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Notostylops

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Notostylops
Temporal range: Early-Late Eocene (Casamayoran-Divisaderan)
~48.6–37.2 Ma
Notostylops
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Notoungulata
Family: Notostylopidae
Genus: Notostylops
Ameghino, 1897
Species
Synonyms

Notostylops ("south pillar face") is a genus of extinct South American ungulates from Eocene Argentina. Fossils of the genus have been found in the Sarmiento, Casamayor, Andesitas Huancache and Koluel Kaike Formations.[1]

Description

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Notostylops was a very generalized animal, very similar to first eutherians and ungulates. It would have superficially resembled a marmot or a wombat and is suspected to have browsed on low-growing plants. It was probably adapted to a fairly wide range of ecological niches, but its robustness indicates it had some digging adaptations.[2][3] Its tall skull housed rodent-like incisor teeth. Notostylops was about 75 centimetres (30 in) long.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Notostylops at Fossilworks.org
  2. ^ Croft, Darin. Horned Armadillos and Rafting Monkeys. Indiana University Press.
  3. ^ Lorente, Malena; Gelfo, Javier; Lopez, Guillermo (2018). "First skeleton of the notoungulate mammal Notostylops murinus and palaeobiology of Eocene Notostylopidae". Lethaia. 52 (2): 244–259. doi:10.1111/let.12310. S2CID 135127572.
  4. ^ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 250. ISBN 978-1-84028-152-1.