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New Specimens of Reigitherium bunodontum from the Late Cretaceous La Colonia Formation, Patagonia, Argentina and Meridiolestidan Diversity in South America

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A Correction to this article was published on 27 December 2021

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Abstract

We describe the first maxillae and additional new specimens of Reigitherium bunodontum, a small meridiolestidan from the Late Cretaceous La Colonia Formation, Patagonia, Argentina. The new material supports a dental formula of I?, C1, P4, M3, resolves postcanine positional uncertainty and corrects previous interpretations. Our phylogeny recovers Reigitherium as a meridiolestidan allied to other bunodont Mesungulatoidea, as the sister group of the Paleocene Peligrotherium. Posterior premolars/molars of Reigitherium, and to a smaller degree Peligrotherium, are dominated by an incomplete transverse ridge running between the protoconid-metaconid in the lowers and the paracone-stylocone in the uppers, semi-symmetrical basins developing mesially and distally from these central ridges. The trigonid-derived single transverse crest results from a mesial shift of the robust metaconid, an enhancement of the basin crest stretching from the protoconid/metaconid, and a shallower trigonid basin. The mesungulatoid condition, with its complete absence of talonid, contrasts sharply with that of therians with lophs, or transverse ridges, which involved at least one talonid-derived loph resulting in two transverse crests per tooth. Mesungulatoid meridiolestidans achieved complex tooth-on-tooth occlusion with a predicted increase in herbivory/omnivory, departing from the traditional sharp-cusp insectivores plesiomorphic for meridiolestidans and Mesozoic mammals in general. Reigitherium’s dramatic remodeling of the primitive meridiolestidan molar morphology, extensive continuous occlusal surface, accessory cuspules, and highly textured crenulated enamel illustrates one of most distinctive adaptations to herbivory among Mesozoic mammals.

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Acknowledgements

We are honored to contribute this paper to a collection celebrating the many accomplishments of John R. Wible. John is a consummate morphologist who has brought the field of mammalian paleontology, kicking and screaming perhaps, into a world of refined anatomy and exquisite scholarly output. He has served as an inspiration, a mentor, and a friend to several of us. It is impossible to imagine the current status of our field without his foundational work, monumental in scope and sheer heft. We are all better for having a colleague like him. Collecting, processing and curating microfossils is a demanding task that would have not been possible without the help of numerous colleagues and students; all the authors know this firsthand. We want to thank Pablo Puerta, Analia Forasiepi, Raul Gomez, Marcos Becerra, Diego Pol, José Carballido, Rocío Belén Vera, Corinne Brown, Zachary Biven-Leslie and Kevin Gomez for help in collecting the material, curating it and organizing the field work. We recognize Eduardo Ruigómez at the Museo Egidio Feruglio (MEF) for his help with the collection over the years. Our screen washing, picking and sorting was immensely facilitated by the support we received locally from the Ministerio de Educación, Chubut Province, Eliseo Molina and Juan Silinski, from El Torito Ranch and Walter Ellis from El Juncal Ranch. Additional thanks to Zachary Biven-Lesley for help in the production of this manuscript and to Cynthia Corbitt for comments on an earlier version.

Funding

Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, University of Louisville supported and PICT 2016 2682 GWR.

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its online resource files.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA

    Guillermo W. Rougier

  2. Instituto de Geociencias Básicas, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Guillermo F. Turazzinni

  3. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales Y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Mauricio S. Cardozo

  4. DeBusk School of Osteopathic Medicine, Lincoln Memorial University, Knoxville, TN, USA

    Tony Harper

  5. Departamento de Ecología Genética Y Evolución, EGEBA (CONICET/UBA), UBA, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Andres I. Lires

  6. Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, Trelew, Chubut, Argentina

    Leandro A. Canessa

Authors
  1. Guillermo W. Rougier
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  2. Guillermo F. Turazzinni
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  3. Mauricio S. Cardozo
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  4. Tony Harper
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  5. Andres I. Lires
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  6. Leandro A. Canessa
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Contributions

GWR conceived the study and wrote the first draft. GFT led graphics production and ran the phylogenetic analyses. MSC compiled the Online Resource data. All the authors provided feedback and edited the manuscript and were directly involved in the collection of the specimens, fieldwork and picking.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guillermo W. Rougier.

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Conflicts of Interest/Competing Interests

GWR is an associate editor for the Journal of Mammalian Evolution but was not involved in evaluation of this manuscript.

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Rougier, G.W., Turazzinni, G.F., Cardozo, M.S. et al. New Specimens of Reigitherium bunodontum from the Late Cretaceous La Colonia Formation, Patagonia, Argentina and Meridiolestidan Diversity in South America. J Mammal Evol 28, 1051–1081 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-021-09585-2

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