Life reconstruction of Feredocodon chowi (right) and Dianoconodon youngi (left). Image credit: Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Live Science has a story about a new Jurassic mammaliaform. Feredocodon chowi lived during the Jurassic in what is now China. It's a Shuotheriid, which is a group of mammal-like animals that have long been problematic as to where they fit into the mammalian family tree. Their unique dental characteristics make them hard to classify. A new paper in the journal Nature describes F. chowi and its classification.
Professor Vickers-Rich and her colleagues examined pseudotribosphenic teeth of a new Jurassic shuotheriid, Feredocodon chowi, represented by two skeletal specimens.
They were able to more fully analyze the dental structures using a variety of analysis, which suggested that shuotheriid dental structures appear to be very similar to those of docodontans.
The study suggests that shuotheriids do not have a genuine trigonid in their bottom teeth, indicating a closer relationship to docodontans than previously thought.
This reassessment of tooth architecture not only resolves unresolved interpretations but also triggers a reconsideration of the evolutionary connections within mammaliaforms.
