https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2279-445X
![Sample our Environment & Agriculture journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5934/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Environment-Agriculture.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
Eutriconodonta is a diverse group of crown mammals that are known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous, mainly on the northern landmasses. Here we report a single lower molariform from the “intertrappean” deposits exposed near Anjar, in the Kutch district of the state of Gujarat, India that date to the last 259,000 years of the Cretaceous. The lower molariform of this new genus of eutriconodontan is relatively large, has three subequal, erect, lanceolated cusps, and lacks both a buccal and lingual cingulum, accessory cusps (d, e), and a vertical groove mesial to cusp b. It represents the first eutriconodontan mammal from the Cretaceous of India and the Late Cretaceous of Gondwana, and is the globally youngest record of this group. The results of a cladistic analysis support placement of the new Indian taxon among the Eutriconodonta, possibly more closely allied to triconodontids than to other groups. This new genus of eutriconodontan is the tenth named mammalian species known from the Late Cretaceous of India and the first relatively large-bodied faunivore. This record shows that the Eutriconodonta had a broader temporal and geographic distribution than previously thought and highlights the importance of continued paleontological exploration on the Indian subcontinent.
http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:84D96471-E733-420B-9FA2-F41BC4B62E4B
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank the editor T. Martin, and reviewers G. W. Rougier, P. L. Godoy, and one anonymous reviewer whose comments led to a significant improvement of this work. We are grateful to N. Kumar and S. Kumar for μCT scanning of the specimen at IIT Ropar, India and also for providing the required information for the Material and Methods section. SB acknowledges financial support obtained under the Institute Chair Professorship at IIT Roorkee, AR from the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Fellowship, CSIR, New Delhi, Government of India (SPM09/0143(16119)/2022-EMR-I), RY from IIT Roorkee, and GPWM from the U.S. National Science Foundation (EAR-1736787).
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
SB designed the project and collected the described specimen. RY collected additional field data. SB, AR, and GPWM analyzed the data. SB and AR drafted the manuscript with input from GPWM. SB, AR, and GPWM edited the manuscript.
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article, its supplementary material, and on MorphoBank under project number 5068 (https://morphobank.org/permalink/?P5068).
SUPPLEMENTARY FILE
Supplementary File 1.nex: NEXUS file