Yanoconodon
Yanoconodon | |
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Yanoconodon allini | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | †Eutriconodonta |
Family: | †Jeholodentidae |
Genus: | †Yanoconodon Chen, Chen, Li & Luo, 2007 |
Type species | |
†Yanoconodon allini |
Yanoconodon is a monotypic genus of extinct early mammal whose representative species Yanoconodon allini lived during the Mesozoic in what is now China. The holotype fossil of Yanoconodon was excavated in the Yan Mountains about 300 kilometres from Beijing in the Qiaotou member of the Huajiying Formation (which the original authors considered part of the Yixian Formation) of Hebei Province, China, and is therefore of uncertain age. The Qiaotou Member may correlate with the more well-known Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation, and so probably dates to around 122 Ma ago.[1]
Yanoconodon was a
Yanoconodon's name is composed of two elements: 'Yan' is taken from the Yan Mountains in the north of the Hebei Province near where the holotype of Yanoconodon was found; 'Conodon' is an often used as a mammalian taxonomic suffix meaning 'cuspate tooth'. Its species name, "allini," is derived from mammalian researcher Edgar Allin, who was notable for his research on the mammalian middle ear.[4][5]
Description
Yanoconodon was a small mammal, barely 5 inches (13 centimetres) long. It had a sprawling posture, and although previously inferred to be semi-aquatic,
The Yanoconodon holotype is so well preserved that scientists were able to examine tiny bones of the middle ear. These are of particular interest because of their "transitional" state: Yanoconodon has fundamentally modern middle ear bones, but these are still attached to the jaw by an ossified
References
- ^ Jin, F., Zhang, F.C., Li, Z.H., Zhang, J.Y., Li, C. and Zhou, Z.H. (2008). "On the horizon of Protopteryx and the early vertebrate fossil assemblages of the Jehol Biota." Chinese Science Bulletin, 53(18): 2820-2827.
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- ^ .
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- ^ a b Paleontologists Discover New Mammal from Mesozoic Era at www.physorg.com - Retrieved 25/6/2007.
- ^ Meng Chen, Gregory Philip Wilson, A multivariate approach to infer locomotor modes in Mesozoic mammals, Article in Paleobiology 41(02) · February 2015 DOI: 10.1017/pab.2014.14
- ^ PZ Myers (March 16, 2007). "Yanoconodon, a transitional fossil". Pharyngula: Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal.
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External links
- From Jaw to Ear: Transition Fossil Reveals Ear Evolution in Action by David Biello, Scientific American
- Artist's impression of Y. allini.