A new derorhynchid (Mammalia, Metatheria) from the early Eocene Itaboraí fauna of Brazil with comments on its affinities.

A new early Eocene, small-sized metatherian from the Itaboraí fauna is described. The new taxon is recognized on the basis of an incomplete dentary recovered from fissure fillings in the travertine limestones from the Itaboraí Basin, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The phylogenetic analysis placed the new genus and species as the sister taxon of Derorhynchus, undescribed Derorhynchidae, and Coona plus Pauladelphys. When compared to Derorhynchus, the new taxon exhibits a shorter dentary, in which the first lower premolar is not separated from the second by a diastema, and shows second and third lower molars with subequal trigonid and talonid width (in Derorhynchus the talonids are wider than the trigonids). This new taxon shows some plesiomorphic traits when compared with the remaining derorhynchids, such as the shallower dentary (less than 1.5 mm), and conical entoconids rather than flattened in shape. The combination of very small size (~13-20g), sharp crests, tall and slender cuspids, broad talonid basins, as well as trigonid taller than the talonid is suggestive of an insectivorous diet for the new taxon.

New cladotherian mammal from southern Chile and the evolution of mesungulatid meridiolestidans at the dusk of the Mesozoic era.

In the last decades, several discoveries have uncovered the complexity of mammalian evolution during the Mesozoic Era, including important Gondwanan lineages: the australosphenidans, gondwanatherians, and meridiolestidans (Dryolestoidea). Most often, their presence and diversity is documented by isolated teeth and jaws. Here, we describe a new meridiolestidan mammal, Orretherium tzen gen. et sp. nov., from the Late Cretaceous of southern Chile, based on a partial jaw with five cheek teeth in locis and an isolated upper premolar. Phylogenetic analysis places Orretherium as the earliest divergence within Mesungulatidae, before other forms such as the Late Cretaceous Mesungulatum and Coloniatherium, and the early Paleocene Peligrotherium. The in loco tooth sequence (last two premolars and three molars) is the first recovered for a Cretaceous taxon in this family and suggests that reconstructed tooth sequences for other Mesozoic mesungulatids may include more than one species. Tooth eruption and replacement show that molar eruption in mesungulatids is heterochronically delayed with regard to basal dryolestoids, with therian-like simultaneous eruption of the last premolar and last molar. Meridiolestidans seem endemic to Patagonia, but given their diversity and abundance, and the similarity of vertebrate faunas in other regions of Gondwana, they may yet be discovered in other continents.

A Late Cretaceous mammal from Brazil and the first radioisotopic age for the Bauru Group.

In the last three decades, records of tribosphenidan mammals from India, continental Africa, Madagascar and South America have challenged the notion of a strictly Laurasian distribution of the group during the Cretaceous. Here, we describe a lower premolar from the Late Cretaceous Adamantina Formation, São Paulo State, Brazil. It differs from all known fossil mammals, except for a putative eutherian from the same geologic unity and Deccanolestes hislopi, from the Maastrichtian of India. The incompleteness of the material precludes narrowing down its taxonomic attribution further than Tribosphenida, but it is larger than most coeval mammals and shows a thin layer of parallel crystallite enamel. The new taxon helps filling two major gaps in the fossil record: the paucity of Mesozoic mammals in more northern parts of South America and of tribosphenidans in the Cretaceous of that continent. In addition, high-precision U-Pb geochronology provided a post-Turonian maximal age (≤87.8 Ma) for the type stratum, which is overlain by the dinosaur-bearing Marília Formation, constraining the age of the Adamantina Formation at the site to late Coniacian-late Maastrichtian. This represents the first radioisotopic age for the Bauru Group, a key stratigraphic unit for the study of Cretaceous tetrapods in Gondwana.

Taxonomy, affinities, and paleobiology of the tiny metatherian mammal Minusculodelphis, from the early Eocene of South America.

With less than 3 g of estimated body mass, the early Eocene Minusculodelphis minimus Paula Couto (Mammalia, Metatheria, Jaskhadelphyidae) is one of the smallest mammals, living or extinct. It has alternatively been regarded as a didelphid or a derorhynchid "ameridelphian," or even as an eometatherian marsupial. Here, we describe a new species of Minusculodelphis coming from the same locality (Itaboraí Quarry, Brazil) and age (Itaboraian age) of the type species of the genus. It differs from M. minimus in its larger size and several dental characters. The new species offers data on the upper dentition and femur, which are unknown in the type species. Compared to other Paleogene metatherians, Minusculodelphis shows closer relationships with Jaskhadelphys, from the early Paleocene of Tiupampa, Bolivia, as well as with Kiruwamaq, from the late Eocene-early Oligocene of Perú. A cladistic analysis places all three genera within the family Jaskhadelphyidae (Metatheria, Order indet.), which includes small to tiny, insectivorous-like metatherians. We argue that insectivory (soft insects) is the best-supported diet for both species of Minusculodelphis, and that the most probable microhabitat for them was the understorey or leaf litter of tropical, rain forested environments.

Persistence of a Mesozoic, non-therian mammalian lineage (Gondwanatheria) in the mid-Paleogene of Patagonia.

We describe two isolated molariforms recovered from early-middle Eocene (early Lutetian) levels of northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. Comparisons with major lineages of therian and non-therian mammals lead us to refer them to a new genus and species of Gondwanatheria (Allotheria). There is a single root supporting each tooth that is very short, wide, rounded, and covered by cementum; the steep sidewalls, lack of a neck between the crown and root, and the heavily worn stage in both molariforms suggest that they were of a protohypsodont type. Both teeth are strongly worn at their centers, all along their length, with the labial edge less worn than the lingual; they show strong transverse crests that alternate with lingual grooves. The protohypsodont aspect of the teeth, as well as the strong, transverse crests, are suggestive of sudamericid affinities; on the other hand, the thin enamel layer and the occlusal pattern formed by the crests and grooves shows more similarities to molariform teeth of the Ferugliotheriidae. The new taxon adds evidence regarding the (1) extensive radiation of the Gondwanatheria throughout the Southern Hemisphere, (2) persistence of several lineages well after the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary, and (3) early evolution of hypsodont types among South American herbivorous mammals.

Microestructura del esmalte dentario: definiciones y conceptos / Dental enamel microstructure: definitions and concepts

Proponemos aquí un marco conceptual estándar para comprender la terminología usual, en lengua castellana, relativa a la microestructura del esmalte dentario. Como resultado de un relevamiento llevado a cabo en cátedras de histología, librerías universitarias especializadas y consultas en las bibliotecas odontológicas, se registra una pluralidad de términos y significados en torno a varias de estas estructuras. Existe un claro defasaje entre la terminología de uso odontológico y aquella empleada en otras disciplinas (zoológicas, paleontológicas, primatológicas). Los conflictos más abundantes son referibles a: 1) los niveles de análisis; 2) los tipos de esmalte y función del esmalte; 3) la forma de los prismas y la sustancia interprismática; 4) problemas en torno a la visualización (ya sea como artefacto o como estructura) de algunas morfologías, y 5) problemas de traducción. Finalmente, se propone una versión castellan unívoca de los términos más usuales.

Microestructura del esmalte dentario: definiciones y conceptos / Dental enamel microstructure: definitions and concepts

Proponemos aquí un marco conceptual estándar para comprender la terminología usual, en lengua castellana, relativa a la microestructura del esmalte dentario. Como resultado de un relevamiento llevado a cabo en cátedras de histología, librerías universitarias especializadas y consultas en las bibliotecas odontológicas, se registra una pluralidad de términos y significados en torno a varias de estas estructuras. Existe un claro defasaje entre la terminología de uso odontológico y aquella empleada en otras disciplinas (zoológicas, paleontológicas, primatológicas). Los conflictos más abundantes son referibles a: 1) los niveles de análisis; 2) los tipos de esmalte y función del esmalte; 3) la forma de los prismas y la sustancia interprismática; 4) problemas en torno a la visualización (ya sea como artefacto o como estructura) de algunas morfologías, y 5) problemas de traducción. Finalmente, se propone una versión castellan unívoca de los términos más usuales.(AU)