Bulganbaatar is an extinct genus of early mammals from the Upper Cretaceous.

Bulganbaatar
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Multituberculata
Superfamily: Djadochtatherioidea
Genus: Bulganbaatar
Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska, 1974
Species
  • B.nemegtbaataroides

It is a member of the extinct order Multituberculata. It lies within the suborder Cimolodonta and is a member of the superfamily Djadochtatherioidea. The genus Bulganbaatar was named by Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska in 1974 after the village of Bulgan situated near Bayn Dzak.[1] It is one of many Cretaceous aged mammal discoveries made by Kielan-Jaworowska and co-workers from Central Asian sites. Kielan-Jaworowska considered B.nemegtbaatorides to be the ancestor to the genus Nemegtbaatar due to similarity but more derived teeth in the latter, hence the names.[2] According to Kielan-Jaworowska and Hurum, both Bulganbaatar and Nemegtbaatar are distinctive for exhibiting "elongation of the last upper premolar and molars, and an increase in their cusp numbers."[3]

Fossil remains of Bulganbaatar have been found in Upper Cretaceous-aged strata of the Djadokhta Formation of Mongolia and Kazakhstan.[4][5] Their appearances range between 84 to 81 Million years ago, from the late Santonian to the early Campanian ages.[6][7]

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Kielan-Jaworowska, 1974 p 31
  2. ^ Kielan-Jaworowska 1974, p 26, 37
  3. ^ Kielan-Jaworowska and Hurum, 2001, p 390
  4. ^ Averianov 1997
  5. ^ Kielan-Jaworowska, 1974 p 31
  6. ^ Wilson et al 2012, Supplemental Table 3
  7. ^ Kielan-Jaworowska, 1974 p 31

References

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  • Averianov, A.O. (1997). "New Late Cretaceous mammals of southern Kazakhstan". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 42 (2): 243–256.
  • Kielan-Jaworowska, Zofia (1974). "Multituberculate succession in the Late Cretaceous of the Gobi Desert (Mongolia)". Palaeontologica Polonica. 30: 23–44.
  • Kielan-Jaworowska, Zofia; Hurum, J.H. (2001). "Phylogeny and Systematics of Multituberculate Mammals" (PDF). Palaeontology. 44 (3): 389–429. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00185.
  • Wilson, Gregory P.; Evans, Alistair R.; Corfe, Ian J.; Smits, Peter D.; Fortelius, Mikael; Jernvall, Jukka (2012). "Adaptive radiation of multituberculate mammals before the extinction of dinosaurs". Nature. 483: 457–460. doi:10.1038/nature10880.