Nesodon
{{Expand Italian|topic=scitech|date=June 2022}}
{{Short description|Extinct genus of notoungulates}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = Early Miocene (Deseadan-Friasian)
~{{fossil range|23.03|15.5}}
| image = Nesodon imbricatus skeleton reconstruction.jpg
| image_caption = Nesodon imbricatus skeleton
| image2 = Nesodon imbricatus.JPG
| image2_caption = Nesodon imbricatus skull
| taxon = Nesodon
| authority = Owen, 1846
| type_species = †Nesodon imbricatus
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision_ref = Croft et al. (2004) pp. 4–5
| subdivision = * N. conspurcatus {{small|Ameghino 1887}}
- N. cornutus
- N. imbricatus {{small|Owen 1846}}
- N. taweretus {{small|Forasiepi et al. 2014}}
| synonyms_ref = McKenna and Bell (1997), p. 460
| synonyms = * Lithops {{small|Ameghino 1887}}
- Adelphotherium {{small|Ameghino 1887}}
- Gronotherium {{small|Ameghino 1887}}
- Atryptherium {{small|Ameghino 1887}}
- Rhadinotherium {{small|Ameghino 1887}}
- Protoxodon {{small|Ameghino 1887}}
- Acrotherium {{small|Ameghino 1891}}
- Palaeolithops {{small|Ameghino 1891}}
- Xotoprodon {{small|Ameghino 1891}}
- Nesotherium {{small|Mercerat 1891}}
}}
Nesodon ("island tooth")Palmer (1904) p. 457. is a genus of Miocene mammal belonging to the extinct order Notoungulata which inhabited southern South America during the Late Oligocene to Miocene living from 29.0 to 16.3 Ma and existed for approximately {{Mya|29-16.3|million years}}.
[http://paleobackup.nceas.ucsb.edu:8110/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=43396&is_real_user=1 Paleobiology Database: Nesodon imbricatus, Basic info.]{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} It had a relatively large size, weighing up to 554 kg (1221 lbs) and reaching 1.5 m in height.D.Patterson, Bruce (2012) Bones, Clones, and Biomes: The History and Geography of Recent Neotropical Mammals p.92
Taxonomy
File:Nesodon.jpg, 1905]]
Nesodon was named by Owen (1846). It was assigned to Toxodontidae by Carroll (1988). It was an early member of the family Toxodontidae, which included the well-known Pleistocene genus Toxodon. Like almost all toxodontids, Nesodon was endemic to South America. In particular, fossils of Nesodon are known from late early Miocene (Santacrucian SALMA) deposits of Argentina and Chile.Croft et al. (2004), p. 5.
Three species of Nesodon are recognized including a larger species, N. imbricatus, and a smaller species, N. conspurcatus.Croft et al. (2004), pp. 7–8. A poorly known and possibly invalid third species, N. cornutus, was similar to N. imbricatus but may have had a small horn on its head. All species of Nesodon were larger than species of the contemporary toxodontid Adinotherium.
The dentition of Nesodon shows features typical of living grazing (grass-eating) mammals, but a study of wear on the enamel of N. imbricatus suggests that it was a browser (leaf eater) that may have supplemented its diet with fruit or bark.Townsend & Croft (2008) p. 225.
Classification
File:Promegatherium_nanum.JPG and Nesodon.]]
In 2014, a study identifying a new species of Nesodon, N. taweretus, resolved the families phylogenetic relations, deriving the cladogram shown below:{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1007/s12542-014-0233-5| title = New toxodontid (Notoungulata) from the Early Miocene of Mendoza, Argentina| journal = Paläontologische Zeitschrift| volume = 89| issue = 3| pages = 611–634| year = 2014| last1 = Forasiepi | first1 = A. A. M. | last2 = Cerdeño | first2 = E. | last3 = Bond | first3 = M. | last4 = Schmidt | first4 = G. I. | last5 = Naipauer | first5 = M. | last6 = Straehl | first6 = F. R. | last7 = Martinelli | first7 = A. N. G. | last8 = Garrido | first8 = A. C. | last9 = Schmitz | first9 = M. D. | last10 = Crowley | first10 = J. L. | s2cid = 129293436| url = http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/bitstream/handle/10915/127531/Documento_completo.pdf?sequence=1 }}
{{clade| style=font-size:85%; line-height:85%
|1={{clade
|2={{clade
|1={{clade
|1=Rhynchippus spp.
|2={{clade
|2=Leonitinia gaudri }} }}
|label2=Toxodontidae
|2={{clade
|1=Proadinotherium leptognathum
|2={{clade
|1={{clade
|1=Adinotherium spp.
|2={{clade
|1=Nesodon taweretus
|2=Nesodon imbricatus }} }}
|2={{clade
|2={{clade
|2={{clade
|1={{clade
|2=Xotodon spp. }}
|2={{clade
|1={{clade
|1=Andinotoxodon bolivariensis
|2={{clade
|1={{clade
|2=Toxodon platensis }}
|2={{clade
|2={{clade
|2=Hoffstetterius imperator }} }} }} }}
|2={{clade
|1=Posnanskytherium desaguaderoi
|2={{clade
|2={{clade
|2={{clade
|1={{clade
|2=Mixotoxodon larensis }}
|2={{clade
|2=Trigodon gaudri }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }}
Distribution
Fossils of Nesodon have been found in:[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=43396 Nesodon] at Fossilworks.org
References
{{Reflist}}
= Bibliography =
- {{cite journal | last1 = Croft | first1 = D.A. | last2 = Flynn | first2 = J.J. | last3 = Wyss | first3 = A.R. | year = 2004 | title = Notoungulata and Litopterna of the Early Miocene Chucal Fauna, Northern Chile | url = https://archive.org/details/notoungulatalito50crof | journal = Fieldiana Geology | volume = 50 | issue = 1| pages = [https://archive.org/details/notoungulatalito50crof/page/1 1]–52 }}
- McKenna, Malcolm C., and Bell, Susan K. 1997. Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level. Columbia University Press, New York, 631 pp. {{ISBN|0-231-11013-8}}
- {{cite journal | last1 = Palmer | first1 = T.S. | year = 1904 | title = Index Generum Mammalium: a List of the Genera and Families of Mammals | journal = North American Fauna | volume = 23 | pages = 1–984 | doi=10.3996/nafa.23.0001| doi-access = free }}
- {{cite journal | last1 = Townsend | first1 = K.E.B. | last2 = Croft | first2 = D.A. | year = 2004 | title = Diets of notoungulates from the Santa Cruz Formation, Argentina: new evidence from enamel microwear | journal = Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology | volume = 28 | issue = 1| pages = 217–230 | doi = 10.1671/0272-4634(2008)28[217:DONFTS]2.0.CO;2 | s2cid = 85916583 }}
{{Meridiungulata|N.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q846251}}
Category:Prehistoric placental genera
Category:Miocene mammals of South America
Category:Fossil taxa described in 1846
Category:Taxa named by Richard Owen
Category:Austral or Magallanes Basin
{{notoungulate-stub}}