First Jurassic triconodont from South America ; American Museum novitates, no. 3580

Abstract

A new mammal from the Middle Jurassic CaŠnadon Asfalto Formation, Patagonia, Argentina, is reported. The specimen, an isolated lower? molariform, is erected as the type of a new genus and species of triconodont, Argentoconodon fariasorum. The molariform presents a peculiar combination of primitive and derived features that makes recognition of its affinities challenging. Argentoconodon shares similarities with poorly known triconodonts from the Jurassic of North America and Morocco and lacks the diagnostic traits of the triconodontid triconodonts. Argentoconodon resembles in general the paraphyletic "amphilestid" triconodonts. The specimen is too incomplete to warrant broader interpretations, but it suggests that at least this lineage of South American mammals was distinctly autapomorphic, perhaps with an origin in forms with a broader geographical distribution.