Eobaataridae is a family of fossil mammals within the order Multituberculata. Remains are known from the Lower Cretaceous of Europe and Asia. They are among the most derived representatives of the informal suborder "Plagiaulacida", and closely related to Cimolodonta. Most eobaatarids are only known from isolated teeth, though several reasonably complete members are known, including Sinobaatar and Jeholbaatar. The body of Sinobaatar is generalised,[3] while Jeholbaatar displays clear adaptations for scansoriality (climbing) due to its elongated digits.[4] Due to the morphology of the cheek teeth, Eobaatar and Jeholbaatar are inferred to be omnivorous, likely feeding on plants and invertebrates.[4]
| Eobaatarids Temporal range: Early Cretaceous
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|---|---|
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| Fossil of Sinobaatar | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Multituberculata |
| Suborder: | †Plagiaulacida |
| Family: | †Eobaataridae Kielan-Jaworowska et al., 1987 |
| Genera | |
Indobaatar from the Early Jurassic Kota Formation has been suggested to be the earliest known multituberculate, let alone the earliest eobaatarid, and may stretch the eobaatarid-cimolodontan group much earlier than previously thought.[5] However its referral to the family has been considered questionable by other scholars.[6][7]
Fossils of Jeholbaatar kielanae seem to show that multituberculates independently acquired a middle ear from other mammal groups.[4]
Etymology edit
The name "Eobaatar" (from ancient Greek "ἠώς"= dawn and Mongolian "baatar"= hero) means "dawn hero".
Notes edit
- ^ Nao Kusuhashi; Yaoming Hu; Yuanqing Wang; Takeshi Setoguchi; Hiroshige Marsuoka (2010). "New multituberculate mammals from the Lower Cretaceous (Shahai and Fuxin formations), northeastern China". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 30 (5): 1501–1514. doi:10.1080/02724634.2010.501435. S2CID 128414107.
- ^ a b Nao Kusuhashi (2008). "Early Cretaceous multituberculate mammals from the Kuwajima Formation (Tetori Group), central Japan". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 53 (3): 379–390. doi:10.4202/app.2008.0302.
- ^ Hu, Yaoming (2002). "Sinobaatar gen. nov.: First multituberculate from the Jehol Biota of Liaoning, Northeast China". Chinese Science Bulletin. 47 (11): 933. doi:10.1360/02tb9209. ISSN 1001-6538. S2CID 198141629.
- ^ a b c Haibing Wang; Jin Meng; Yuanqing Wang (2019). "Cretaceous fossil reveals a new pattern in mammalian middle ear evolution". Nature. 576 (7785): 102–105. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1792-0. PMID 31776514. S2CID 208330587.
- ^ Parmar, Prasad, and Kumar (2013) The first multituberculate mammal from India. Naturwissenschaften
- ^ Kusuhashi, Nao; Wang, Yuan-Qing; Jin, Xun (2019-08-23). "A New Eobaatarid Multituberculate (Mammalia) from the Lower Cretaceous Fuxin Formation, Fuxin-Jinzhou Basin, Liaoning, Northeastern China". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 27 (4): 605–623. doi:10.1007/s10914-019-09481-w. ISSN 1064-7554. S2CID 201283262.
- ^ Averianov, Alexander; Lopatin, Alexey; Skutschas, Pavel; Ivantsov, Stepan; Boitsova, Elizaveta; Kuzmin, Ivan (2017). "An enigmatic multituberculate mammal from the Early Cretaceous of Siberia, Russia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 37 (2): e1293070. doi:10.1080/02724634.2017.1293070. S2CID 90137175.
References edit
- Kielan-Jaworowska, Dashzeveg & Trofimov (1987), "Early Cretaceous multituberculates from Mongolia and a comparison with Late Jurassic forms". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 32, p. 3-47.
- Kielan-Jaworowska, Z.; Hurum, J.H. (2001). "Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals". Palaeontology. 44 (3): 389–429. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00185. S2CID 83592270.
External links edit
- Most of this information has been derived from MESOZOIC MAMMALS: Plagiaulacidae, Albionbaataridae, Eobaataridae & Arginbaataridae