''Bemalambda'' is an extinct
mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
, belonging to the
pantodonts. It lived in the lower-middle
Paleocene (about 63–58 million years ago) and the fossil remains have been found in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
Description
It was a medium-size animal, and could reach the size of a large
dog. The body was strong, the tail was short and the legs were strong and muscular. The skull was short and low, with a broad muzzle, swollen zygomatic processes, and a very small skull. The temporal fossae were deep, the sagittal crest prominent, and the coronoid process on the
mandible was very high; these characteristics indicate a more developed temporal musculature (useful for chewing) than that of the subsequent pantodonts.
Like all pantodonts, ''Bemalambda'' had upper
premolars with V-shaped ectolofi; the upper
molars, however, had a transverse structure, almost
zalambdodonte, with closely paired paracone and metaconus, and did not possess the
dilambdodont W-shaped structure like the typical pantodonts. The stylar platform of the teeth from the third premolar to the third molar was very broad, and the ``ectoflexus'' (an additional external indentation of the molars) was deeply incised.
Classification
The genus ''Bemalambda'' was established in
1973
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on the basis of some fossils found in the area of
Nanxiong in the Lofochai formation (
Guangdong, China), dating back to the lower/middle Paleocene. The study by Chow and colleagues established various species: ''Bemalambda crassa, Bemalambda nanhsiungensis'' (the
type species), ''Bemalambda pachyoesteus'', distinguished on the basis of some dental characteristics. Subsequently, in
Jiangxi, fossils of a slightly more recent species (Middle Paleocene) were found, ''B. dingae''.
''Bemalamb