Ichthyoconodon
Ichthyoconodon Temporal range: Early Cretaceous,
| |
---|---|
Holotype lower right molar seen from four different angles | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | †Eutriconodonta |
Clade: | †Volaticotherini |
Genus: | †Ichthyoconodon Sigogneau-Russell, 1995 |
Species: | †I. jaworowskorum
|
Binomial name | |
†Ichthyoconodon jaworowskorum Sigogneau-Russell, 1995
|
Ichthyoconodon is an extinct genus of
Description
Ichthyoconodon is only known from two molar teeth from
Etymology
Ichthyoconodon essentially means "fish cone tooth", from the Greek ιχθυς, "fish", κῶνος, "cone", and ὀδών, "tooth". The type species, I. jaworowskorum, was named "in honour of Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska and Zbigniew Jaworowski for their generous hospitality on many occasions".[2]
Relationships
Ichthyoconodon has been found to be a eutriconodontan mammal, despite there only being two molar teeth.[2] although some authors have been skeptical of this interpretation.[3] Other possibilities for the identity of these teeth have included pterosaur, dinosaur, and shark, but there has been no supporting evidence to date.[4] Phylogenetic analysis favours the interpretation of these teeth as mammalian, and they are similar to the lower teeth of other mammals in Volaticotherini.[5][4][1]
Phylogenetic studies find a close relationship with
Ecology
Ichthyoconodon's teeth were found in marine deposits, alongside taxa like
Because the teeth of Ichthyoconodon are rather sharp and convergent in some details to the teeth of piscivorous mammals like otters and seals, some researchers have suggested that it may have fed on fish. There is no evidence for an aquatic lifestyle, other than the location the fossil were found. However there were freshwater semi-aquatic mammals in the
It is possible that Ichthyoconodon may have been a gliding mammal, based on its relationship with the other gliding mammals like Volaticotherium. The presence of Argentoconodon in South America, Volaticotherium in Asia and Ichthyoconodon in North Africa in such a relatively close span of time suggests there may have been a widespread clade of Jurassic-Early Cretaceous gliding triconodonts.[1]
References
- ^ S2CID 85069761.
- ^ a b c d Sigogneau-Russell, Denise (1995). "Two possibly aquatic triconodont mammals from the Early Cretaceous of Morocco" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 40 (2): 149–162.
- ^ Rose, K.D., Cifelli, R.L. & Lipka, T.R. (2001) Second triconodont dentary from the Early Cretaceous of Maryland. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Volume 21. pp. 628–632.
- ^ a b Kielan-Jaworowska, R. L. Cifelli, and Z.-X. Luo. 2004. Mammals from the age of dinosaurs: Origins, evolution, and structure. Columbia University Press, New York 1–630 [R. Whatley/R. Whatley/R. Whatley]
- ^ Mikko Haaramo (2007) Mikko's Phylogeny Archive. Acceso: 2 de noviembre de 2007.
- .
- ISBN 0691150613.
- ^ "Fossilworks: Gateway to the Paleobiology Database". fossilworks.org.
- ISBN 0-231-11918-6.