Alphadon: Difference between revisions
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==Description== |
==Description== |
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Not much is known about the appearance of ''Alphadon'', as it is only known from teeth, a lower jaw and skull fragments. It probably grew to about {{Convert|12|in|cm|abbr=on}} and may have resembled a modern [[opossum]].<ref name="jehle">{{Cite web | last = Jehle | first = Martin |
Not much is known about the appearance of ''Alphadon'', as it is only known from teeth, a lower jaw and skull fragments. It probably grew to about {{Convert|12|in|cm|abbr=on}} and may have resembled a modern [[opossum]].<ref name="jehle">{{Cite web | last = Jehle | first = Martin | title = Marsupials: A southern success story | publisher = Paleocene mammals of the world |date=August 2005 | url = http://www.paleocene-mammals.de/marsupials.htm}}</ref> Judging from its teeth, it was likely an [[omnivore]], feeding on fruits, invertebrates and possibly small vertebrates. ''Alphadon'' had a very good sense of smell and sight to track down its food, both during the day and night. Its possible whiskers could have also aided in its forge for food.<ref>{{cite journal |title=''Alphadon halleyi'' (Didelphidae, Marsupialia) from the Two Medicine Formation (Late Cretaceous, Judithian) of Montana |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |year=1988 |volume=8 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02724634.1988.10011726 |first=Marisol |last=Montellano}}</ref><ref name="jehle"/> |
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| title = Marsupials: A southern success story |
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| publisher = Paleocene mammals of the world |date=August 2005 |
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| url = http://www.paleocene-mammals.de/marsupials.htm}}</ref> Judging from its teeth, it was likely an [[omnivore]], feeding on fruits, invertebrates and possibly small vertebrates. Alphadon had a very good sense of smell and sight to track down its food, both during the day and night. Its possible whiskers could have also aided in its forge for food.<ref>{{cite journal |title=''Alphadon halleyi'' (Didelphidae, Marsupialia) from the Two Medicine Formation (Late Cretaceous, Judithian) of Montana |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |year=1988 |volume=8 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02724634.1988.10011726 |first=Marisol |last=Montellano}}</ref><ref name="jehle"/> |
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==Taxonomy and classification== |
==Taxonomy and classification== |
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Revision as of 04:12, 18 September 2019
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2016) |
| Alphadon Temporal range:
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| Reconstruction of Alphadon sp. | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Family: | †Alphadontidae |
| Genus: | †Alphadon Simpson, 1927 |
| Species[1] | |
Alphadon (meaning "first tooth") was a genus of small, primitive mammal that was a member of the metatherians, a group of mammals that includes modern-day marsupials. Its fossils were first discovered and named by George Gaylord Simpson in 1929.[1]
Description
Not much is known about the appearance of Alphadon, as it is only known from teeth, a lower jaw and skull fragments. It probably grew to about 12 in (30 cm) and may have resembled a modern opossum.[2] Judging from its teeth, it was likely an omnivore, feeding on fruits, invertebrates and possibly small vertebrates. Alphadon had a very good sense of smell and sight to track down its food, both during the day and night. Its possible whiskers could have also aided in its forge for food.[3][2]
Taxonomy and classification
The type species is Alphadon marshi. Eight other species are known.[1]
The species Alphadon jasoni was originally described by Storer (1991); it was subsequently transferred to the herpetotheriid genus Nortedelphys.[4]
Recent phylogenetic studies group it with other northern non-marsupial metatherians such as Albertatherium and Turgidodon.[5][6] A 2016 phylogenetic analysis is shown below.[7]
References
- ^ a b c Haaramo, Mikko (August 2003). "Alphadontidae". Mikko's Phylogeny Archive.
- ^ a b Jehle, Martin (August 2005). "Marsupials: A southern success story". Paleocene mammals of the world.
- ^ Montellano, Marisol (1988). "Alphadon halleyi (Didelphidae, Marsupialia) from the Two Medicine Formation (Late Cretaceous, Judithian) of Montana". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 8.
- ^ Thomas E. Williamson; Stephen L. Brusatte; Thomas D. Carr; Anne Weil; Barbara R. Standhardt (2012). "The phylogeny and evolution of Cretaceous–Palaeogene metatherians: cladistic analysis and description of new early Palaeocene specimens from the Nacimiento Formation, New Mexico". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 10 (4): 625–651. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.631592.
- ^ Guillermo W. Rougier; Brian M. Davis; Michael J. Novacek (2015). "A deltatheroidan mammal from the Upper Cretaceous Baynshiree Formation, eastern Mongolia". Cretaceous Research. 52, Part A: 167–177. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2014.09.009.
- ^ S. Bi, X. Jin, S. Li and T. Du. 2015. A new Cretaceous metatherian mammal from Henan, China. PeerJ 3:e896
- ^ Wilson, G.P.; Ekdale, E.G.; Hoganson, J.W.; Calede, J.J.; Linden, A.V. (2016). "A large carnivorous mammal from the Late Cretaceous and the North American origin of marsupials". Nature Communications. 7: 13734. doi:10.1038/ncomms13734. PMC 5155139. PMID 27929063.
