| Arboroharamiya Temporal range: Middle Jurassic,
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|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Clade: | Therapsida |
| Clade: | Cynodontia |
| Clade: | Mammaliaformes |
| Order: | †Haramiyida |
| Genus: | †Arboroharamiya Zheng et al., 2013 |
| Species | |
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†Arboroharamiya jenkinsi | |
Arboroharamiya is an extinct genus of early mammal (or possibly a non-mammalian mammaliaform) from the Middle Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation of Inner Mongolia, China. Arboroharamiya belongs to a group of mammaliaforms called Haramiyida. The type species Arboroharamiya jenkinsi was described in the journal Nature in 2013 alongside a description of the closely related haramiyidan Megaconus. Unlike Megaconus, which is thought to have been ground-dwelling, Arboroharamiya was arboreal.[2] It has a long tail that might have been prehensile, and very long fingers. Based on the shape of its teeth, Arboroharamiya might have been an omnivore or a seed eater.[3] Recent interpretations of its specimen suggest that it possessed patagia and was a glider.[4]
When Arboroharamiya was included in a phylogenetic analysis of early mammals and mammaliaforms, Haramiyida was found to be a group within Mammalia, the true mammals. However, Megaconus was included in a different phylogenetic analysis, and that analysis placed Haramiyida outside Mammalia as a more basal ("primitive") group of mammaliaforms. The classification of Arboroharamiya and other haramiyidans as true mammals fits with what most previous studies have found, but since Arboroharamiya and Megaconus were not included in the same phylogenetic analysis, their position within Mammaliaformes remains uncertain.[3]
- ^ Gang Han; Fangyuan Mao; Shundong Bi; Yuanqing Wang; Jin Meng (2017). "A Jurassic gliding euharamiyidan mammal with an ear of five auditory bones". Nature. 551 (7681): 451–456. doi:10.1038/nature24483. PMID 29132143.
- ^ Zheng, X.; Bi, S.; Wang, X.; Meng, J. (2013). "A new arboreal haramiyid shows the diversity of crown mammals in the Jurassic period". Nature. 500 (7461): 199–202. doi:10.1038/nature12353. PMID 23925244.
- ^ a b Perkins, S. (7 August 2013). "Fossils throw mammalian family tree into disarray". Nature News. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
- ^ Han, G; Mao, F; Bi, S; Wang, Y; Meng, J (2017). "A Jurassic gliding euharamiyidan mammal with an ear of five auditory bones". Nature. 551 (7681): 451–456. doi:10.1038/nature24483. PMID 29132143.