Gondtherium is a genus of extinct mammaliaform from the Kota Formation in India. It was considered a docodontan by those who described it, but it remains unclear if this is the case.

Gondtherium
Temporal range: 167.3–127.2 Ma Middle Jurassic-Early Cretaceous
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Clade: Therapsida
Clade: Cynodontia
Clade: Mammaliaformes
Genus: Gondtherium
Prasad and Manhas, 2007[1]
Species:
G. dattai
Binomial name
Gondtherium dattai
Prasad and Manhas, 2007[1]

Gondtherium was found in the Kota Formation, which is considered to be between Middle Jurassic and Early Cretaceous in age.[1] Other Mesozoic mammaliaforms found there include members of Morganucodonta and Amphilestidae. The authors who described Gondtherium - which is known from only a single worn and fragmentary molar tooth - considered it to be a docodontan based on the tooth cusps.[1] However, this has been disputed by several subsequent researchers, and so the exact identity of Gondtherium remains unresolved.[2]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d Prasad GVR, and Manhas BK. 2007. A new docodont mammal from the Jurassic Kota Formation of India.[dead link] Palaeontologia electronica, 10.2: 1-11
  2. ^ Kielan-Jaworowska Z, Cifelli RL, and Luo, Z-X. 2004. Mammals from the age of dinosaurs: origins evolution and structure. Columbia University Press, New York, NY, 630 pp