Vintana ↓ | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Life reconstruction of Vintana sertichi. Postcranial reconstruction is hypothetical. | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Family: | †Sudamericidae |
Genus: | †Vintana Krause et al., 2014 |
Species: |
†V. sertichi
|
Binomial name | |
†Vintana sertichi Krause et al., 2014 |
Vintana sertichi is an early gondwanatherian mammal dating from the Late Cretaceous, approximately 66 million years ago. Scientists found the lone fossil, a skull, on Madagascar's west coast in the Maastrichtian Maevarano Formation.
Vintana is extremely relevant to the understanding of gondwanatheres because it is the first well-preserved skull, as opposed to previous fragments and teeth. Establishing a connection with multituberculates and haramiyidans in the theriiform clade Allotheria, it is a rather unusual animal, either closely associated with the archosaursorEuarchontoglires and Laurasiatheria, possessing massive lateral flanges in its skull whose exact purpose is poorly understood, as well as massive olfactory bulbs. A rather large animal at a weight of 19 pounds (8.74 kg), Vintana also represents another example of a considerably large Mesozoic mammal alongside Adalatherium, another gondwanathere from same formation, this body mass is only exceeded by Repenomamus[1][2][3][4] and Patagomaia.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Vintana |
|
---|
![]() | This article about a Cretaceous mammal is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |