Vintana
| Vintana Temporal range: Maastrichtian
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|---|---|
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| Life reconstruction of Vintana sertichi. Postcranial reconstruction is hypothetical. | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Family: | †Sudamericidae |
| Genus: | †Vintana Krause et al., 2014 |
| Species: | †V. sertichi
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| Binomial name | |
| †Vintana sertichi Krause et al., 2014
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Vintana sertichi is an early gondwanatherian mammal dating from the Late Cretaceous, approximately 66 million years ago. Scientists found the lone fossil, a skull, on Madagascar's west coast in the Maastrichtian Maevarano Formation.
Vintana is extremely relevant to the understanding of gondwanatheres because it is the first well-preserved skull, as opposed to previous fragments and teeth. Establishing a connection with multituberculates and haramiyidans in the theriiform clade Allotheria, it is a rather unusual animal, either closely associated with the archosaurs or Euarchontoglires and Laurasiatheria, possessing massive lateral flanges in its skull whose exact purpose is poorly understood, as well as massive olfactory bulbs. A rather large animal at a weight of 19 pounds (8.74 kg), Vintana also represents another example of a considerably large Mesozoic mammal alongside Adalatherium, another gondwanathere from same formation, this body mass is only exceeded by Repenomamus[1][2][3][4] and Patagomaia.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Krause, David W.; Hoffmann, Simone; Wible, John R.; Kirk, E. Christopher; Schultz, Julia A.; von Koenigswald, Wighart; Groenke, Joseph R.; Rossie, James B. (2014-11-05). "First cranial remains of a gondwanatherian mammal reveal remarkable mosaicism". Nature. 515 (7528). O'Connor, Patrick M., Seiffert, Erik R., Dumont, Elizabeth R., Holloway, Waymon L., Rogers, Raymond R., Rahantarisoa, Lydia J., Kemp, Addison D., Andriamialison, Haingoson. Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited: 512–517. Bibcode:2014Natur.515..512K. doi:10.1038/nature13922. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 25383528. S2CID 4395258.
- ^ Drake, Nadia (November 5, 2014). "Fossil From Dinosaur Era Reveals Big Mammal With Super Senses". nationalgeographic.com. National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on November 5, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
- ^ Wilford, John Noble (November 5, 2014). "Fossil's Unusual Size and Location Offer Clues in Evolution of Mammals". New York Times. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
- ^ Krause, David W.; Hoffmann, Simone; Hu, Yaoming; Wible, John R.; Rougier, Guillermo W.; Kirk, E. Christopher; Groenke, Joseph R.; Rogers, Raymond R.; Rossie, James B.; Schultz, Julia A.; Evans, Alistair R.; von Koenigswald, Wighart; Rahantarisoa, Lydia J. (2020). "Skeleton of a Cretaceous mammal from Madagascar reflects long-term insularity". Nature. 581 (7809): 421–427. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2234-8. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 32461642. S2CID 256822209.
External links
[edit]
Data related to Vintana at Wikispecies
 | This article about a Cretaceous mammal is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- Cretaceous Madagascar
- Cretaceous mammals of Africa
- Fossils of Madagascar
- Fossil taxa described in 2014
- Maevarano fauna
- Maastrichtian life
- Taxa named by David W. Krause
- Taxa named by Simone Hoffmann
- Taxa named by John R. Wible
- Taxa named by E. Christopher Kirk
- Taxa named by Julia A. Schultz
- Taxa named by Wighart von Koenigswald
- Taxa named by Joseph R. Groenke
- Taxa named by James B. Rossie
- Taxa named by Patrick M. O'Connor (herpetologist)
- Taxa named by Erik R. Seiffert
- Taxa named by Elizabeth R. Dumont
- Taxa named by Waymon L. Holloway
- Taxa named by Raymond R. Rogers
- Taxa named by Lydia J. Rahantarisoa
- Taxa named by Addison D. Kemp
- Taxa named by Haingoson Andriamialison
- Cretaceous mammal stubs