Microbiotherium tehuelchum, Ameghino, 1887
publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.1206/0003-0090.457.1.1 |
DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6974452 |
persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03EFDD5D-F779-696B-DB05-FC8A1EE2FEDC |
treatment provided by |
Felipe |
scientific name |
Microbiotherium tehuelchum |
status |
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SPECIES SCORED: † Microbiotherium tehuelchum .
GEOLOGICAL PROVENANCE OF SCORED SPECIMENS: Santa Cruz Formation, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina.
AGE OF SCORED SPECIMENS: The Santa Cruz Formation spans a maximum of 14–19 Mya (see account for † Stilotherium , above).
ASSIGNED AGE RANGE: 19.000 –14.000 Mya.
REMARKS: † Microbiotherium tehuelchum is the only fossil microbiotheriid currently known from anything other than isolated dental remains (Segall, 1969; Marshall, 1982). Of particular importance is a partial auditory region (PU 15038) that exhibits a number of distinctive cranial features that are seen only in Dromiciops among living marsupials (Segall, 1969). We scored our † Microbiotherium terminal based solely on specimens of † M. tehuelchum from the Santa Cruz Formation (Segall, 1969; Marshall, 1982). However, material from the?middle Miocene (Friasian SALMA) Río Frias Formation in Chile (Marshall, 1990) and the early Miocene Pinturas Formation in Argentina (Bown and Fleagle, 1994; Chornogubsky and Kramarz, 2012) has also been referred to † M. tehuelchum . Goin and Abello (2013) presented a phylogenetic analysis of Microbiotheriidae , including † M. tehuelchum , based on 20 dental characters.
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