Nanocuris

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Nanocuris
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) 72.1–70.6  Ma
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Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Deltatheroida
Family: Deltatheridiidae
Genus: Nanocuris
Fox, Scott & Bryant, 2007
Species:
N. improvida
Binomial name
Nanocuris improvida
Fox, Scott & Bryant, 2007

Nanocuris is an extinct genus of Deltatheridiidae from the Cretaceous of Canada (Saskatchewan) and United States (Wyoming - Lance Formation and Hell Creek Formation [1] ). [2] Initially, it was classified in a proper family, Nanocuridae, in the clade Eutheria, [2] but a reanalysis of a new specimen revealed a delthatheroid affinity of the genus. [3]

Contents

Size

It was the proportionally largest deltatheroidean. [4] [5] Alongside the similarly sized Didelphodon , it likely replaced earlier Cretaceous eutriconodonts as a large sized predatory mammal. [6]

Classification

Its closest relative is the smallest deltatheroidean, Gurbanodelta . [7]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bayan Shireh Formation</span> Geological formation in Mongolia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eutriconodonta</span> Extinct order of mammals

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deltatheroida</span> Extinct order of mammals

Deltatheroida is an extinct group of basal metatherians that were distantly related to modern marsupials. The majority of known members of the group lived in the Cretaceous; one species, Gurbanodelta kara, is known from the late Paleocene (Gashatan) of China. Their fossils are restricted to Central Asia and North America. This order can be defined as all metatherians closer to Deltatheridium than to Marsupialia.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stagodontidae</span> Extinct family of mammals

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<i>Tsagandelta</i> Extinct family of mammals

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zalambdalestidae</span> Extinct family of mammals

Zalambdalestidae is a clade of Asian eutherians occurring during the Cretaceous. Once classified as Glires, features like epipubic bones and various cranial elements have identified these animals as outside of Placentalia, representing thus a specialised clade of non-placental eutherians without any living descendants, and potentially rather different from modern placentals in at least reproductive anatomy.

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References

  1. G. P. Wilson and J. A. Riedel. 2010. New specimen reveals deltatheroidan affinities of the North American Late Cretaceous mammal Nanocuris. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(3):872-884
  2. 1 2 R. C. Fox, C. S. Scott, and H. N. Bryant. 2007. A new, unusual therian mammal from the Upper Cretaceous of Saskatchewan, Canada. Cretaceous Research 28(5):821-829.
  3. G. P. Wilson and J. A. Riedel. 2010. New specimen reveals deltatheroidan affinities of the North American Late Cretaceous mammal Nanocuris. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(3):872-884
  4. G. W. Rougier, B. M. Davis, and M. J. Novacek. 2015. A deltatheroidan mammal from the Upper Cretaceous Baynshiree Formation, eastern Mongolia. Cretaceous Research 52:167-177
  5. G. P. Wilson and J. A. Riedel. 2010. New specimen reveals deltatheroidan affinities of the North American Late Cretaceous mammal Nanocuris. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(3):872-884
  6. G. W. Rougier, B. M. Davis, and M. J. Novacek. 2015. A deltatheroidan mammal from the Upper Cretaceous Baynshiree Formation, eastern Mongolia. Cretaceous Research 52:167-177
  7. Ni, Xijun; Li, Qiang; Stidham, Thomas A.; Li, Lüzhou; Lu, Xiaoyu; Meng, Jin (2016). "A late Paleocene probable metatherian (?deltatheroidan) survivor of the Cretaceous mass extinction". Science Reports. 6. Springer Science and Business Media LLC: 38547. Bibcode:2016NatSR...638547N. doi:10.1038/srep38547. PMC 5141426. PMID 27924847.