Protungulatum
Template:Short description Template:Italic title Template:Automatic taxobox
Protungulatum ('first ungulate') is an extinct genus of eutherian mammals within extinct family Protungulatidae,[1] and is possibly one of the earliest known placental mammals in the fossil record, that lived in North America from the Late Cretaceous to early Paleocene.[2][3][4]
Fossils of this genus were first found in the Bug Creek Anthills in northeastern Montana. The Bug Creek Anthills were initially believed to be Late Cretaceous (latest Maastrichtian) because of the presence of the remains of non-avian dinosaurs and common Cretaceous mammals,[5] but these were later shown to have been reworkedTemplate:Efn from Late Cretaceous strata, and consequently the Bug Creek Anthills are currently believed to be Early Paleocene (Puercan) in age.[6] Remains from the Ravenscrag Formation of Saskatchewan, Canada have been assigned to Protungulatum donnae. These remains may also be Cretaceous in age, but the age of the Ravenscrag Formation is not entirely certain. In 2011, a new species Protungulatum coombsi was named based on fossil material discovered from the strata within the Hell Creek Formation specifically dated to at least 300,000 years before the K-Pg extinction, suggested that Protungulatum was present in both the latest Cretaceous and the early Paleocene. P. coombsi was estimated to be 20% larger than the next largest Paleocene species.[3]
Studies differ on the placement of Protungulatum. This genus was initially assigned to the family Arctocyonidae,[7] in order Condylarthra,[8][9] (a group of archaic "ungulates", that is now known to be polyphyletic). Some found that it is not a true placental mammal and it is eutherian found to be close to Placentalia.[10][3][11][12] However, a number of studies consider it to be a placental mammal and stem relative to true ungulates in clade Pan-Euungulata,[13][14][15][16][4][17][18][19] based on anatomy of inner ear.[4]
Phylogeny
The phylogenetic relationships of genus Protungulatum are shown in the following cladogram.[13][16] Template:Clade
Notes
References
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedChatterjee2017 - ↑ Z. Kielan-Jaworowska, R. L. Cifelli and Z. X. Luo (2004.) "Mammals from the age of dinosaurs: Origins, evolution, and structure." Columbia University Press, New York 1-630
- ↑ a b c Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedArchibald2011 - ↑ a b c Maeva Orliac (2016.) "The inner ear of Protungulatum (Pan-Euungulata, Mammalia)" Journal of Mammalian Evolution 23(4)
- ↑ Z. Kielan-Jaworowska, T. M. Bown and J. A. Lillegraven (1979.) "Eutheria." In J. A. Lillegraven, Z. Kielan-Jaworowska, W. A. Clemens (eds.), "Mesozoic mammals: the first two-thirds of mammalian history" 221-258
- ↑ D. L. Lofgren (1995.) "The Bug Creek problem and the Cretaceous-Tertiary transition at McGuire Creek, Montana." University of California Publications in Geological Sciences 140:1-185
- ↑ R. Tabuce, J. Clavel and M. T. Antunes (2011.) "A structural intermediate between triisodontids and mesonychians (Mammalia, Acreodi) from the earliest Eocene of Portugal." Naturwissenschaften 98:145-155
- ↑ Malcolm C. McKenna, Susan K. Bell: Classification of Mammals: Above the Species Level in Columbia University Press, New York (1997), 631 Seiten. Protungulatum
- ↑ J. D. Archibald (1998.) "Archaic ungulates ("Condylarthra")." In C. M. Janis, K. M. Scott, and L. L. Jacobs (eds.), "Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America" 1:292-331
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Averianov, A. O. & Lopatin, A. V. (2014.) "High-level systematics of placental mammals: Current status of the problem." Biology Bulletin, 41(9), 801–816.
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Conference abstract (p. 99) Template:Webarchive. Explanation and conclusions: Template:Trim Template:Replace on YouTubeScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"..
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".