Triconodontidae is an extinct family of small, carnivorous mammals belonging to the order Eutriconodonta, endemic to what would become Asia, Europe, North America and probably also Africa and South America[2][3] during the Jurassic through Cretaceous periods at least from 190–66 mya.[4][1]
| Triconodontidae Temporal range: Middle Jurassic - Late Cretaceous,
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| Triconodon mordax jaw, Richard Owen 1861 | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Eutriconodonta |
| Family: | †Triconodontidae Marsh, 1887 |
| Subgroups | |
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Triconodontids can be distinguished from other eutriconodonts by the shape of their molars, which bore three main cusps of roughly equal size. During occlusion, the upper and lower molars interlocked tightly, producing a self-sharpening cutting edge. Historically, the triconodontids were thought to have a different occlusion pattern than other eutriconodonts, with the middle cusp of the lower molar (cusp a) fitting between the middle cusp (cusp A) and the front cusp (cusp B) of the upper molar, as in the basal mammaliaform Morganucodon.[4] However, a 2020 study on Priacodon suggests that triconodontids occluded their molars in the same manner as other eutriconodonts (so-called "embrasure occlusion"), with the middle cusp (cusp A/a) fitting between two opposing molars.[5]
Taxonomy
editTriconodontidae was named by Marsh (1887). It was assigned to Polyprotodontia by Cope (1889); to Triconodonta by Rasmussen and Callison (1981), Bonaparte (1986), Carroll (1988) and Engelmann and Callison (1998); and to Mammalia by Marsh (1887) and Luo et al. (2001).[6]
Sometimes Volaticotheria is recovered as a part of this group.[2] However, other phylogenetic studies group it outside of Triconodontidae.[7][8]
Phylogeny
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Bajpai, Sunil; Rautela, Abhay; Yadav, Ravi; Mantilla, Gregory P. Wilson (29 February 2024). "The first eutriconodontan mammal from the Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of India". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 43 (4). doi:10.1080/02724634.2024.2312234.
- ^ a b c Gaetano, L. C.; Rougier, G. W. (2011). "New materials of Argentoconodon fariasorum (Mammaliaformes, Triconodontidae) from the Jurassic of Argentina and its bearing on triconodont phylogeny". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 31 (4): 829–843. Bibcode:2011JVPal..31..829G. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.589877. hdl:11336/68497. S2CID 85069761.
- ^ Gaetano, L. C.; Rougier, G. W. (2012). "First Amphilestid from South America: A Molariform from the Jurassic Cañadón Asfalto Formation, Patagonia, Argentina". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 19 (4): 235–248. doi:10.1007/s10914-012-9194-1. hdl:11336/68489. S2CID 254698557.
- ^ a b Butler, P. M.; Sigogneau-Russell, D. (2016). "Diversity of triconodonts in the Middle Jurassic of Great Britain" (PDF). Palaeontologia Polonica. 67: 35–65. doi:10.4202/pp.2016.67_035 (inactive 1 November 2024).
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link) - ^ Jäger, K. R. K.; Cifelli, R. L.; Martin, T. (2020). "Molar occlusion and jaw roll in early crown mammals". Scientific Reports. 10 (1): 22378. Bibcode:2020NatSR..1022378J. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-79159-4. PMC 7759581. PMID 33361774.
- ^ Luo, Z.-X.; Crompton, A. W.; Sun, A.-L. (2001). "A new mammaliaform from the Early Jurassic and evolution of mammalian characteristics". Science. 292 (5521): 1535–1540. Bibcode:2001Sci...292.1535L. doi:10.1126/science.1058476. PMID 11375489. S2CID 8738213.
- ^ Martin, T.; Marugán-Lobón, J.; Vullo, R.; Martín-Abad, H.; Luo, Z.-X.; Buscalioni, A. D. (2015). "A Cretaceous eutriconodont and integument evolution in early mammals". Nature. 526 (7573): 380–384. Bibcode:2015Natur.526..380M. doi:10.1038/nature14905. hdl:10486/710730. PMID 26469049. S2CID 205245235.
- ^ Averianov, A. O.; Lopatin, A. V. (2011). "Phylogeny of triconodonts and symmetrodonts and the origin of extant mammals". Doklady Biological Sciences. 436 (1): 32–35. doi:10.1134/s0012496611010042. PMID 21374009. S2CID 10324906.