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To: AndrewC
The jaw of Teinolophos trusleri catches the ear bones in the act of separating from the jaw.

Perhaps if the above had been in red, Counselor?

137 posted on 02/11/2005 4:15:06 PM PST by VadeRetro
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To: VadeRetro
Perhaps if the above had been in red, Counselor?

Yes, I can read and that is an interpretation when an outcome is desired. The "bones" were not separated let alone partially migrated.

I will also note that you can get the answer you seek when you get to pick and choose what evidence you wish to call irrelevant or minor.

When Ausktribosphenos was first described, and argued to be a placental mammal, a theory was put forward to explain how placentals came to appear in the Late Cretaceous in other parts of the world, separated from the Gondwanan countries by ocean barriers in most cases. It was thought that micro-plate rafting could explain their vast sea voyages. Small micro-plates to the northwest of Australia and New Guinea detached from Gondwana some time after the Late Jurassic, "docking" with southeast Asia during the Late Cretaceous. However, if the other tribosphenic mammals included in the Australosphenida were indeed related to the Australian animals, then the micro-plate rafting theory has a problem: one of the Australosphenida (Shuotherium) dates to the Late Jurassic of China.

In 2002 a new mammal was described from China, from the same deposits that the "feathered" dinosaurs were recovered. Eomaia scansori ("dawn mother") is exquisitely preserved, and lived ten million years before Ausktribosphenos or Bishops. It is said to be the most primitive placental mammal known. If the Australian animals are indeed placentals, then they must have spread from Gondwana a lot earlier than micro-plate rafting allows for, at least by the Late Jurassic (if the Chinese Shuotherium is related to the Ausktribosphenids).


How can you tell if it’s a placental mammal?
Teeth can tell you a lot about an animal. Certain sorts of animals have the same shaped teeth. For instance, the shape and number of teeth in placental mammals and marsupials is different. Marsupials have 3 teeth in their jaw called premolars and 4 molars. Placentals have 4 or 5 premolars and only 3 molars. The jaw of Ausktribosphenos nyktos has 3 molars and 4 premolars. It’s either a placental mammal or another sort of mammal altogether. Quite a few fragments of jaws and teeth of Ausktribosphenos nyktos have now been found, along with similar remains of another species called Bishops whitmorei. Whatever type of mammals these were, they must have been quite common.

141 posted on 02/11/2005 4:44:46 PM PST by AndrewC (Darwinian logic -- It is just-so if it is just-so)
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