| Deltatheridiidae Temporal range:
Early Cretaceous-
Paleocene
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|---|---|
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| Deltatheridium praetrituberculare | |
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| A hypothetical life restoration of Sulestes karakshi. | |
Scientific classification
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | † Deltatheroida |
| Family: | †
Deltatheridiidae Gregory & Simpson, 1926 |
| Type genus | |
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Deltatheridium Gregory & Simpson, 1926
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| Genera | |
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See text
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| Synonyms | |
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Deltatheridiidae is an extinct family of basal carnivorous metatherians that lived during the Cretaceous and Paleogene. They were closely related to marsupials. Their fossils are restricted to Central Asia ( Mongolia and Uzbekistan) and North America ( United States - Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Wyoming). They mostly disappeared in the KT event, but a ghost lineage, currently represented by Gurbanodelta, survived until the late Paleocene by decreasing in size and becoming insectivorous. [1]
The family consist in six genera: [2] [3] [4] [5]
- Atokatheridium Kielan-Jaworowska & Cifelli, 2001
- Deltatheridium Gregory & Simpson, 1926
- Deltatheroides Gregory & Simpson, 1926
- Gurbanodelta X. Ni et al. 2016
- Lotheridium S. Bi et al. 2015
- Oklatheridium Davis, Cifelli & Kielan-Jaworowska, 2008
- Nanocuris Fox, Scott & Bryant, 2007
- Sulestes Nessov, 1985
- Tsagandelta G. W. Rougier et al. 2015
References
- ^ Xijun Ni; Qiang Li; Thomas A. Stidham; Lüzhou Li; Xiaoyu Lu; Jin Meng (2016). "A late Paleocene probable metatherian (?deltatheroidan) survivor of the Cretaceous mass extinction". Scientific Reports. 6: Article number 38547. doi: 10.1038/srep38547.
- ^ B. M. Davis, R. L. Cifelli, and Z. Kielan-Jaworowska. 2008. 1. Earliest Evidence of Deltatheroida (Mammalia: Metatheria) from the Early Cretaceous of North America. Mammalian Evolutionary Morphology: A Tribute to Frederick S. Szalay 3-24
- ^ G. P. Wilson and J. A. Riedel. 2010. New specimen reveals deltatheroidan affinities of the North American Late Cretaceous mammal Nanocuris. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(3):872-884
- ^ B. M. Davis and R. L. Cifelli. 2011. Reappraisal of the tribosphenidan mammals from the Trinity Group (Aptian-Albian) of Texas and Oklahoma. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 56(3):441-462
- ^ Xijun Ni; Qiang Li; Thomas A. Stidham; Lüzhou Li; Xiaoyu Lu; Jin Meng (2016). "A late Paleocene probable metatherian (?deltatheroidan) survivor of the Cretaceous mass extinction". Scientific Reports. 6: Article number 38547. doi: 10.1038/srep38547.
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