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The Kuehneotheriidae (Mammaliaformes) from Saint-Nicolas-de-Port (Upper Triassic, France): a Systematic Review

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Abstract

The origin and first diversification of mammals in the Upper Triassic remain poorly understood, in part because many fossil discoveries are not fully studied, and in part because the material remains poor. The Saint-Nicolas-de-Port quarry (Rhaetian, France) is the second most important locality that yielded remains of Kuehneotherium, after the fissure-fillings of the Glamorganshire (Lower Jurassic, Wales). This study identifies one new species of Kuehneotherium, K. stanislavi, sp. nov., and a new genus of Kuehneotheriidae, Fluctuodon necmergor, gen. et sp. nov. For these two new species, lower and upper molars are described and the first reconstructions of the postcanine row are proposed. Comparisons with material of Kuehneotherium from other Upper Triassic sites (Syren in Luxembourg, Emborough in England, and Jameson Land in Greenland) suggest two distinct Upper Triassic specific kuehneotheriid assemblages, respectively, west and east of the London Brabant Massif. They also suggest that the extinction event during the Triassic/Jurassic transition did not have a great impact on Kuehneotherium.

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Acknowledgments

This study is based on the author’s PhD thesis work at the MNHN (doctoral school ‘ED 227, Sciences de la Nature et de l’Homme’), supervised by Emmanuel Gheerbrant and Ronan Allain. The author thanks the following persons: Pamela Gill for sharing her knowledge and her raw data on material of Kuehneotherium from Wales; Jerry Hooker and Pip Brewer for their help during a visit to the NHMUK; Pascal Godefroit for his help during a visit to the RBINS; Jocelyn Falconnet for sharing his knowledge of the ICZN; Sophie Fernandez for helping in the preparation of the drawings; Miguel Garcia Sanz for his work on the AST-RX platform ‘Plate-forme d‘accès scientifique à la tomographie à rayons X’ supervised by the UMS 2700 ‘outils et méthodes de la systématique intégrative CNRS-MNHN,’ as well as Florent Goussard and Damien Germain for their help in the processing of 3D images; and Ronan Allain, Emmanuel Gheerbrant, Pamela Gill, Alexander Averianov, John Wible, and an anonymous reviewer for their help in the revision of the manuscript. This study has been supported by the ATM ‘Biodiversité actuelle et fossile. Crises, stress, restaurations et panchronisme: le message systématique,’ the ATM ‘Emergences,’ and by the UMR 7207 ‘Centre de Recherche sur la Paléobiodiversité et les Paléoenvironnements.’

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  1. Centre de Recherches sur la Paléobiodiversité et les Paléoenvironnements (CR2P), UMR 7207 CNRS-MNHN-UPMC (SU), 57, rue Cuvier, CP 38, 75005, Paris, France

    Maxime Debuysschere

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Debuysschere, M. The Kuehneotheriidae (Mammaliaformes) from Saint-Nicolas-de-Port (Upper Triassic, France): a Systematic Review. J Mammal Evol 24, 127–146 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-016-9335-z

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