Henkelotherium
Henkelotherium Temporal range: Late Jurassic,
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Skeleton | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | †Dryolestida |
Genus: | †Henkelotherium Krebs, 1991 |
Species: | †H. guimarotae
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Binomial name | |
†Henkelotherium guimarotae Krebs, 1991
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Henkelotherium is an extinct genus of
Camadas de Guimarota, in Portugal.[1] Unlike many other Jurassic mammals, it is known from a largely complete skeleton, and is thought to have had an arboreal
lifestyle.
Description
The skull of Henkelotherium is 4 cm (1.6 in) long, and presacral body length is 11 cm (4.3 in). This suggest a weight of about 20 g (0.71 oz).[2]
Paleobiology
Primitive characters of Henkelotherium (e.g. asymmetric condyles of the femur) indicate that this species had a mode of locomotion similar to
opossums. The small size of Henkelotherium and elongated tail made it suited to an arboreal lifestyle and capable of climbing trees, a notion supported by the paleoecological reconstruction of the Guimarota ecosystem indicating a densely vegetated environment.[3][4]
Taxonomy
In cladistic analyses, Henkelotherium has been considered closely related to Dryolestidae, either as a part of that group, or as closely related but placed outside that family as a non-dryolestid dryolestidan.[5]
See also
- Prehistoric mammal
References
- ^ Krebs B., 1991. Das Skelett von Henkelotherium guimarotae gen. et sp. nov. (Eupantotheria, Mammalia) aus dem Oberen Jura von Portugal. Berl Geowiss Abh A.: 133:1–110.
- ISBN 9780198507611. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
- ^ Vázquez-Molinero, R., Martin, T., Fischer, M. S. and Frey, R. (2001), Comparative anatomical investigations of the postcranial skeleton of Henkelotherium guimarotae Krebs, 1991 (Eupantotheria, Mammalia) and their implications for its locomotion. Zool. Reihe, 77: 207–216. doi: 10.1002/mmnz.20010770206
- S2CID 254689452.
- S2CID 249324444.
Further reading
- Ramón Vázquez Molinero: Comparative anatomy of Henkelotherium guimarotae (Holotheria), a late Jurassic small mammal, and its relevance for the evolution of the mode of locomotion of modern mammals. Dissertation. Freie Universität Berlin, Fachbereich Geowissenschaften, 2003. Dissertation Online
http://www.diss.fu-berlin.de/diss/receive/FUDISS_thesis_000000001206