| Heleocola Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | † Pediomyoidea |
| Family: | † Glasbiidae |
| Genus: | † Heleocola |
| Species: | †H. piceanus |
| Binomial name | |
| †Heleocola piceanus Eberle et. al., 2024 | |
Heleocola is an extinct genus of pediomyoid metatherian from the Late Cretaceous of Colorado, United States. It is a monotypic genus that contains the species H. piceanus.
Based on its molar morphology, in particular the low height differential between the trigonid and talonid and the low inflated cusps, H. piceanus was an omnivore whose diet was predominantly plant-based. [1]
Eutheria, also called Pan-Placentalia, is the clade consisting of placentals and all therian mammals that are more closely related to placentals than to marsupials.
Metatheria is a mammalian clade that includes all mammals more closely related to marsupials than to placentals. First proposed by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1880, it is a more inclusive group than the marsupials; it contains all marsupials as well as many extinct non-marsupial relatives. It is one of two groups placed in the clade Theria alongside Eutheria, which contains the placentals. Remains of metatherians have been found on all of Earths continents.
Pucadelphys is an extinct genus of non-marsupial metatherian. The genus contains a single species, P. andinus. Fossils of Pucadelphys have been found in the Santa Lucía Formation in Tiupampa in Bolivia.
Sparassodonta is an extinct order of carnivorous metatherian mammals native to South America, related to modern marsupials. They were once considered to be true marsupials, but are now thought to be a separate side branch that split before the last common ancestor of all modern marsupials.
Alphadon is an extinct genus of small, primitive mammal that was a member of the metatherians, a group of mammals that includes modern-day marsupials. Its fossils were first discovered and named by George Gaylord Simpson in 1929.
Herpetotherium is an extinct genus of metatherian mammal, belonging to the possibly paraphyletic family Herpetotheriidae. Native to North America from the Eocene to Early Miocene, fossils have been found in California, Oregon, Texas, Florida, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, and Saskatchewan. The oldest species, H. knighti, is dated to around 50.3 mya, and the most recent, an unnamed species, may be as recent as 15.97 mya. A morphological analysis of marsupials and basal metatherians conducted in 2007 found Herpetotherium to be the sister group to extant marsupials. It is the youngest known metatherian from North America until the migration of the Virginia opossum from South America within the last 2 million years.
Deltatheroides is an extinct genus of Deltatheridiidae from Cretaceous of Mongolia. Another specimen found in Wyoming is suspected to belong to this genus.
Nanocuris is an extinct genus of Deltatheridiidae from the Cretaceous of Canada (Saskatchewan) and United States. Initially, it was classified in a proper family, Nanocuridae, in the clade Eutheria, but a reanalysis of a new specimen revealed a delthatheroid affinity of the genus.
Stagodontidae is an extinct family of carnivorous metatherian mammals that inhabited North America and Europe during the late Cretaceous, and possibly to the Eocene in South America.
Pappotherium is an extinct genus of mammals from the Albian of Texas, US, known from a fossilized maxilla fragment bearing two tribosphenic molars, discovered within the Glen Rose Formation near Decatur, Wise County, Texas.
Oxlestes is an extinct mammal from the Late Cretaceous of Asia, more specifically from the Cenomanian of Uzbekistan. A carnivorous species of uncertain affinities, it is notable for its relatively large size, being among the largest of all Mesozoic mammals. Due to the limited amount of material, it has been considered a nomen dubium.
Tsagandelta is a genus of deltatheroidean therian mammal that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous. Distantly related to modern marsupials, it is part of Deltatheroida, a lineage of carnivorous metatherians common in the Cretaceous of Asia and among the most successful non-theropod carnivores of the region. It represents the first known mammal from the Bayan Shireh Formation.
Anatoliadelphys maasae is an extinct genus of predatory metatherian mammal from the Eocene of Anatolia. It was an arboreal, cat-sized animal, with powerful crushing jaws similar to those of the modern Tasmanian devil. Although most mammalian predators of the northern hemisphere in this time period were placentals, Europe was an archipelago, and the island landmass now forming Turkey might have been devoid of competing mammalian predators, though this may not matter since other carnivorous metatherians are also known from the Cenozoic in the Northern Hemisphere. Nonetheless, it stands as a reminder that mammalian faunas in the Paleogene of the Northern Hemisphere were more complex than previously thought, and metatherians did not immediately lose their hold as major predators after their success in the Cretaceous.
Unnuakomys is an extinct genus of metatherian mammal from the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous. It was discovered in the Prince Creek Formation of Alaska, and is the northernmost metatherian known. The type species is U. hutchisoni.
Protalphadon is a genus of small mammal from the Late Cretaceous. Its fossils are found in Utah, Montana, New Jersey, South Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado. Originally the genus was assigned to Alphadon.
Peradectes is an extinct genus of small metatherian mammals known from the latest Cretaceous to Eocene of North and South America and Europe. The first discovered fossil of P. elegans, was one of 15 Peradectes specimens described in 1921 from the Mason pocket fossil beds in Colorado. The monophyly of the genus has been questioned.
Henricosbornia is an extinct genus of henricosborniid notoungulate that lived from the Late Paleocene to the Middle Eocene of what is now Argentina and Brazil.
Holoclemensia is an extinct genus of mammal of uncertain phylogenetic placement. It lived during the Early Cretaceous and its fossil remains were discovered in Texas.
Asiatherium is an extinct genus of mammal, probably belonging to Metatheria. It lived during the Late Cretaceous, and its fossilized remains were discovered in Mongolia.
Albertatherium is an extinct genus of alphadontid metatherians that lived during the Late Cretaceous of North America. The genus contains two species, Albertatherium primus, and Albertatherium secundus. Fossils have been found in the Eagle Formation of Montana and the Milk River Formation of Alberta.
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