| Maelestes Temporal range: Late Cretaceous
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|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Cimolesta |
| Family: | †Cimolestidae |
| Genus: | †Maelestes Wible et al., 2007 |
| Species: | †M. gobiensis
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| Binomial name | |
| †Maelestes gobiensis Wible et al., 2007
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Maelestes is a prehistoric shrew-like mammal discovered in 1997 in the Gobi Desert. The animal lived in the late Cretaceous Period, around 71–75 million years ago, and was a contemporary of dinosaurs such as Velociraptor and Oviraptor. According to some scientists, the discovery and analysis of this species suggests that true placental mammals appeared near the time the non-avian dinosaurs became extinct 66 million years ago, not much earlier in the Cretaceous as thought by others.[1] However, the presence of an epipubic bone, among other characteristics, place it as a non-placental eutherian.[1][2]
- ^ a b Wible, J.R., G.W. Rougier, M.J. Novacek, and R.J. Asher. (2007). "Cretaceous eutherians and Laurasian origin for placental mammals near the K/T boundary." Nature, 447: 1003–1006.
- ^ Giallombardo, Andres, 2009 New Cretaceous mammals from Mongolia and the early diversification of Eutheria Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 2009402 pages; AAT 3373736 (abstract) The origin of Placental Mammals, Cimolestidae, Zalambdalestidae