A large therian mammal from the Late Cretaceous of South America
Nicolás R. Chimento,
Federico L. Agnolín,
Jordi García-Marsà
et al.
Abstract:Theria represent an extant clade that comprises placental and marsupial mammals. Here we report on the discovery of a new Late Cretaceous mammal from southern Patagonia, Patagomaia chainko gen. et sp. nov., represented by hindlimb and pelvic elements with unambiguous therian features. We estimate Patagomaia chainko attained a body mass of 14 kg, which is considerably greater than the 5 kg maximum body mass of coeval Laurasian therians. This new discovery demonstrates that Gondwanan therian mammals acquired lar… Show more
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