Notiolofos
{{Short description|Extinct genus of litopterns}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = Early Eocene-Late Eocene (Riochican-Divisaderan)
~{{fossil range|55|34}}
| image =
| image_caption =
| taxon = Notiolofos
| authority = Bond et al., 2009
| type_species = {{extinct}}Notiolofos arquinotiensis
| type_species_authority = Bond et al. 2006
| subdivision_ranks = Other species
| subdivision = *†N. regueroi Gelfo, Lopéz & Santillana, 2017
| synonyms = {{collapsible list|bullets = true
|title=Genus synonymy
|Notolophus Bond et al., 2006
}}
}}
Notiolofos is an extinct genus of sparnotheriodontid ungulate from the order Litopterna. The animal lived during the Eocene, in modern-day Antarctica. The genus contains two species, N. arquinotiensis, the type species, and N. regueroi.
Description
Notiolofos was originally named in 2006 by Bond et al., as Notolophus arquinotiensis, on the basis of a few fossil teeth.{{Cite journal |last1=Bond |first1=M. |last2=Reguero |first2=M. A. |last3=Vizcaíno |first3=S. F. |last4=Marenssi |first4=S. A. |date=2006-01-01 |title=A new 'South American ungulate' (Mammalia: Litopterna) from the Eocene of the Antarctic Peninsula |url=https://sp.lyellcollection.org/content/258/1/163 |journal=Geological Society, London, Special Publications |language=en |volume=258 |issue=1 |pages=163–176 |doi=10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.258.01.12 |bibcode=2006GSLSP.258..163B |s2cid=140546667 |issn=0305-8719|url-access=subscription }} However, after the genus was named, it became clear that the name Notolophus was already in use by a genus of moths, and the genus name was subsequently changed to Notiolofos by Bond et al. in 2009.{{Cite journal |last1=Bond |first1=Mariano |last2=Reguero |first2=Marcelo A. |last3=Vizcaíno |first3=Sergio F. |last4=Marenssi |first4=Sergio A. |last5=Ortiz-Jaureguizar |first5=Edgardo |date=2009-09-12 |title=Notiolofos, a replacement name for Notolophus Bond, Reguero, Vizcaíno, and Marenssi, 2006, a preoccupied name |url=https://doi.org/10.1671/039.029.0321 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=979 |doi=10.1671/039.029.0321 |bibcode=2009JVPal..29..979B |s2cid=84808731 |issn=0272-4634|url-access=subscription }} The second species in the genus, Notiolofos regueroi, was named in 2017 by Gelfo, Lopéz & Santillana, based on a single fossil molar.{{Cite journal |last1=Gelfo |first1=Javier N. |last2=López |first2=Guillermo M. |last3=Santillana |first3=Sergio N. |date=2017 |title=Eocene ungulate mammals from West Antarctica: implications from their fossil record and a new species |journal=Antarctic Science |language=en |volume=29 |issue=5 |pages=445–455 |doi=10.1017/S0954102017000244 |s2cid=86868504 |issn=0954-1020|doi-access=free |bibcode=2017AntSc..29..445G |hdl=11336/56552 |hdl-access=free }}
Fossils of N. arquinotiensis have been found in multiple layers of the La Meseta Formation of Seymour Island, Antarctica, and are dated from 55 to 34 million years ago. However, N. regueroi is only known from the Cucullaea I layer from the Upper Ypresian, dating to 53 million years ago.{{Cite journal |last=Gelfo |first=Javier N. |date=2016 |title=Considerations about the Evolutionary Stasis of Notiolofos arquinotiensis (Mammalia: Sparnotheriodontidae), Eocene of Seymour Island, Antarctica |url=https://bioone.org/journals/ameghiniana/volume-53/issue-3/AMGH.14.09.2015.2934/Considerations-about-the-Evolutionary-Stasis-of-Notiolofos-arquinotiensis-Mammalia/10.5710/AMGH.14.09.2015.2934.full |journal=Ameghiniana |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=316–332 |doi=10.5710/AMGH.14.09.2015.2934 |s2cid=129877349 |issn=0002-7014|hdl=11336/54582 |hdl-access=free }} When Notiolofos lived, Antarctica was still connected to South America by a land bridge, as a remainder of the supercontinent Gondwana.{{Cite journal |last1=Reguero |first1=Marcelo A. |last2=Gelfo |first2=Javier N. |last3=López |first3=Guillermo M. |last4=Bond |first4=Mariano |last5=Abello |first5=Alejandra |last6=Santillana |first6=Sergio N. |last7=Marenssi |first7=Sergio A. |date=2014-12-01 |title=Final Gondwana breakup: The Paleogene South American native ungulates and the demise of the South America–Antarctica land connection |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921818114001507 |journal=Global and Planetary Change |series=SCOTIA ARC EVOLUTION: GLOBAL IMPLICATIONS |language=en |volume=123 |pages=400–413 |doi=10.1016/j.gloplacha.2014.07.016 |bibcode=2014GPC...123..400R |issn=0921-8181|hdl=11336/33269 |hdl-access=free }}
N. regueroi was around the size of a sheep, with an estimated weight of 25 to 57 kilogrammes. N. arquinotiensis was much larger, with an estimated weight of 400 kilogrammes, around the size of a muskox. It is thought to have been a browser.
Taxonomy
References
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{{Meridiungulata|L.|state=collapsed}}
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Category:Eocene mammals of South America
Category:Fossils of Antarctica
Category:Prehistoric placental genera