| Khuduklestes Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
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|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Family: | incertae sedis |
| Genus: | †Khuduklestes Sigogneau-Russell et al., 1994 |
| Type species | |
| †Khuduklestes bohlini Sigogneau-Russell et al., 1994
| |
Khuduklestes is a genus of extinct mammal of uncertain affinities from the Late Cretaceous of China. It is rather similar to the also carnivorous and taxonomically uncertain Oxlestes, being slightly smaller.
Description
Khuduklestes is currently represented by a single specimen, a vertebral axis, known from Cenomanian deposits in the Gansu Province of China. It is rather similar to Oxlestes and is among the largest vertebral mammalian remains from the Mesozoic, indicating a cat-sized animal.
Classification
Khuduklestes was initially placed in Deltatheroida on the basis of its similarity to Oxlestes. However, much as Oxlestes, its identity as a deltatheroidean has also been questioned, and it has periodically also been considered a member of the eutherian clade of mammals.
References
- ^ Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska, Richard L. Cifelli, Zhe-Xi Luo (2004). "Chapter 12: Metatherians". Mammals from the Age of Dinosaurs: origins, evolution, and structure. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 425–262. ISBN 0-231-11918-6.
- ^ Guillermo Rougier, New specimen of Deltatheroides cretacicus (Metatheria, Deltatheroida) from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia, BULLETIN OF CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 36(DEC 2004):245-266 · SEPTEMBER 2009
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