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Henkelotherium
Extinct family of mammals From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Henkelotherium is an extinct genus of dryolestidan mammal from the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) Camadas de Guimarota, in Portugal.[1] Unlike many other Jurassic mammals, it is known from a largely complete skeleton, and is thought to have had an arboreal lifestyle.
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Description
The skull of Henkelotherium is 4 cm (1.6 in) long, and presacral body length is 11 cm (4.3 in). This suggest a weight of about 20 g (0.71 oz).[2]
Paleobiology
Primitive characters of Henkelotherium (e.g. asymmetric condyles of the femur) indicate that this species had a mode of locomotion similar to tree shrews and opossums. The small size of Henkelotherium and elongated tail made it suited to an arboreal lifestyle and capable of climbing trees, a notion supported by the paleoecological reconstruction of the Guimarota ecosystem indicating a densely vegetated environment.[3][4] Based on its late growth of jaws and it possessing additional molars that erupted after antemolar replacement was completed, Henkelotherium is believed to have had a long lifespan, a slower life history, or a combination of the two.[5]
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Taxonomy
In cladistic analyses, Henkelotherium has been considered closely related to Dryolestidae, either as a part of that group, or as closely related but placed outside that family as a non-dryolestid dryolestidan.[6]
| Cladotheria |
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See also
References
Further reading
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