Eodelphis

Eodelphis Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 83.5 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Type specimen of Eodephis browni
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Family:	†Stagodontidae
Genus:	†Eodelphis Matthew, 1916
Species
Eodephis browni Matthew, 1916 Eodelphis cutleri Woodward, 1916

Eodelphis, from eo- plus [Di]delphis, thus meaning "very early opossum",^[1] is a genus of stagodont metatherians from the Late Cretaceous of North America, with distinctive crushing dentition. Named species include E. browni^[2] and the more advanced E. cutleri. Both come from the Late Campanian (Judithian "Land Mammal Age") of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. Specimens are also known from the Judith River Formation of Montana. E. cutleri is related to the Maastrichtian genus Didelphodon as indicated by its enlarged premolars and more robust jaw.^[3] Eodelphis was probably an aquatic predator like its relative Didelphodon, and may have weighed about 0.6 kg (1.3 lb), making it one of the largest mammals of its time.

References

• Cifelli, R. L., Z.-X. Luo, et al. (2004). Mammals from the Age of Dinosaurs: Origins, Evolution and Structure. New York, Columbia University Press.
• Clemens, W. A., Jr. (1979). Marsupialia. Mesozoic mammals: the first two-thirds of mammalian history. J. A. Lilligraven, Kielan-Jaworowska and W. A. Clemens, Jr. Berkeley, University of California Press: 192–220.
• Sahni, A. (1972). "The vertebrate fauna of the Judith River Formation, Montana." Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 147(6): 323–412.

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This page was last edited on 9 April 2024, at 05:29