Anatoliadelphys

Anatoliadelphys
Temporal range: Middle Eocene
Holotype skeleton, scale bar = 5 cm
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Family: Anatoliadelphyidae
Genus: Anatoliadelphys
A. Murat Maga; Robin M. D. Beck, 2017
Species:
A. maasae
Binomial name
Anatoliadelphys maasae
A. Murat Maga; Robin M. D. Beck, 2017

Anatoliadelphys maasae is an extinct genus of predatory metatherian mammal from the Eocene of Anatolia. It was an arboreal, cat-sized animal, with powerful crushing jaws similar to those of the modern Tasmanian devil. Although most mammalian predators of the northern hemisphere in this time period were placentals, Europe was an archipelago, and the island landmass now forming Turkey might have been devoid of competing mammalian predators,[1] though this may not matter since other carnivorous metatherians are also known from the Cenozoic in the Northern Hemisphere.[2] Nonetheless, it stands as a reminder that mammalian faunas in the Paleogene of the Northern Hemisphere were more complex than previously thought, and metatherians did not immediately lose their hold as major predators after their success in the Cretaceous.[1]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Murat Maga2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sánchez-Villagra2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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