Biology:Zalambdalestes
| Zalambdalestes | |
|---|---|
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| Zalambdalestes lechei skull and lower jaw, Museum of Evolution Warsaw. | |
Scientific classification 
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| Missing taxonomy template (fix): | Incertae sedis/Eutheria |
| Family: | †Zalambdalestidae |
| Genus: | †Zalambdalestes Gregory & Simpson, 1926 |
| Species | |
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Zalambdalestes (meaning much-like-lambda robber) is an extinct genus of eutherian mammal known from the Upper Cretaceous in Mongolia.
Zalambdalestes was a hopping animal with a long snout, long teeth, a small brain and large eyes. It was about 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long, with a head only 5 centimetres (2 in) long. It had strong front paws and even stronger rear ones, sharing specializations to saltation similar to those of modern rabbits.[1][2] It was most likely not a placental due to the presence of an epipubic bone,[3][1]
Its diet was probably composed mainly of insects that it hunted in the forest undergrowth using its sharp, interlocking teeth.[4] Unlike modern placental mammals, Zalambdalestes had an epipubic bone, meaning it was probably restricted reproductively in the same way as modern monotremes and marsupials.[1]
References
- Parker, Steve. Dinosaurs: the complete guide to dinosaurs. Firefly Books Inc, 2003. Pg. 402
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Rose, Kenneth D.; Archibald, J. David, eds (2005). The Rise of Placental Mammals: Origins and Relationships of the Major Extant Clades. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 9780801880223.
- ↑ Chen, Meng; Wilson, Gregory P. (2015). "A multivariate approach to infer locomotor modes in Mesozoic mammals". Paleobiology 41 (2): 280–312. doi:10.1017/pab.2014.14. Bibcode: 2015Pbio...41..280C.
- ↑ Dykes, Kevin T.. "Mesozoic Mammals; Zalambdalestidae, Lipotyphla?, Cimolestidae and Cretaceous Taeniodonta". Mesozoic Eucynodonts. http://home.arcor.de/ktdykes/zalambda.htm.
- ↑ Palmer, D., ed (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 201. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
Further reading
- Wible, John R.; Novacek, Michael J.; Rougier, Guillermo W. (2004). "New data on the skull and dentition in the Mongolian Late Cretaceous eutherian mammal Zalambdalestes". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 281: 1–144. doi:10.1206/0003-0090(2004)281<0001:NDOTSA>2.0.CO;2. http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/handle/2246/449/B281.pdf?sequence=1.
Wikidata ☰ Q765555 entry
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