首页 | 本学科首页   官方微博 | 高级检索  
   检索      


New eutherian mammals from the Late Cretaceous of Aix‐en‐Provence Basin,south‐eastern France
Authors:Rodolphe Tabuce  Thierry Tortosa  Monique Vianey‐Liaud  Géraldine Garcia  Renaud Lebrun  Pascal Godefroit  Yves Dutour  Sévérine Berton  Xavier Valentin  Gilles Cheylan
Institution:1. Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution UMR5554, , 34095 Montpellier cedex 05, France;2. Museum d'Histoire Naturelle d'Aix‐en‐Provence, , 13100 Aix‐en‐Provence, France;3. Laboratoire de Géologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure UMR8538, , 75231 Paris cedex 5, France;4. Institut de Paléoprimatologie, Paléontologie Humaine: Evolution et Paléoenvironnements UMR7262, Université de Poitiers, , 86022 Poitiers cedex, France;5. Department of Palaeontology, Royal Belgium Institute of Natural Sciences, , 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Abstract:In Europe, the fossil record of Late Cretaceous eutherian mammals is very poor, being limited to only three genera (Labes, Lainodon, and Valentinella). Labes and Lainodon are well‐supported members of Zhelestidae, a stem eutherian clade, whereas Valentinella is more problematic, being recently considered as a nomen dubium. Based on X‐ray computed microtomography scan analysis of the holotype and thanks to the discovery of new specimens from the type locality (Vitrolles‐La Plaine, south‐eastern France, late Maastrichtian), we reassessed Valentinella. This genus is unique by the association of an enlarged and rounded jaw angle with an assumed relatively elevated angular process, a bulbous protoconid and an unbasined heel on p4, a p5 with a wide molariform talonid and a hypoflexid, a robust molar morphology with a potential specialized crushing‐grinding function (bulbously constructed cusps, large talonid, and horizontal apical wear facet of the hypocone), a somewhat reduced m3 relative to m2, a premolariform ?P3 or ?P4 lacking a metacone, and a relatively large hypocone on upper molars. These characters reinstate Valentinella as a valid genus. We also describe Mistralestes arcensis gen. et sp. nov. from a newly discovered locality (La Cairanne‐Highway, south‐eastern France, late Campanian). Mistralestes is defined by a robust premolariform p5 with no cingulid, paraconid, or metaconid; molars with a transverse protocristid, a gradual compression of the trigonid from m1 to m3, and paracristid and protocristid probably confluent on m3. Based on comparisons and phylogenetic analyses, Valentinella and Mistralestes may belong to Zhelestidae but this systematic attribution remains poorly supported. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London
Keywords:Campanian  dental anatomy  Europe  Maastrichtian  phylogeny  Zhelestidae
设为首页 | 免责声明 | 关于勤云 | 加入收藏

Copyright©北京勤云科技发展有限公司  京ICP备09084417号