Andinodelphys

Andinodelphys
Temporal range: Early Paleocene (Tiupampan)
~66–61.7 Ma
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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Subclass: Theria
Clade: Metatheria
Genus: †Andinodelphys
Marshall & Muizon, 1988
Species:
†A. cochabambensis
Binomial name
†Andinodelphys cochabambensis
Marshall & Muizon, 1988

Andinodelphys is an extinct genus of non-marsupial stem metatherian.[1]

Details

Along with Pucadelphys and Mayulestes, it is the oldest known South American metatherian.[2] It is known best from five almost complete skulls, and associated skeletons, all from Tiupampa in Bolivia.[1] It is most similar to Pucadelphys and a clade of Pucadelphydae containing the two genera has been suggested. It was likely a gregarious animal, and a finding of six articulated and intertmingled skeletons has been used as evidence of social behavior being present in basal metatherians.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b de Muizon, Christian; Ladevèze, Sandrine (31 December 2020). "Cranial anatomy of Andinodelphys cochabambensis, a stem metatherian from the early Palaeocene of Bolivia". Geodiversitas. 42 (30): 597–739. doi:10.5252/geodiversitas2020v42a30.
  2. ^ Ladeveze, Sandrine; De Muizon, Christian (2007). ""The auditory region of early Paleocene Pucadelphydae (Mammalia, Metatheria) from Tiupampa, Bolivia, with phylogenetic implications". Palaeontology. 50 (5): 1123–1153. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2007.00703.x.
  3. ^ Ladeveze, Sandrine; de Muizon, Christian; Beck, Robin M. D; Germain, Damien; Cespedes-Paz, Ricardo (2 June 2011). ""Earliest evidence of mammalian social behaviour in the basal Tertiary of Bolivia". Nature. 474 (7349): 83–86. doi:10.1038/nature09987.