Abstract
THE family Deltatheridiidae1 has been redifined to include primitive therian mammals of tribosphenic grade referrable to only two genera Deltatheridium1 and Deltatheroides2, from the Djadokhta and Barun Goyot Formations, of uncertain age within the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia2. The Deltatheridiidae, long considered Eutheria, although of disputed taxonomic dimensions and phyletic position within the infraclass1–5, seem now best classified as therians of metatherian–eutherian grade, but referrable to neither Metatheria nor Eutheria2. A combination of apparent marsupial-like and placental-like features in the known parts of the dentition and skull of members of the Deltatheridiidae insures that the family will be of continuing interest.
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FOX, R. Deltatheroides—like mammals from the Upper Cretaceous of North America. Nature 249, 392 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/249392a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/249392a0
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