''Gondtherium'' is a genus of extinct
mammaliaform
Mammaliaformes ("mammalian forms") is a clade that contains the crown group mammals and their closest extinct relatives; the group radiated from earlier probainognathian cynodonts. It is defined as the clade originating from the most recent comm ...
from the
Kota Formation
The Kota Formation is a geological formation in India. The precise age of Kota Formation are uncertain, but it dates from the Early to Middle Jurassic, and is split into a Lower Member and Upper Member.Prasad GVR, and Manhas BK. 2007A new docodont ...
in India. It was considered a
docodontan by those who described it, but it remains unclear if this is the case.
''Gondtherium'' was found in the Kota Formation, which is considered to be between
Middle Jurassic and
Early Cretaceous in age.
Other Mesozoic mammaliaforms found there include members of
Morganucodonta and
Amphilestidae
Amphilestidae is a family of Mesozoic mammals, generally regarded as eutriconodonts. They may form a paraphyletic or polyphyletic assemblage, though they share with gobiconodontids their similar tooth occlusion
Occlusion may refer to:
Health ...
. The authors who described ''Gondtherium'' - which is known from only a single worn and fragmentary molar tooth - considered it to be a docodontan based on the tooth cusps.
However, this has been disputed by several subsequent researchers, and so the exact identity of ''Gondtherium'' remains unresolved.
[Kielan-Jaworowska Z, Cifelli RL, and Luo, Z-X. 2004. Mammals from the age of dinosaurs: origins evolution and structure. Columbia University Press, New York, NY, 630 pp]
References
Prehistoric mammaliaforms
Prehistoric cynodont genera
Fossil taxa described in 2007
Taxa named by Guntupalli Veera Raghavendra Prasad
Taxa named by Brijesh K. Manhas
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