Crusafontia Temporal range:
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Holotype of C. amoae, now C. cuencana | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | † Dryolestida |
Family: | † Dryolestidae |
Genus: | †
Crusafontia Henkel & Krebs, 1969 |
Type species | |
Crusafontia cuencana Henkel & Krebs, 1969
[1]
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Synonyms [2] | |
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Crusafontia is an extinct genus of mammal from the Cretaceous Camarillas, El Castellar and La Huérguina Formations of Spain. [1] [2] [3] [4] The name of the animal was given in honour of the Spanish paleontologist Miquel Crusafont Pairó.
Crusafontia was a 10 cm (3.9 in) long creature that may have looked and lived like a squirrel, but this is uncertain, as only two teeth (an upper molar right P5) and a mandible have ever been found. [1] [3] [4] In one study on Mesozoic mammal mandibles, it plots with carnivorous rather than insectivorous or herbivorous species. [5]
In 2011 a second species of Crusafontia was named, C. amoae, based on two upper molar teeth from Galve. [2] However, this was synonymised with the original species in 2021. [6]