First cranial remains of a gondwanatherian mammal reveal remarkable mosaicism

@article{Krause2014FirstCR,
  title={First cranial remains of a gondwanatherian mammal reveal remarkable mosaicism},
  author={David W. Krause and Simone Hoffmann and John R. Wible and E. Christopher Kirk and Julia A. Schultz and Wighart Von Koenigswald and Joseph R. Groenke and James B. Rossie and Patrick M. O’Connor and Erik R. Seiffert and Elizabeth R. Dumont and Waymon L. Holloway and Raymond R. Rogers and Lydia J. Rahantarisoa and Addison D. Kemp and Haingoson Andriamialison},
  journal={Nature},
  year={2014},
  volume={515},
  pages={512-517}
}
Previously known only from isolated teeth and lower jaw fragments recovered from the Cretaceous and Palaeogene of the Southern Hemisphere, the Gondwanatheria constitute the most poorly known of all major mammaliaform radiations. Here we report the discovery of the first skull material of a gondwanatherian, a complete and well-preserved cranium from Upper Cretaceous strata in Madagascar that we assign to a new genus and species. Phylogenetic analysis strongly supports its placement within… 
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88 Citations

Skeleton of a Cretaceous mammal from Madagascar reflects long-term insularity
TLDR
The skeleton of Adalatherium hui, a newly discovered gondwanatherian mammal from Madagascar dated to near the end of the Cretaceous period, shows features consistent with a long evolutionary trajectory of isolation in an insular environment.
Craniofacial Morphology of Vintana Sertichi (Mammalia, Gondwanatheria) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar
ABSTRACT The Gondwanatheria are an enigmatic clade of Cretaceous and Paleogene mammals known from South America, Africa, Madagascar, India, and the Antarctic Peninsula. The eight valid species—each…
Late-surviving stem mammal links the lowermost Cretaceous of North America and Gondwana
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It is suggested that hahnodontid mammaliaforms had a much wider, possibly Pangaean distribution during the Jurassic–Cretaceous transition, and an exceptionally preserved skull of Cifelliodon wahkarmoosuch sheds light on the evolution of the ancestral mammalian brain.
Mammalian evolution: A beast of the southern wild
  • A. Weil
  • Geography, Environmental Science
    Nature
  • 2014
TLDR
The anatomy of the herbivorous, large-eyed and agile creature shows that gondwanatheres were related to the better-known multituberculates, a long-lived and successful group of (now also extinct) rodent-like mammals.
A large carnivorous mammal from the Late Cretaceous and the North American origin of marsupials
TLDR
The phylogenetic analysis indicates that marsupials or their closest relatives evolved in North America, as part of a Late Cretaceous diversification of metatherians, and later dispersed to South America.
Introduction to Adalatherium hui (Gondwanatheria, Mammalia) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar
ABSTRACT Adalatherium hui is a latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) gondwanatherian mammal based on only a single specimen, a virtually complete, articulated, and well-preserved skull and postcranial…
New Jurassic mammaliaform sheds light on early evolution of mammal-like hyoid bones
TLDR
A Jurassic fossil shows that early premammalian ancestors possessed hyoids similar to those seen in mammals today, and a new Jurassic docodontan mammaliaform found in China that is preserved with the hyoid bones is reported.
First postcranial remains of Multituberculata (Allotheria, Mammalia) from Gondwana
Introduction, Systematic Paleontology, and Geological Context of Vintana Sertichi (Mammalia, Gondwanatheria) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar
TLDR
The craniodental evidence provided by Vintana supports inclusion in Sudamericidae, the monophyly of Gondwanatheria, and the position of Gondeonatheria as nested within or sister to Multituberculata.
Mandibular and dental characteristics of Late Triassic mammaliaform Haramiyavia and their ramifications for basal mammal evolution
TLDR
Tests of competing phylogenetic hypotheses with new data show that Late Triassic haramiyids are a separate clade from multituberculate mammals and are excluded from the Mammalia, suggesting that dietary diversification is a major factor in the earliest mammaliaform evolution.
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