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<p>We describe here new materials of the Paleocene meridiolestidan mammal <i>Peligrotherium tropicalis</i> from the Banco Negro Inferior (BNI) facies of the Salamanca Formation of Punta Peligro, Chubut Province, Argentina. Past interpretations of the dental features in <i>Peligrotherium</i> have been handicapped by specimen incompleteness and extensive wear. The new specimens include a relatively complete and largely unworn dentition, as well as jaws and a partial skull of a single individual. Differential wear suggests the presence of three upper and lower premolars (P/p) and molars (M/m), with the last premolar fully molarized, as has been argued for other meridiolestidans, particularly mesungulatoids. Upper and lower P/p2-M/m3 show accessory roots and we infer the same sequential dental replacement pattern seen in other meridiolestidans, such as <i>Cronopio</i> and <i>Orretherium</i>. A high cementoenamel junction (CEJ) with a pronounced ridge that has undergone oral abrasion suggests a thick and tall gingiva, similar to the condition in extant hippopotamuses. <i>Peligrotherium</i> is the largest known mesungulatoid, with a body mass exceeding 5&#xa0;kg. Cretaceous mesungulatoids are also heavy, suggesting the persistence of a relatively large lineage of mammals across the K-Pg boundary, a hypothesis also suggested for a crocodile lineage present in the same outcrops. Acquisition of a similar type of dentition by dryolestoids and early tribosphenic herbivores in the Late Cretaceous/Paleocene of North and South America points to the global spread of similar vegetation, likely composed of angiosperm groups that predate the K-Pg and successfully navigated the cataclysm at the end of the Mesozoic, diversifying in the early Cenozoic.</p>

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Dental and mandibular morphology of Peligrotherium tropicalis (Mammalia, Meridiolestida) from the Paleocene of Patagonia, Argentina

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年4月29日

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  • G. W. Rougier,
  • N. Paez-Arango,
  • J. P. Moore,
  • Z. Biven-Leslie

摘要

We describe here new materials of the Paleocene meridiolestidan mammal Peligrotherium tropicalis from the Banco Negro Inferior (BNI) facies of the Salamanca Formation of Punta Peligro, Chubut Province, Argentina. Past interpretations of the dental features in Peligrotherium have been handicapped by specimen incompleteness and extensive wear. The new specimens include a relatively complete and largely unworn dentition, as well as jaws and a partial skull of a single individual. Differential wear suggests the presence of three upper and lower premolars (P/p) and molars (M/m), with the last premolar fully molarized, as has been argued for other meridiolestidans, particularly mesungulatoids. Upper and lower P/p2-M/m3 show accessory roots and we infer the same sequential dental replacement pattern seen in other meridiolestidans, such as Cronopio and Orretherium. A high cementoenamel junction (CEJ) with a pronounced ridge that has undergone oral abrasion suggests a thick and tall gingiva, similar to the condition in extant hippopotamuses. Peligrotherium is the largest known mesungulatoid, with a body mass exceeding 5 kg. Cretaceous mesungulatoids are also heavy, suggesting the persistence of a relatively large lineage of mammals across the K-Pg boundary, a hypothesis also suggested for a crocodile lineage present in the same outcrops. Acquisition of a similar type of dentition by dryolestoids and early tribosphenic herbivores in the Late Cretaceous/Paleocene of North and South America points to the global spread of similar vegetation, likely composed of angiosperm groups that predate the K-Pg and successfully navigated the cataclysm at the end of the Mesozoic, diversifying in the early Cenozoic.