Cronopio
Name: Cronopio
(After a fictional character).
Phonetic: Cro-noe-pe-oh.
Named By: Guillermo W. Rougier, Sebasti�n
Apestegu�a & Leandro C. Gaetano - 2011.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia,
Dryolestoidea, Meridiolestida.
Species: C. dentiacutus (type).
Diet: Insectivore.
Size: Uncertain due to incomplete remains, but
estimated to be several centimetres long.
Known locations: Argentina - Candeleros
Formation.
Time period: Cenomanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Two partial skulls and
mandibles (lower jaw bones).
This
small mammal is most important for being the earliest known dryolestoid
mammal from South America. However it is more famous for its unusual
arrangement of teeth. Cronopio had very slender
jaws and in the
centre of the top jaw there were two enlarged canine teeth, something
which has given rise to the nickname of ‘sabre-toothed squirrel’.
Another resemblance is to that of the cgi character Scrat in the Ice
Age films.
These
enlarged canines as well as the jaws were quite gracile in form, and
certainly not suited for strong biting. Instead the main food
processing teeth were much smaller and suited for eating insects. It
could be that the enlarged canine teeth had a special purpose, such
as making it easier to disable a particulary dangerous species of
insect, or combined with the narrow jaws to root into nooks and
crevices. It is also possible the teeth may have been more for show
rather than physical use.
Further reading
- Highly specialized mammalian skulls from the Late Cretaceous of South
America. - Nature 479:98-102. - G. W. Rougier, S. Apestegu�a &
L. C. Gaetano - 2011.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Random favourites
 |
 |
 |