Sparassodonta

Sparassodonta
Temporal range: Paleocene-Pliocene Possible Late Cretaceous record
Lycopsis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Clade: Metatheria
Clade: Marsupialiformes
Order: †Sparassodonta
Ameghino, 1894
Families

†Hathliacynidae
†Hondadelphidae
†Borhyaenidae
†Proborhyaenidae
†Thylacosmilidae

Sparassodonta (from Greek σπαράσσειν [sparassein], to tear, rend; and ὀδούς, gen. ὀδόντος [odous, odontos], tooth) is an extinct order of carnivorous metatherian mammals native to South America, related to modern marsupials. They were once considered to be true marsupials, but are now thought to be a separate side branch that split before the last common ancestor of all modern marsupials.[1][2][3][4][5]

A number of these mammalian predators closely resemble placental predators that evolved separately on other continents, and are cited frequently as examples of convergent evolution. They were first described by Florentino Ameghino, from fossils found in the Santa Cruz beds of Patagonia. Sparassodonts were present throughout South America's long period of "splendid isolation" during the Cenozoic; during this time, they shared the niches for large warm-blooded predators with the flightless terror birds. Previously, it was thought that these mammals died out in the face of competition from "more competitive" placental carnivorans during the Pliocene Great American Interchange, but more recent research has showed that sparassodonts died out long before eutherian carnivores arrived in South America (aside from procyonids, which sparassodonts probably did not directly compete with).[6][7][8]

Sparassodonts have been referred to as borhyaenoids by some authors,[9][10][11] but currently the term Borhyaenoidea refers to a restricted subgroup of sparassodonts comprising borhyaenids and their close relatives.[12][13]

  1. ^ Guillermo W. Rougier, John R. Wible and Michael J. Novacek. First Implications of Deltatheridium specimens for early marsupial history, Nature 396, 459–463(3 December 1998)
  2. ^ Bi, S.; Jin, X.; Li, S.; Du, T. (2015). "A new Cretaceous metatherian mammal from Henan, China". PeerJ. 3: e896. doi:10.7717/peerj.896. PMC 4400878. PMID 25893149.
  3. ^ Guillermo Rougier, New specimen of Deltatheroides cretacicus (Metatheria, Deltatheroida) from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia, BULLETIN OF CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 36(DEC 2004):245-266 · SEPTEMBER 2009
  4. ^ Rougier, Guillermo W.; Davis, Brian M.; Novacek, Michael J. (2015). "A deltatheroidan mammal from the Upper Cretaceous Baynshiree Formation, eastern Mongolia". Cretaceous Research. 52: 167–177. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2014.09.009.
  5. ^ Wilson, GP; Ekdale, EG; Hoganson, JW; Calede, JJ; Vander Linden, A (2016). "A large carnivorous mammal from the Late Cretaceous and the North American origin of marsupials". Nat Commun. 7: 13734. Bibcode:2016NatCo...713734W. doi:10.1038/ncomms13734. PMC 5155139. PMID 27929063.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference parahyaenodon was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Prevosti, Francisco J.; Analía Forasiepi; Natalia Zimicz (2013). "The Evolution of the Cenozoic Terrestrial Mammalian Predator Guild in South America: Competition or Replacement?". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 20: 3–21. doi:10.1007/s10914-011-9175-9. hdl:11336/2663. S2CID 15751319.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Engelman2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Simpson1941 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Naish, Darren. "Invasion of the marsupial weasels, dogs, cats and bears...or is it?". Tetrapod Zoology. Scientific American. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Argot2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Forasiepi2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Marshal1990 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).