Lambdopsalis
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Extinct (fossil)
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| Lambdopsalis bulla Chow & Qi, 1978 |
Lambdopsalis is a genus of mammal from the Paleocene of China. This animal was a relatively large member of the extinct order Multituberculata. It is placed within the suborder Cimolodonta and is a member of the superfamily Taeniolabidoidea.
The genus Lambdopsalis (Chow M & Qi T, 1978) is known by the species Lambdopsalis bulla. Fossil remains have been found in strata dating to the Upper Paleocene in Nao-mugen and Bayn Ulan of China.
This genus of burrowing multituberculate mammals used to provide the earliest direct evidence of mammal fur. (This is out of date since May 2002. The new record holder, Eomaia, comes from the Lower Cretaceous.) Hair is highly unlikely to fossilize. There are indications that it first appeared on non-mammalian therapsids (Therapsida), back in the Triassic or even earlier. This is inferred from small hollows on the bone of the snout, which may and probably did provide space for concentrations of nerves and blood vessels. It’s a feature also known from cats. This adaptation allows cats to use their whiskers (specialized hairs) as effective sensory organs.
However, some exceptional fossils from China do actually include mammal fur, some of which is from Lambdopsalis. These are coprolites that contain the undigested leftovers excreted by carnivores.
[edit] References
- Chow & Qi (1978), "Paleocene mammalian fossils from Nomogen Formation of Inner Mongolia." Vertebrata PalAsiatica 16(2), p.77-85.
- Kielan-Jaworowska Z. & Hurum J.H. (2001), "Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals." Paleontology 44, p.389-429.
- Much of this information is derived from [1] MESOZOIC MAMMALS; Eucosmodontidae, Microcosmodontidae and Taeniolabidoidea, an Internet directory.
