Bemalambda

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (January 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Bemalambda
A skeleton of Bemalabda pachyoesteus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	†Cimolesta
Family:	†Bemalambdidae
Genus:	†Bemalambda Chow et al., 1973
Type species
Bemalambda nanhsiungensis Chow et al., 1973

Bemalambda is an extinct mammal, belonging to the pantodonts. It lived in the lower - middle Paleocene (about 63 - 58 million years ago) and the fossil remains have been found in China.

Description[]

It was a medium-size animal, and could reach the size of a large dog. The body was strong, the tail was short and the legs were strong and muscular. The skull was short and low, with a broad muzzle, swollen zygomatic processes, and a very small skull. The temporal fossae were deep, the sagittal crest prominent, and the coronoid process on the mandible was very high; these characteristics indicate a more developed temporal musculature (useful for chewing) than that of the subsequent pantodonts.

Like all pantodonts, Bemalambda had upper premolars with V-shaped ectolofi; the upper molars, however, had a transverse structure, almost , with closely paired paracone and metaconus, and did not possess the W-shaped structure like the typical pantodonts. The stylar platform of the teeth from the third premolar to the third molar was very broad, and the ``ectoflexus (an additional external indentation of the molars) was deeply incised.

Classification[]

The genus Bemalambda was established in 1973 on the basis of some fossils found in the area of Nanxiong in the Lofochai formation (Guangdong, China), dating back to the lower/middle Paleocene. The study by Chow and colleagues established various species: Bemalambda crassa, Bemalambda nanhsiungensis (the type species), Bemalambda pachyoesteus, distinguished on the basis of some dental characteristics. Subsequently, in Jiangxi, fossils of a slightly more recent species (Middle Paleocene) were found, B. dingae.

Bemalambda is a rather atypical representative of the pantodonts, a group of archaic mammals with the characteristic ambdodon teeth. In particular, Bemalambda and other related forms such as would seem to be part of a radiation of primitive pantodonts of relatively modest size, developed in the Asian Paleocene, the Bemalambdidae . Probably close to this group were other small animals, such as and .

Paleoecology[]

The representatives of the Bemalambda genus were animals with a strong and robust build, with a herbivorous or perhaps omnivorous diet. The strong legs, in particular the , indicate a propensity for digging.

References[]

This prehistoric mammal-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

• v
• t