Skip to main content

A New Mammal Skull from the Late Cretaceous of Romania and Phylogenetic Affinities of Kogaionid Multituberculates

Journal of Mammalian Evolution volume 29, pages 1–26 (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

Among the Late Cretaceous fossil sites of Europe, only those from the so-called “Haţeg Island” in Transylvania, western Romania, are remarkable by their abundance in mammal remains. Curiously, all of them belong to a single family of multituberculates, the Kogaionidae, one of the rare families that survived the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction in Europe. Kogaionids are mostly represented by isolated teeth except for three partial large skulls from the Maastrichtian Sânpetru Formation of the Haţeg Basin that have been described from the Sânpetru locality as Kogaionon ungureanui and from the Pui locality as Barbatodon transylvanicus and Litovoi tholocephalos. Here we report for the first time the discovery of a partial skull associated with p4 of a small-sized kogaionid from the Nălaţ-Vad locality in the Sânpetru Formation that we refer to Kogaionon radulescui, sp. nov. An updated phylogenetic analysis, including seven Maastrichtian and Paleocene kogaionids is performed and confirms that Kogaionidae is a monophyletic clade at the base of Cimolodonta. Kogaionon differs from Barbatodon in its narrower snout, proportionally smaller P1, narrower anterior part of P4 with four similar-sized cusps in the middle row, more squared or rounded M1 with an anteroposteriorly longer lingual row, and shorter p4 (at least for K. radulescui). Litovoi tholocephalos is here considered to be a junior synonym of B. transylvanicus. Despite their Maastrichtian age, the very simple and conservative dental morphology of these Romanian kogaionids suggests that they originated from an eobaatarid-like ancestor dispersing from Asia or possibly already existing in Europe between the Barremian and Albian, 40 to 55 Ma earlier.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

References

  • Archibald JD (1982) A study of Mammalia and geology across the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary in Garfield County, Montana. Univ Calif Publ Geol Sci 122:1–286

    Google Scholar 

  • Averianov AO, Martin T, Lopatin AV, Schultz JA, Schellhorn R, Krasnolutskii S, Skutschas P, Ivantsov S (2020) Multituberculate mammals from the Middle Jurassic of western Siberia, Russia, and the origin of Multituberculata. Pap Palaeontol 7:769–787. https://doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Badiola A, Canudo JI, Cuenca-Bescós G (2011) A systematic reassessment of Early Cretaceous multituberculates from Galve (Teruel, Spain). Cretac Res 32:45–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2010.10.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Codrea V, Dica P (2005) Upper Cretaceous-lowermost Miocene lithostratigraphic units exposed in Alba Iulia-Sebeș-Vințu de Jos area (SW Transylvanian Basin). Stud Univ Babes-Bolyai Geol 50: 19–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Codrea V, Smith T, Dica P, Folie A, Garcia G, Godefroit P, Van Itterbeeck J (2002) Dinosaur egg nests, mammals and other vertebrates from a new Maastrichtian site of the Haţeg Basin (Romania). C R Palevol 1:173–180. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1631-0683(02)00021-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Codrea V, Solomon A, Venczel M, Smith T (2014) A new kogaionid multituberculate mammal from the Maastrichtian of the Transylvanian Basin, Romania. C R Palevol 13:489–499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crpv.2016.04.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Codrea V, Solomon A, Venczel M, Smith T (2017a) First mammal species identified from the Upper Cretaceous of the Rusca Montană Basin (Transylvania, Romania). C R Palevol 16:27–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crpv.2016.04.002

  • Codrea VA, Venczel M, Solomon A (2017b) A new family of teiioid lizards from the Upper Cretaceous of Romania with notes on the evolutionary history of early teiioids. Zool J Linnean Soc 181:385–399. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx008

  • Codrea V, Vremir M, Jipa C, Godefroit P, Csiki Z, Smith T, Fărcaş C (2010) More than just Nopcsa’s Transylvanian dinosaurs: a look outside the Haţeg Basin. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 293:391–405. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.10.027

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cope ED (1884) The Tertiary Marsupialia. Am Nat 18:686–697. https://doi.org/10.1086/273711

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Csiki Z, Codrea V, Jipa-Murzea C, Godefroit P (2010) A partial titanosaur (Sauropoda, Dinosauria) skeleton from the Maastrichtian of Nălaţ-Vad, Haţeg Basin, Romania. N Jb Geol Paläontol Abh 258:297–324. https://doi.org/10.1127/0077-7749/2010/0098

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Csiki Z, Grigorescu D (2000) Teeth of multituberculate mammals from the Late Cretaceous of Romania. Acta Palaeontol Pol 45:85–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Csiki Z, Grigorescu D (2007) The “Dinosaur Island” - new interpretation of the Haţeg vertebrate fauna after 110 years. Sargetia 20:5–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Csiki Z, Grigorescu D, Rücklin M (2005) A new multituberculate specimen from the Maastrichtian of Pui, Romania and reassessment of affinities of Barbatodon. Acta Palaeontol Rom 5:73–86

    Google Scholar 

  • Csiki-Sava Z, Buffetaut E, Ősi A, Pereda-Suberbiola X, Brusatte SL (2015) Island life in the Cretaceous faunal composition, biogeography, evolution, and extinction of land-living vertebrates on the Late Cretaceous European archipelago. ZooKeys 469:1–161. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.469.8439

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Csiki-Sava Z, Vremir M, Vasile Ş, Brusatte SL, Dyke G, Naish D, Norell M, Totoianu R (2016) The East Side Story – The Transylvanian latest Cretaceous continental vertebrate record and its implications for understanding Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary events. Cretac Res 57:662–698. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2015.09.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Csiki-Sava Z, Vremir M, Meng J, Brusatte SL, Norell MA (2018) Dome-headed, small-brained island mammal from the Late Cretaceous of Romania. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 115:4857–4862. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1801143115

  • De Bast E, Smith T (2017) The oldest Cenozoic mammal fauna of Europe: implication of the Hainin reference fauna for mammalian evolution and dispersals during the Paleocene. J Syst Palaeontol 15:741–785. https://doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2016.1237582

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delfino M, Codrea V, Folie A, Dica P, Godefroit P, Smith T (2008) A complete skull of Allodaposuchus precedens Nopcsa, 1928 (Eusuchia) and a reassessement of the morphology of the taxon based on the Romanian remains. J Vertebr Paleontol 28: 111–122. https://doi.org/10.1671/0272-4634(2008)28[111:ACSOAP]2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eaton JG (1995) Cenomanian and Turonian (early Late Cretaceous) multituberculate mammals from southwestern Utah. J Vertebr Paleontol 15:761–784

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eaton JG, Cifelli RL (2001) Multituberculate mammals from near the Early–Late Cretaceous boundary, Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah. Acta Palaeontol Pol 46:453–518

    Google Scholar 

  • Folie A, Codrea V (2005) New lissamphibians and squamates from the Maastrichtian of Haţeg Basin, Romania. Acta Palaeontol Pol 50:57–71

    Google Scholar 

  • Fosse G, Rădulescu C, Samson P-M (2001) Enamel microstructure of the Late Cretaceous multituberculate mammal Kogaionon. Acta Palaeontol Pol 46:437–440

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox RC (2005) Microcosmodontid multituberculates (Allotheria, Mammalia) from the Paleocene and Late Cretaceous of western Canada. Palaeontolographica Canadiana 23:1–109

  • Gheerbrant E, Codrea V, Hosu Al, Sen S, Guernet C, de Lapparent de Broin F, Riveline J (1999) Découverte de vertébrés dans les Calcaires de Rona (Thanétien ou Sparnacien), Transylvanie, Roumanie: les plus anciens mammifères cénozoïques d’Europe orientale. Eclogae Geol Helv 92:517–535

  • Godefroit P, Codrea V, Weishampel DB (2009) Osteology of Zalmoxes shqiperorum (Dinosauria, Ornithopoda), based on new specimens from the Upper Cretaceous of Nălaţ-Vad (Romania). Geodiversitas 31:525–553. https://doi.org/10.5252/g2009n3a3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grigorescu D, Hahn G (1987) The first multituberculate teeth from the Upper Cretaceous of Europe (Romania). Geol et Palaeontol 21:237–243

    Google Scholar 

  • Grigorescu D, Venczel M, Csiki Z, Limberea R (1999) New latest Cretaceous microvertebrate fossil assemblages from the Haţeg Basin (Roumania). Geol en Mijnb 78:301–314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurum JH (1998) The inner ear of two Late Cretaceous multituberculate mammals, and its implications for multituberculate hearing. J Mammal Evol 5:65–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jepsen GL (1940) Paleocene faunas of the Polecat Bench Formation, Park County, Wyoming: Part I. Proc Am Philos Soc 83:217–341

    Google Scholar 

  • Kielan-Jaworowska Z, Cifelli RL, Luo Z-X (2004) Mammals from the Age of Dinosaurs: Origins, Evolution and Structure. Columbia University Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kielan-Jaworowska Z, Dashzeveg D, Trofimov BA (1987) Early Cretaceous multituberculates from Mongolia and a comparison with Late Jurassic forms. Acta Palaeontol Pol 32:3–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Kielan-Jaworowska Z, Gambaryan P (1994) Postcranial anatomy and habits of Asian multituberculate mammals. Foss and Strat 36:1–92

    Google Scholar 

  • Kielan-Jaworowska Z, Hurum JH (1997) Djadochtatheria – a new suborder of multituberculate mammals. Acta Palaeontol Pol 42:201-242

    Google Scholar 

  • Kielan-Jaworowska Z, Hurum JH (2001) Phylogeny and systematics of multituberculate mammals. Palaeontology 44:389–429. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-4983.00185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kielan-Jaworowska Z, Hurum JH, Badamgarav D (2003) An extended range of multituberculate Kryptobaatar and distribution of mammals in the Upper Cretaceous of the Gobi Desert. Acta Palaeontol Pol 48:273–278

    Google Scholar 

  • Kielan-Jaworowska Z, Lancaster TE (2004) A new reconstruction of multituberculate endocranial casts and encephalization quotient of Kryptobaatar. Acta Palaeontol Pol 49:177–188

    Google Scholar 

  • Kielan-Jaworowska Z, Sochava AV (1969) The first multituberculate from the uppermost Cretaceous of the Gobi Desert (Mongolia). Acta Palaeontol Pol 14:355–367

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirkland JI, Alcalá L, Loewen MA, Espílez E, Mampel L, Wiersma JP (2013) The basal nodosaurid ankylosaur Europelta carbonensis n. gen., n. sp. from the Lower Cretaceous (Lower Albian) Escucha Formation of northeastern Spain. PLoS ONE 8(12):e80405. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0080405

  • Krause DW (1977) Paleocene multituberculates (Mammalia) of the Roche Percée local fauna, Ravenscrag Formation, Saskatchewan, Canada. Palaeontographica Abt A 159:1–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Krause DW (1980) Multituberculates from the Clarkforkian Land-Mammal Age, late Paleocene-early Eocene, of western North America. J Paleontol 54:1163–1183

    Google Scholar 

  • Krause DW (1982a) Multituberculates from the Wasatchian Land-Mammal Age, early Eocene, of western North America. J Paleontol 56:271–294

  • Krause DW (1982b) Jaw movement, dental function, and diet in the Paleocene multituberculate Ptilodus. Paleobiology 8:265–281

  • Krause DW (1987) Systematic revision of the genus Prochetodon (Ptilodontidae, Multituberculata) from the late Paleocene and early Eocene of western North America. Contrib Mus Paleontol, Univ Michigan 27:221–236

    Google Scholar 

  • Krause DW, Hoffmann S, Hu Y, Wible JR, Rougier GW, Kirk EC, Groenke JR, Rogers RR, Rossie JB, Schultz JA, Evans AR, von Koenigwald W, Rahantarisoa LJ (2020) Skeleton of a Cretaceous mammal from Madagascar reflects long-term insularity. Nature 581:421–427. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2234-8

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kusuhashi N (2008) Early Cretaceous multituberculate mammals from the Kuwajima Formation (Tetori Group), central Japan. Acta Palaeontol Pol 53:379–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kusuhashi N, Hu Y-M, Wang Y-Q, Setoguchi T, Matsuoka H (2009) Two eobaatarid (Multituberculata; Mammalia) genera from the Lower Cretaceous Shahai and Fuxin formations, northeastern China. J Vertebr Paleontol 29:1264–1288

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kusuhashi N, Hu Y, Wang Y, Setogushi T, Matsuoka H (2010) New multituberculate mammals from the Lower Cretaceous (Shahai and Fuxin formations), northeastern China. J Vertebr Paleontol 30:1501–1514

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kusuhashi N, Wang Y-Q, Jin X (2020) A new eobaatarid multituberculate (Mammalia) from the Lower Cretaceous Fuxin Formation, Fuxin-Jinzhou Basin, Liaoning, northeastern China. J Mammal Evol 27:605–623. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-019-09481-w

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linnaeus C (1758) Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis.Vol. 1: Regnum animale. Editio decimal reformata. Laurentii Salvii, Stockholm

  • Mao FY, Liu C, Chase MH, Smith AK, Meng J (2020) Exploring ancestral phenotypes and evolutionary development of the mammalian middle ear based on Early Cretaceous Jehol mammals. Natl Sci Rev nwaa188. https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwaa188

  • Mao F-Y, Wang Y-Q, Meng J (2016) New specimens of the multituberculate mammalian Sphenopsalis from the Paleocene of Inner Mongolia, China: implications for phylogeny and biology of taeniolabidoid multituberculates. Acta Palaeontol Pol 61:429–454. https://doi.org/10.4202/app.00117.2014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marsh OC (1880) Notice on Jurassic mammals representing two new orders. Am J Sci 20:235–239. https://doi.org/10.2475/ajs.s3-20.117.235

  • Martin JE, Rabi R, Csiki Z (2010) Survival of Theriosuchus (Mesoeucrocodylia: Atoposauridae) in a Late Cretaceous archipelago: a new species from the Maastrichtian of Romania. Naturwissenschaften 9:845–854. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-010-0702-y

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin T, Averianov AO, Schultz JA, Schwermann AH (2021) First multituberculate mammals from the Early Cretaceous of Germany. Cretac Res 119:104699. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104699

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin-Jiménez M, Codrea V, Pérez-García A (2021) Neuroanatomy of the European uppermost Cretaceous stem turtle Kallokibotion bajazidi. Cretac Res 120:104720. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104720

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayr G, Codrea V, Solomon A, Bordeianu M, Smith T (2020) A well-preserved pelvis from the Maastrichtian of Romania suggests that the enigmatic Gargantuavis is neither an ornithurine bird nor an insular endemic. Cretac Res 106:104271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKenna MC (1975) Toward a phylogenetic classification of the Mammalia. In: Luckett WP, Szalay FS (eds) Phylogeny of the Primates. Plenum Press, New York, pp 21–46. https://link.springer.com/chapter/. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2166-8_2

  • Middleton MD (1982) A new species and additional material of Catopsalis (Mammalia, Multituberculata) from the Western Interior of North America. J Paleontol 56:1197–1206. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1304576

  • Narváez I, Brochu AC, De Celis A, Codrea V, Escaso F, Pérez-García A, Ortega F (2020) New diagnosis for Allodaposuchus precedens, the type species of the European Upper Cretaceous clade Allodaposuchidae. Zool J Linnean Soc 189:618–634. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz029

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nopcsa F (1914) Über das Vorkommen der Dinosaurier in Siebenbürgen. Verh zool-bot Ges Wien 54:12–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Ősi A, Prondvai E, Butler R, Weishampel DB (2012) Phylogeny, histology and inferred body size evolution in a new rhabdodontid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Hungary. PLoS One 7:e44318. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0044318

    CAS  Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Peláez-Campomanes P, López-Martinez N, Álvarez-Sierra MA, Daams R (2000) The earliest mammal of the European Paleocene: the multituberculate Hainina. J Paleontol 74:701–711. https://doi.org/10.1666/0022-3360(2000)074<0701:TEMOTE>2.0.CO;2

  • Pereda-Suberbiola X, Galton PM (2009) Dwarf dinosaurs in the latest Cretaceous of Europe? In: Colectivo Arqueológico-Paleontológico Salense (ed) IV Jornadas Internacionales sobre Paleontología de Dinosaurios y su Entorno. Actas, Salas de los Infantes, Burgos (Spain) 263–272

  • Peréz-García A, Codrea V (2018) New insights on the anatomy and systematics of Kallokibotion Nopcsa, 1923, the enigmatic uppermost Cretaceous basal turtle (stem Testudines) from Transylvania. Zool J Linnean Soc 182:419–443. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx037

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rădulescu C, Samson P (1986) Précisions sur les affinités des multituberculés (Mammalia) du Crétacé supérieur de Roumanie. C R Acad Sci 303:1825–1830

    Google Scholar 

  • Rădulescu C, Samson P (1996) The first multituberculate skull from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Europe (Haţeg Basin, Romania). An Inst Geol Rom Abstracts 69:177–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Rădulescu C, Samson P (1997) Late Cretaceous Multituberculata from the Haţeg Basin (Romania). Sargetia 17:247–255

    Google Scholar 

  • Rigby JK Jr (1980) Swain quarry of the Fort Union Formation, middle Paleocene (Torrejonian), Carbon County, Wyoming: geologic setting and mammalian fauna. Evol Monogr 3:1-151

    Google Scholar 

  • Rougier GW, Novacek MJ, Dashzeveg D (1997) A new multituberculate from the Late Cretaceous locality Ukhaa Tolgod, Mongolia. Considerations on multituberculate interrelationships. Am Mus Novitates 3191:1–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Rougier GW, Sheth AS, Spurlin BK, Bolortsetseg M, Novacek MJ (2016) Craniodental anatomy of a new Late Cretaceous multituberculate mammal from Udan Sayr, Mongolia. Palaeontol Pol 67:197–248. https://doi.org/10.4202/pp.2016.67_197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simpson GG (1937) Skull structure of the Multituberculata. Bull Am Mus Nat Hist 73:727–763

    Google Scholar 

  • Sloan RE (1979) Multituberculata. In: Fairbridge RW, Jablonski D (ed) Paleontology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, pp 492–498

  • Sloan RE, Van Valen L (1965) Cretaceous mammals from Montana. Science 148:220–227

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith T, Codrea V (2015) Red iron-pigmented tooth enamel in a multituberculate mammal from the Late Cretaceous Transylvanian “Haţeg Island.” PLoS One 10:e0132550. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0132550

    CAS  Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Smith T, Codrea V, Sasaran E, Van Itterbeeck J, Bultynck P, Csiki Z, Dica P, Fărcaș C, Folie A, Garcia G, Godefroit P (2002) A new exceptional vertebrate site from the Late Cretaceous of the Haţeg Basin (Romania). Stud Univ Babes-Bolyai Geol Spec issue 1:321–330

    Google Scholar 

  • Solomon A, Codrea V, Venczel M, Dumbravă M, Smith T (2016) New remains of the multituberculate mammal Barbatodon from the Upper Cretaceous of the Hațeg Basin (Romania). J Mammal Evol 23:319–335. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-016-9322-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Solomon AA, Codrea VA, Venczel M, Grellet-Tinner G (2020) A new species of large-sized pterosaur from the Maastrichtian of Transylvania (Romania). Cretac Res 110:104316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2019.104316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Solomon A, Codrea V, Venczel M, Smith T (2021) New data on Barbatodon oardaensis, the smallest Late Cretaceous multituberculate mammal from Europe. C R Palevol, in press

  • Sweetman SC (2009) A new species of the plagiaulacoid multituberculate mammal Eobaatar from the Early Cretaceous of southern Britain. Acta Palaeontol Pol 54:373–384. https://doi.org/10.4202/app.2008.0003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swofford DL (2003) PAUP*. Phylogenetic analysis using parsimony (*and other methods). Version 4. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA

  • Tennant JP, Mannion PD, Upchurch P (2016) Evolutionary relationships and systematics of Atoposauridae (Crocodylomorpha: Neosuchia): implications for the rise of Eusuchia. Zool J Linnean Soc 177:854–936. https://doi.org/10.1111/zoj.12400

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Itterbeeck J, Markevich V, Codrea V (2005) Palynostratigraphy of the Maastrichtian dinosaur and mammal sites of the Râul Mare and Barbat valleys (Haţeg Basin, Romania). Geol Carp 56:137–147

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Itterbeeck J, Săsăran E, Codrea V, Săsăran L, Bultynck P (2004) Sedimentology of the Upper Cretaceous mammal- and dinosaur-bearing sites along the Râul Mare and Bărbat rivers, Haţeg Basin, Romania. Cretac Res 25:517–530. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2004.04.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Venczel M, Codrea VA (2016) A new teiid lizard from the Late Cretaceous of the Hațeg Basin, Romania and its phylogenetic and palaeobiogeographical relationships. J Syst Palaeontol 14:219–237. https://doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2015.1025869

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Venczel M, Codrea VA (2019) A new Theriosuchus-like crocodyliform from the Maastrichtian of Romania. Cretac Res 100:24–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2019.03.018

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Venczel M, Gardner JD, Codrea VA, Csiki-Sava Z, Vasile Ş, Solomon AA (2016) New insights into Europe’s most diverse Late Cretaceous anuran assemblage from the Maastrichtian of western Romania. Palaeobio Palaeoenv 96:61–95. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-015-0228-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vianey-Liaud M (1979) Les mammifères montiens de Hainin (Paléocène moyen de Belgique). Part I: Multituberculés. Palaeovertebrata 9:117–131

    Google Scholar 

  • Vianey-Liaud M (1986) Les multitubercules thanétiens de France, et leurs rapports avec les multituberculés nord-américains. Palaeontographica A 191:85–171

    Google Scholar 

  • Vremir M, Bălc R, Csiki-Sava Z, Brusatte SL, Dyke G, Naish D, Norell MA (2014) Petrești-Arini – An important but ephemeral Upper Cretaceous continental vertebrate site in the southwestern Transylvanian Basin, Romania. Cretac Res 49:13–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2014.02.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang H, Meng J, Wang Y (2019) Cretaceous fossil reveals a new pattern in mammalian middle ear evolution. Nature 576:102–105. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1792-0

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wang X, Dyke GJ, Codrea V, Godefroit P, Smith T (2011) A euenantiornithine bird from the Late Cretaceous Haţeg Basin of Romania. Acta Palaeontol Pol 56:853–857. https://doi.org/10.4202/app.2010.0085

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weaver LN, Wilson GP (2020) Shape disparity in the blade-like premolars of multituberculate mammals: functional constraints and the evolution of herbivory. J Mammal 102:967–985. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyaa029

  • Weaver LN, Varricchio DJ, Sargis EJ, Chen M, Freimuth WJ, Wilson Mantilla GP (2020) Early mammalian social behaviour revealed by multituberculates from a dinosaur nesting site. Nat Ecol Evol 5:32–37. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-01325-8

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weishampel DB, Csiki Z, Benton MJ, Grigorescu D, Codrea V (2010) Palaeobiogeographic relationships of the Hațeg biota — between isolation and innovation. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 293:419–437. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.03.024

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weishampel DB, Jianu CM, Csiki Z, Norman DB (2003) Osteology and phylogeny of Zalmoxes (n. g.), an unusual euornithopod dinosaur from the latest Cretaceous of Romania. J Syst Palaeontol 1: 65-123. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1477201903001032

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wible JR, Rougier GW (2000) Cranial anatomy of Kryptobaatar dashzevegi (Mammalia, Multituberculata), and its bearing on the evolution of mammalian characters. Bull Am Mus Nat Hist 247:1–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wible JR, Shelley SL, Bi S (2019) New genus and species of djadochtateriid multituberculate (Allotheria, Mammalia) from the Upper Cretaceous Bayan Mandahu Formation of Inner Mongolia. Ann Carnegie Mus 85:285–327. https://doi.org/10.2992/007.085.0401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williamson TE, Brusatte SL, Secord R, Shelley SL (2016) A new taeniolabidoid multituberculate (Mammalia) from the middle Puercan of the Nacimiento Formation, New Mexico, and a revision of taeniolabidoid systematics and phylogeny. Zool J Linnean Soc 177:183–208. https://doi.org/10.1111/zoj.12336

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson GP, Evans AR, Corfe IJ, Smits PD, Fortelius M, Jernall J (2012) Adaptive radiation of multituberculate mammals before the extinction of dinosaurs. Nature 483:457–460. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10880

  • Xu L, Zhang X, Pu H, Jia S, Zhang J, Lü J, Meng J (2015) Largest known Mesozoic multituberculate from Eurasia and implications for multituberculates evolution and biology. Sci Rep 5:14950. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep14950

    CAS  Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Yuan C-X, Ji Q, Meng Q-J, Tabrum AR, Luo Z-X (2013) Earliest evolution of multituberculate mammals revealed by a new Jurassic fossil. Science 341:779–783. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1237970

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank all members of our field team who participated in the paleontological expeditions in Transylvania since 2000. At RBINS we thank Julien Cillis, Eric De Bast, and Nathan Vallée-Gillette for assistance with SEM and optical photographs, Nathalie Van Hoey for preparation and casting, and Annelise Folie for table and electronic supplementary material formatting. We thank Zoltán Csiki-Sava (University of Bucharest) for photographs of Kogaionon ungureanui. We are grateful to reviewers Nao Kusuashi (Ehime University) and David W. Krause (Denver Museum of Nature & Science) and editor John Wible for thorough comments that led to significant improvements in the manuscript. This work was supported by the Belgian Science Policy Office project MO/36/001-004 (to TS), a grant from the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization, CNCS/CCCDI – UEFISCDI, project number PD136/2020, within PNCDI III (to AAS), and Babeș-Bolyai University grants AGC 30362, 34783, 34782 (to VAC).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Directorate Earth & History of Life, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Rue Vautier 29, B-1000, Brussels, Belgium

    Thierry Smith & Ghéreint Devillet

  2. Faculty of Biology and Geology, Laboratory of Paleotheriology and Quaternary Geology, University Babeş-Bolyai, 1 Kogălniceanu Str, 400084, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Vlad A. Codrea & Alexandru A. Solomon

  3. Department of Natural Sciences, Mureș County Museum, 24 Horea Str, 540036, Târgu Mureș, Romania

    Vlad A. Codrea & Alexandru A. Solomon

Authors
  1. Thierry Smith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Vlad A. Codrea
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ghéreint Devillet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Alexandru A. Solomon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thierry Smith.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (PDF 4928 KB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Smith, T., Codrea, V.A., Devillet, G. et al. A New Mammal Skull from the Late Cretaceous of Romania and Phylogenetic Affinities of Kogaionid Multituberculates. J Mammal Evol 29, 1–26 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-021-09564-7

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-021-09564-7

Keywords

  • Mammalia
  • Multituberculata
  • Maastrichtian
  • Haţeg Basin
  • Romania