Sparnotheriodon
{{Short description|Extinct genus of litopterns}}
{{Speciesbox
| fossil_range = Middle Eocene (Mustersan)
~{{fossilrange|47.8|41.3}}
| genus = Sparnotheriodon
| parent_authority = Soria, 1980
| species = epsilonoides
| authority = Soria, 1980
}}
Sparnotheriodon is an extinct genus of sparnotheriodontid litoptern that lived during the Middle Eocene of what is now Argentina, leaving fossils in the Sarmiento Formation.{{Cite journal |last=Soria |first=Miguel Fernando |date=1980 |title=Una nueva y problemática forma de ungulado del Casamayorense |journal=Actas II Congreso Argentino de Paleontologeıa y Bioestratigrafeıa y I Congreso Latinoamericano de Paleontologeıa. |pages=193–203}}
Description
Sparnotheriodon was a medium-sized litoptern. Sparnotheriodon, Victorlemoinea, and one species of Notiolofos, N. arquinotiensis, have been estimated to have had masses of roughly {{Cvt|400|kg|lb}}, whereas another species of Notiolofos, N. regueroi, was smaller, with a body mass estimated between 25 and 58 kg, making them one of the largest litopterns of the Paleogene.{{Cite book |last1=Vizcaíno |first1=Sergio Fabián |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257931187 |title=On the evolution of large size in mammalian herbivores of Cenozoic faunas of South America. |last2=Cassini |first2=Guillermo |last3=Toledo |first3=Néstor |date=2012-05-01 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-64921-4 |pages=76–101 |language=en}} Litopterns reached such sizes again in the Miocene.{{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 |volume=29 |issue=5 |pages=445–455 |doi=10.1017/S0954102017000244 |s2cid=86868504 |issn=0954-1020 |eissn=1365-2079|doi-access=free |bibcode=2017AntSc..29..445G |hdl=11336/56552 |hdl-access=free }}
Taxonomy
Sparnotheriodon was first named by Miguel Fernando Soria in 1980 on the basis of a mandible and teeth from the Sarmiento Formation of Argentina, with the type species being Sparnotheriodon epsilonoides. In 1983, Richard Cifelli tentatively synonymized Sparnotheriodon with Victorlemoinea,{{Cite journal| issue = 2772| pages = 1–49| last = Cifelli | first = Richard L| title = The Origin and Affinities of the South American Condylarthra and Early Tertiary Litopterna (Mammalia)| journal = American Museum Novitates| date = 1983-11-09}} while many other authors consider it distinct.{{Cite journal |last=Gelfo |first=Javier N. |date=June 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 }}
References
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{{Meridiungulata|L.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q113681958}}
Category:Eocene mammals of South America
Category:Prehistoric placental genera
Category:Fossil taxa described in 1980