| Brasilestes Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Clade: | Tribosphenida |
| Genus: | † Brasilestes Castro et al., 2018 |
| Species: | †B. stardusti |
| Binomial name | |
| †Brasilestes stardusti Castro et al., 2018 | |
Brasilestes is an extinct genus of mammals from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian) of South America. Its type species, B. stardusti, is named after David Bowie. [1] [2]
Brasilestes is noted to be relatively large for a Mesozoic mammal, with a length speculated at around 50 cm. [2]
Brasilestes is a tribosphenic mammal. It is tentatively assigned to Eutheria due to contemporary eutherian remains in the Adamantina Formation. [3]
Brasilestes occurs in the Adamantina Formation, alongside a plethora of dinosaur and notosuchian taxa. Contemporary mammals include eutherians, gondwanatheres and meridiolestidans. [3]
The Cretaceous is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of the entire Phanerozoic. The name is derived from the Latin creta, "chalk", which is abundant in the latter half of the period. It is usually abbreviated K, for its German translation Kreide.
Eomaia is a genus of extinct fossil mammals containing the single species Eomaia scansoria, discovered in rocks that were found in the Yixian Formation, Liaoning Province, China, and dated to the Barremian Age of the Lower Cretaceous about 125 million years ago. The single fossil specimen of this species is 10 centimetres (3.9 in) in length and virtually complete. An estimate of the body weight is between 20–25 grams (0.71–0.88 oz). It is exceptionally well-preserved for a 125-million-year-old specimen. Although the fossil's skull is squashed flat, its teeth, tiny foot bones, cartilages and even its fur are visible.
Eutheria is the clade consisting of all therian mammals that are more closely related to placentals than to marsupials.
Sinodelphys is an extinct marsupial from the Early Cretaceous, estimated to be 125 million years old. It was discovered and described in 2003 in rocks of the Yixian Formation in Liaoning Province, China, by a team of scientists including Zhe-Xi Luo and John Wible.
Adamantisaurus is a poorly-known genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now South America. It is only known from six tail vertebrae but, as a sauropod, it can be assumed that this dinosaur was a very large animal with a long neck and tail.
Protungulatum is a extinct genus of pan-euungulate mammals within extinct family Protungulatidae, and also one of the earliest known placental mammal in the fossil record, that lived in North America from the Late Cretaceous to early Paleocene.
Cimolestes is a genus of early eutherians with a full complement of teeth adapted for eating insects and other small animals. Paleontologists have disagreed on its relationship to other mammals, in part because quite different animals were assigned to the genus, making Cimolestes a grade taxon of animals with similar features rather than a genus of closely related ones. Fossils have been found in North America, South America, Europe and Africa. Cimolestes first appeared during the Late Cretaceous of North America. According to some paleontologists, Cimolestes died out at the start of the Paleocene, while others report the genus from the early Eocene.
Montealtosuchus was an extinct genus of terrestrial crocodyliform. It was discovered in 2004 in the Bauru Basin of Brazil, from Campanian-Maastrichtian deposits of the Adamantina Formation. The species was described in 2007, and assigned to the family Peirosauridae. The type species is M. arrudacamposi. The genus takes its name from the type locality in Monte Alto municipality.
Peirosauridae is a Gondwanan family of mesoeucrocodylians that lived during the Cretaceous period. It was a clade of terrestrial crocodyliforms that evolved a rather dog-like form, and were terrestrial carnivores. It was phylogenetically defined in 2004 as the most recent common ancestor of Peirosaurus and Lomasuchinae and all of its descendants. Lomasuchinae is a subfamily of peirosaurids that includes the genus Lomasuchus.
The Adamantina Formation is a geological formation in the Bauru Basin of western São Paulo state, in southeastern Brazil.
The Allen Formation is a geological formation in Argentina whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous (middle Campanian to early Maastrichtian. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
Caipirasuchus is an extinct genus of sphagesaurid notosuchians known from the Late Cretaceous of northern São Paulo State, southeastern Brazil. The type species, C. paulistanus, was named in 2011. A second species, C. montealtensis, was referred to Caipirasuchus in 2013 after having been named in 2008 as a species of Sphagesaurus. A third species, C. stenognathus, was described in 2014. A fourth species, C. minerius, was described in 2018. A fifth species, C. attenboroughi, was named in 2021 in honour of David Attenborough.
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.
Shingopana is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod from the Upper Cretaceous Galula Formation of Tanzania. It is known from only the type species, S. songwensis. Gorscak & O'Connor's phylogenetic testing suggest Shingopana is more closely related to the South American titanosaur family of Aeolosaurini than any of the titanosaurs found so far in North & South Africa.
Rinconsauria is an extinct clade of giant titanosaurian sauropods known from the late Cretaceous period of Argentina.
Zhelestidae is a lineage of extinct eutherian mammals. Occurring in the Late Cretaceous from the Turonian to the Maastrichtian, they were an extremely successful group, with representatives present in Europe, Asia, India, Africa and North America, ostensibly rendering them a cosmopolitan clade. They were specialised towards an herbivorous lifestyle and were in fact initially considered stem-ungulates, but the presence of epipubics and "archaic" dental characters render them as non-placental eutherians.
Durlstodon is a genus of extinct mammal from the Early Cretaceous of Southern England. It contains a single species, Durlstodon ensomi, which is known from molars found in the Berriasian Lulworth Formation of Durlston Bay, Dorset, after which the genus was named. The species name honours Paul Ensom, discoverer of many fossil mammals from Lulworth. Durlstodon and two of its contemporaries, Tribactonodon and Durlstotherium, had tribosphenidan (three-cusped) molars, which are an advanced characteristic among eutherian mammals and suggest that the group emerged earlier than the Early Cretaceous.
Azilestes is a genus of probable zhelestid eutherian mammal, a family consisting of small herbivores, that was discovered in the early Maastrichtian Grès de Labarre Formation of France. It is a monotypic genus, with only type species A. ragei being known. Only one specimen, the holotype described in 2021, is known. It consists of a partial dentary with teeth.
Gypsonictops is an extinct genus of leptictidan mammals of the monotypic family Gypsonictopidae, which was described in 1927 by George Gaylord Simpson. Species in this genus were small mammals and the first representatives of the order Leptictida, that appeared during the Upper Cretaceous.
Arrudatitan is an extinct genus of titanosaur sauropod dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian)-aged Adamantina Formation of Brazil. The type species, A. maximus, was named and described in 2011 as a species of Aeolosaurus, but was separated into its own genus in 2021. It was relatively gracile for a titanosaur.
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