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Late-surviving stem mammal links the lowermost Cretaceous of North America and Gondwana

Author

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  • Adam K. Huttenlocker

    (University of Southern California)

  • David M. Grossnickle

    (The University of Chicago)

  • James I. Kirkland

    (Utah Geological Survey
    Natural History Museum of Utah)

  • Julia A. Schultz

    (The University of Chicago)

  • Zhe-Xi Luo

    (The University of Chicago
    The University of Chicago)

Abstract

Haramiyida was a successful clade of mammaliaforms, spanning the Late Triassic period to at least the Late Jurassic period, but their fossils are scant outside Eurasia and Cretaceous records are controversial1–4. Here we report, to our knowledge, the first cranium of a large haramiyidan from the basal Cretaceous of North America. This cranium possesses an amalgam of stem mammaliaform plesiomorphies and crown mammalian apomorphies. Moreover, it shows dental traits that are diagnostic of isolated teeth of supposed multituberculate affinities from the Cretaceous of Morocco, which have been assigned to the enigmatic ‘Hahnodontidae’. Exceptional preservation of this specimen also provides insights into the evolution of the ancestral mammalian brain. We demonstrate the haramiyidan affinities of Gondwanan hahnodontid teeth, removing them from multituberculates, and suggest that hahnodontid mammaliaforms had a much wider, possibly Pangaean distribution during the Jurassic–Cretaceous transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Adam K. Huttenlocker & David M. Grossnickle & James I. Kirkland & Julia A. Schultz & Zhe-Xi Luo, 2018. "Late-surviving stem mammal links the lowermost Cretaceous of North America and Gondwana," Nature, Nature, vol. 558(7708), pages 108-112, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:558:y:2018:i:7708:d:10.1038_s41586-018-0126-y
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0126-y
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    Cited by:

    1. Chase D. Brownstein & Dalton L. Meyer & Matteo Fabbri & Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar & Jacques A. Gauthier, 2022. "Evolutionary origins of the prolonged extant squamate radiation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Lauren N. Wilson & Jacob D. Gardner & John P. Wilson & Alex Farnsworth & Zackary R. Perry & Patrick S. Druckenmiller & Gregory M. Erickson & Chris L. Organ, 2024. "Global latitudinal gradients and the evolution of body size in dinosaurs and mammals," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.

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