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Teinolophos
Temporal range: Late Barremian ~123 Ma
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Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Monotremata
Family:
†Teinolophidae
Genus:
†Teinolophos
Species:
†T. trusleri
Binomial name
†Teinolophos trusleri
Rich et al., 1999
Teinolophos is a prehistoric species of monotreme, or egg-laying mammal, from the Teinolophidae. It is known from four specimens, each consisting of a partial lower jawbone collected from the Wonthaggi Formation at Flat Rocks, Victoria, Australia. It lived during the late Barremian age of the Lower Cretaceous.
The species name honours the artist Peter Trusler. The genus name, Teinolophos, means "extended ridge", a reference to its tooth structure.
Originally, Teinolophos was thought to be a eupantothere. Further research revealed similarities to Steropodon, except in size: the animal was around 10 cm long. It is often listed as a steropodontid, though it may be more basal.[1]Teinolophos is deeply divergent within monotreme evolution, so in 2022 it was proposed to move it into its own family, Teinolophidae. Stirtodon may be a close relative of Steropodon within Teinolophidae.[2]
The holotype is a partial left dentary known as NMV P208231. An age of approximately 123 million years makes this the earliest known monotreme. The lower molar is broadly similar in morphology to the m2 of Steropodon. The trigonid is compressed and the talonid has no basin. The dentary is about one sixth the size of Steropodon's, and wear facets indicate an "orthal" occlusion with the upper molars.
^Thomas H. Rich, James A. Hopson, Pamela G. Gill, Peter Trusler, Sally Rogers-Davidson, Steve Morton, Richard L. Cifelli, David Pickering, Lesley Kool, Karen Siu, Flame A. Burgmann, Tim Senden, Alistair R. Evans, Barbara E. Wagstaff, Doris Seegets-Villiers, Ian J. Corfe, Timothy F. Flannery, Ken Walker, Anne M. Musser, Michael Archer, Rebecca Pian and Patricia Vickers-Rich (2016). "The mandible and dentition of the Early Cretaceous monotreme Teinolophos trusleri". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. in press. doi:10.1080/03115518.2016.1180034.
^Flannery, T. F.; Rich, T. H.; Vickers-Rich, P.; Ziegler, T.; Veatch, E. G.; Helgen, K. M. (2022). "A review of monotreme (Monotremata) evolution". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 46: 3–20. doi:10.1080/03115518.2022.2025900. S2CID 247542433.
Peter Trusler. The genus name, Teinolophos, means "extended ridge", a reference to its tooth structure. Originally, Teinolophos was thought to be a eupantothere...
†Patagorhynchus †Patagorhynchus pascuali Another two genera, Steropodon and Teinolophos, were originally thought to belong to the Ornithorhynchidae. However...
assemblage Genus Steropodon Species Steropodon galmani Genus Teinolophos Species Teinolophos trusleri – 123 Ma, oldest monotreme specimen Family Ornithorhynchidae...
relatively large trough in the jaw bone of the early Cretaceous monotreme Teinolophos provides evidence of a pre-mammalian jaw joint, because therapsids and...
000 years ago, during the Quaternary period. The extinct monotremes Teinolophos and Steropodon were once thought to be closely related to the modern...
what would become Australia. Two genera are known: Teinolophos, and possibly also Stirtodon. Teinolophos is deeply divergent within monotreme evolution,...
placenta was a later development. One of the earliest-known monotremes was Teinolophos, which lived about 120 million years ago in Australia. Monotremes have...
described member of the family Steropodontidae. Another proposed member is Teinolophos that was moved into its own family, Teinolophidae, by Flannery et al...
Gondwanaland (the old Southern Hemisphere super-continent). Recent analysis of Teinolophos, which lived somewhere between 121 and 112.5 million years ago, suggests...
000 years ago, during the Quaternary period. The extinct monotremes Teinolophos and Steropodon were once thought to be closely related to the modern...
2022 review of montreme evolution noted that most primitive monotreme Teinolophos differed substantially from other non-monotreme Australosphenidans, having...
†Steropodontidae Archer et al. 1985 Genus †Teinolophos Rich et al. 1999 (might be a basal monotreme or a stem-monotreme) †Teinolophos trusleri Rich et al. 1999 Genus...
reconstructions of extinct organisms. He is the namesake for the extinct monotreme Teinolophos trusleri, discovered on the Victorian coast in December 2000, a significant...
sites (near Inverloch), dated at between 120 and 110 Ma. Several taxa (Teinolophos, Bishops) existed alongside primitive tribosphenic mammals like Ausktribosphenos...
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