[MM] Gobiconodon zofiae
Eutriconodontans
DESCRIBER Li, Wang, Hu & Meng, 2003
TIME Cretaceous Early
Barremian
CLASS Mammalia
ORDER Eutriconodonta
FAMILY Gobiconodontidae
FOSSILSITE Lu-Jia-Tun, Jehol Biota, Yixian Formation, Liaoning Province, China
FALL UNDER Gobiconodon borissiaki
INFO
Gobiconodon borissiaki (Trofimov, 1978) > Gobiconodon hoburensis (Trofimov, 1978 )[ >> Guchinodon hoburensis (Trofimov, 1978 )] > Gobiconodon hopsoni (Rougier, Novacek, McKenna and Wible, 2001) > Gobiconodon ostromi (Jenkins and Schaff, 1988) > Gobiconodon zofiae (Li, Wang, Hu & Meng, 2003) > Gobiconodon sp. (1) (Rougier, Novacek, McKenna & Wible, 2001) > Gobiconodon sp. (2) (Tang et al., 2001) > Gobiconodon sp. (3) (Cuenca-Bescós & Canudo, 2003 )
The Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota from the Yixian Formation in Liaoning, China, has yielded several mammal species.
G. zofiae sp. nov., has a confluent opening for branches of the trigeminal nerve on the anterior lamina of the petrosal. G. zofiae sp. nov. is similar to Repenomamus in having an ossified Meckel’s cartilage connecting the lower jaws and ear region. The new species, with enlarged I1/I1,posteriorly located infraorbital foramen and four mental foramina, distinctly differs from the other species of Gobiconodon. The new material indicates that Gobiconodon has four, not five, upper molariforms. The presence of Gobiconodon in Jehol Biota makes it possible to correlate Jehol Biota with faunas in eastern Asia and North America, and suggests the age of the Yixian Formation to be Early Cretaceous
Li, C.-K.,Wang, Y.-Q.,Hu, Y.-M. &Meng, J. A new species of Gobiconodon from the Jehol Biota and its implication to the age of the fauna. Chin. Sci. Bull. 48, 177–182 (2003).