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Apternodus joins Zalambdalestes in the marsupial section of the LRT

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I know, some of this gets esoteric.
Even so, reporting corrections to the mammal subset of the large reptile tree (LRT, 2340 taxa) remains part of the scientific method.

Today,
Oligocene (33mya) Apternodus (Fig 1), with its [so far] unique bulbous anterior premolars, joins Late Cretaceous Zalambdalestes (Fig 1) after spending too much time in the LRT with Scutisorex, the extant shrew.


Figure 1. Zalambdalestes compared to scale with Apternodus.

Apternodus baladontus
(Matthew1903, Asher et al 2002; Eocene to Oligocene, 35mya) was traditionally considered a member of the Soricomorpha, a clade of placental shrews and moles. Like shrews, the fossil Apternodus lacks the fragile cheek bones = zygomatic arch = jugal + squamosal arch. This now appears to be a taphonomic loss.

Zalambdalestes lechei
(Gregory & Simpson 1926; Wible et al.2004; Late Cretaceous; 20 cm in length) was considered a eutherian, but not a placental due to the presence of epipubic bones. Here it nests with another marsupial from the Miocene, Palaeothentes. Zalambdalestes was an insect-eating marsupial with long, slender limbs.

Zalambdalestes was mentioned 3x
in Asher et al 2002 but only with regard to the etymology of the word zalambdodont. A zalambdodont upper molar is characterized by a V-shaped crest (an ectoloph). The largest cusp is at the apex of the V.

This appears to be a novel hypothesis of interrelationships.
If not, please provide a citation so I can promote it here.

References
Asher RJ et al (4 co-authors) 2002. Morphology and relationships of Apternodus and other extinct, zalambdodont, placental mammals. Bulletin of the AMNH 273:1–117.
Gregory WK and Simpson GG 1926a. Gregory, W.K., and G.G. Simpson. Cretaceous
mammal skulls from Mongolia. American Museum Novitates 225:1–20.
Gregory WK and Simpson GG 1926b. Gregory, W.K., and G.G. Simpson. Cretaceous
mammal skulls from Mongolia. Nature 118: 698–699.
Matthew WD 1903. The fauna of the Titanotherium Beds at Pipestone Springs, Montana. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 19(6):197–226.
Wible JR, Novacek MJ and Rougier GW 2004. New data on the skull and dentition in the Mongolian Late Cretaceous eutherian mammal Zalambdalestes. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 281:144pp.

wiki/Scutisorex
wiki/Apternodus– not yet posted
wiki/Zalambdalestes
wiki/Soricomorpha


Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2026/09/25/apternotus-joins-zalambdalestes-in-the-marsipial-section-of-the-lrt/


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