Mesotherium

Mesotherium
Temporal range: Early Pleistocene–Middle Pleistocene
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Skull of Mesotherium cristatum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: †Notoungulata
Family: †Mesotheriidae
Subfamily: †Mesotheriinae
Genus: †Mesotherium
Serres, 1867
Type species
†Mesotherium cristatum
Serres, 1857
Synonyms
  • Mesotherium:
    • Typotherium
  • Mesotherium cristatum
    • M. hystatum Ameghino 1904
    • M. maendrum Ameghino 1887
    • M. pachygnathum Gervais & Ameghino 1880

Mesotherium ("Middle Beast")[1] is an extinct genus of mesotheriid, a long-lasting family of superficially rodent-like, burrowing notoungulates from South America. It one of the youngest notoungulates, and the last known member of Typotheria. It was first named by Étienne Serres in 1867, and only contains a single species, Mesotherium cristatum, spanning the Early-Middle Pleistocene.[2]

  1. ^ "D. Croft SA Mammals: Mesotheriidae". D. Croft. 2007-01-02. Archived from D. Croft SA Mammals: Mesotheriidae the original on 2009-12-24. Retrieved 2008-06-05. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  2. ^ Fernández-Monescillo, Marcos; Croft, Darin A.; Pujos, François; Antoine, Pierre-Olivier (2023-06-03). "Taxonomic history and intraspecific analysis of Mesotherium cristatum (Mammalia, Notoungulata, Mesotheriidae) from the Early-Middle Pleistocene of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina". Historical Biology. 35 (6): 1028–1040. Bibcode:2023HBio...35.1028F. doi:10.1080/08912963.2022.2074844. ISSN 0891-2963. S2CID 249531139.