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Gondwanatheria
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{{Taxobox
| color = pink
| name = Gondwanatheria
| status = {{StatusFossil}}
| regnum =
Animalia
| classis =
Mammalia
| subordo = '''Gondwanatheria'''
| subdivision_ranks =
Genus Genera
| subdivision =
*
Family (biology) Family Sudamericidae
** ''
Gondwanatherium''
** ''
Lavanify''
** ''
Sudamerica''
* Family
Ferugliotheriidae
** ''
Ferugliotherium''
}}
'''Gondwanatheria''' is an extinct suborder of
mammal that lived during the Upper
Cretaceous through the
Eocene in the
Southern Hemisphere, including
Antarctica.
Classification
The affinities of the group are not clear, but Gondwanatherians were first interpreted as early
edentates, or "
toothless" mammals similar to the modern
anteater. This is somewhat ironic, given that they were originally known only from teeth. They were also treated as members of the
Multituberculata.
The latest thinking is apparently returning towards the edentate affinities, or something else entirely. Though generally no longer seen as multituberculates, "a few specimens described as ?''Ferugliotherium''," are Multituberculates (
#References Kielan-Jaworowska & Hurum, 2001, p.411). "These poorly known specimens (not discussed herein) demonstrate that a branch of multituberculates apparently lived during the Late Cretaceous in
South America."
There are two known
family (biology) families within Gondwanatheria. The family Sudamericidae was named by Scillato-Yané and Pascual in 1984, and includes the genera ''
Sudamerica'', ''
Gondwanatherium'' and ''
Lavanify''. The family Ferugliotheriidae was named by
José Bonaparte in 1986, and includes one genus, ''
Ferugliotherium''.
Further
fossils have come from
India and Antarctica, where gondwanatherids once lived in the lush
forests of the Eocene.
Antarctica
Antarctica has more to offer than just
marsupials:
:"The occurrence on
Seymour Island of sudamericids, that had become extinct in South America in the
Paleocene, also indicates that isolation may have allowed extended survival of this
Gondwanan group in the Eocene of Antarctica and the factors that caused their extinction did not affect this continent." (
#References Reguero ''et al'', 2002, p.189)
From the same paper, (
#References p.203):
:"For the sudamericids, Koenigswald et al. (1999) inferred a semi-
aquatic and perhaps a burrowing way of life, similar to that of living
beavers. Regarding this, the presence of two Antarctic taxa at Seymour Island (Goin, personal communication, 2000) suggests an important
Paleoecology paleoecological constraint related to dietary preference of this group.�
The
Antarctic peninsula of the "late Early to latest Eocene" seems to have been a lively place.
Represented by the
fossils and the geological conditions of the La Meseta Formation (dated to about 40
million years ago) suggest a nearby forest populated by a diverse fauna, which had many similarities with the slightly earlier residents of
Patagonia; small, arboreal,
frugivore fruit and
insectivore insect-eating possums,
1 E1 kg 10 kg sloths, middle-to-large sized grazers (
Sparnotheriodontidae sparnotheriodontids and ''
Trigonostylops''),
falcons,
ratites (big
flightless birds like the
rhea (bird) rhea) and
penguins. At the end of the Eocene the climate seems to have become unsuitable.
References and external links
* Z. Kielan-Jaworowska and J. H. Hurum. (2001) "Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals". ''Paleontology'' '''44''', pages 389–429.
* M. A. Reguero, A. M. Sergio and S. N. Santillana. (2002) "Antarctic Peninsula and South America (Patagonia) Paleogene terrestrial faunas and environments: biogeographic relationships". ''Palaeogeography-Palaeoclimatology-Palaeoecology'', '''179''', pages 189–210.
-
Marsupial teeth from Antarctica
* Much of this information has been derived from [http://home.arcor.de/ktdykes/gondwanatheria.htm MESOZOIC MAMMALS; Gondwanatheria], an Internet directory.
Category:Prehistoric mammals
Category:Cretaceous mammals
Category:Paleocene mammals
Category:Eocene mammals
Category:Eocene extinctions
nl:Gondwanatheria
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