Mesungulatidae

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Mesungulatidae
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 83–66 Ma
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: †Dryolestida
Clade: †Meridiolestida
Clade: †Mesungulatoidea
Family: †Mesungulatidae
Bonaparte, 1986
Genera

Mesungulatidae is an extinct clade of meridiolestidan dryolestoid mammals from the Late Cretaceous of South America and possibly other Gondwannan landmasses.[1] They are particularly notable for their ecological speciation and large size.[2]

Characteristics[]

Most mesungulatids are generally large animals, making them inherently distinctive from other groups. Specific synapomorphies include a strong precingulum and postcingulum on the upper molars - which are extended lingually but do not meet around the paracone - three cusps on the lower stylar shelf, an absent metacone and rectangular lower molars.[3] They are thought to have had a somewhat transverse mastication, like docodonts and modern ungulates.[4] Compared to other dryolestoids their molar eruption patterns are delayed.[1]

Ecology[]

Mesungulatids are generally large sized herbivores or omnivores, being among the several Mesozoic mammals deviating from the classical insectivore stereotype. They are among the dominant mammals in Late Cretaceous South American assemblages, and among the most derived species present.[5][2]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Martinelli, Agustín G.; Soto-Acuña, Sergio; Goin, Francisco J.; Kaluza, Jonatan; Bostelmann, J. Enrique; Fonseca, Pedro H. M.; Reguero, Marcelo A.; Leppe, Marcelo; Vargas, Alexander O. (7 April 2021). "New cladotherian mammal from southern Chile and the evolution of mesungulatid meridiolestidans at the dusk of the Mesozoic era". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): 7594. Bibcode:2021NatSR..11.7594M. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-87245-4. PMC 8027844. PMID 33828193.
  2. ^ a b Rougier, Guillermo W.; Forasiepi, Analía M.; Hill, Robert V.; Novacek, Michael (June 2009). "New Mammalian Remains from the Late Cretaceous La Colonia Formation, Patagonia, Argentina". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 54 (2): 195–212. doi:10.4202/app.2006.0026.
  3. ^ Kielan-Jaworowska, Zofia; Cifelli, Richard L.; Luo, Zhe-Xi (2005). Mammals from the Age of Dinosaurs: Origins, Evolution, and Structure. Columbia University Press. p. 393. ISBN 978-0-231-11918-4.
  4. ^ Paez Arango, Natalia (2008). Dental and craniomandibular anatomy of Peligrotherium tropicalis: The evolutionary radiation of South American dryolestoid mammals (Thesis). ProQuest 426529085.
  5. ^ Chornogubsky, Laura (September 2011). "New remains of the dryolestoid mammal Leonardus cuspidatus from the Los Alamitos Formation (Late Cretaceous, Argentina)". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 85 (3): 343–350. doi:10.1007/s12542-010-0095-4. S2CID 128422381.
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