Biology:Asiadelphia

From HandWiki

Asiadelphia
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous (Coniacian-Campanian) 89.3–70.6 Ma
Asiatherium reshetovi holotype cast - ZooKeys 465 (skull).jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Class:
Mammalia
Subclass:
Infraclass:
Order:
Asiadelphia

Trofimov and Szalay, 1994
Family:
Asiatheriidae

Trofimov and Szalay, 1994
Genera
  • Kokopellia juddi Cifelli 1993
  • Asiatherium reshetovi Trofimov & Szalay 1994

Asiadelphia ("Asian opossum") is an order of Cretaceous Metatherians. Different from the Ameridelphia, they lacked a prominent distolateral process on the scaphoid, and possessed a more slender fibula. The masseteric fossa is deeper in this group than the true Marsupials.

Further reading

Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska, Richard L. Cifelli, and Zhe-Xi Luo, Mammals from the Age of Dinosaurs: Origins, Evolution, and Structure (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004), 15, 451-452.

Wikidata ☰ Q577459 entry