherium hui; Krause et. al, 2020

Adalatherium (meaning "crazy beast") is an extinct gondwanatherian that lived on Madagascar during the Cretaceous and early Paleocene period, during the Maastrichtian.^[1]^[2] The discovery of the first nearly-complete Adalatherium skeleton from the Maevarano Formation was announced in April 2020.

While typical mammals found from that era were around the size of a mouse, the skeleton found — thought to merely be a juvenile — was 60 cm (2 ft) long.^[3] It is depicted in reconstructions as being built somewhat like a badger. Its skeleton is the most complete of any Southern Hemisphere Mesozoic mammal. Additionally, the front of the skull contains more foramina than any known mammal.^[4]^[5]

References[]

^ Krause, David W.; Hoffmann, Simone; Hu, Yaoming; Wible, John R.; Rougier, Guillermo W.; Kirk, E. Christopher; Groenke, Joseph R.; Rogers, Raymond R.; Rossie, James B.; Schultz, Julia A.; Evans, Alistair R. (2020-04-29). "Skeleton of a Cretaceous mammal from Madagascar reflects long-term insularity". Nature. 581 (7809): 421–427. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2234-8. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 32461642. S2CID 216650606.
^ "'Crazy beast' lived among last of dinosaurs". BBC News. 2020-04-29. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
^ Rice, Doyle (April 2020). "The fossil of a bizarre mammal, called 'crazy beast,' has been discovered in Madagascar". USA Today. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
^ Stony Brook University (April 29, 2020). "Marooned on Mesozoic Madagascar: Researchers discover 66-million-year-old 'crazy beast'". phys.org. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
^ This 'crazy beast' was a weird early mammal that lived among dinosaurs

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[1] Krause, David W.; Hoffmann, Simone; Hu, Yaoming; Wible, John R.; Rougier, Guillermo W.; Kirk, E. Christopher; Groenke, Joseph R.; Rogers, Raymond R.; Rossie, James B.; Schultz, Julia A.; Evans, Alistair R. (2020-04-29). "Skeleton of a Cretaceous mammal from Madagascar reflects long-term insularity". Nature. 581 (7809): 421–427. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2234-8. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 32461642. S2CID 216650606.

[2] "'Crazy beast' lived among last of dinosaurs". BBC News. 2020-04-29. Retrieved 2020-04-29.

[3] Rice, Doyle (April 2020). "The fossil of a bizarre mammal, called 'crazy beast,' has been discovered in Madagascar". USA Today. Retrieved 30 April 2020.

[4] Stony Brook University (April 29, 2020). "Marooned on Mesozoic Madagascar: Researchers discover 66-million-year-old 'crazy beast'". phys.org. Retrieved 2020-05-01.

[5] This 'crazy beast' was a weird early mammal that lived among dinosaurs

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