''Carolozittelia'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s, belonging to the order

Pyrotheria Pyrotheria is an order (biology), order of extinct South American native ungulates, meridiungulate mammals. These elephant-like ungulates include the genus, genera ''Baguatherium'', ''Carolozittelia'', ''Colombitherium'', ''Griphodon'', ''Propyr ...

. It contains the single species ''Carolozittelia tapiroides'' which lived during the Early

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

. Its fossilized remains were found in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Description

This genus is only known from a few fossil teeth, and its appearance is entirely conjectural. The

molars The molars or molar teeth are large, flat tooth, teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammal, mammals. They are used primarily to comminution, grind food during mastication, chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, '' ...

of ''Carolozittelia'' were endowed with transversal crests, but traces of tubercles from a primitive quadrituberculate dentition can still be recognized.

Classification

''Carolozittelia'' was first described in 1901 by

Florentino Ameghino Florentino Ameghino (born Giovanni Battista Fiorino Giuseppe Ameghino; September 19, 1853 – August 6, 1911) was an Argentine naturalist, paleontologist, anthropologist and zoologist, whose fossil discoveries on the Argentine Pampas, especial ...

, based on fossils found in

Argentinian Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

, in terrains dating from the

. Ameghino described two species attributed to the genus: ''Carolozittelia tapiroides'' and ''C. eluta'', the second later synonymized with the first. ''Carolozittelia'' was a Pyrothere, a clade of South American mammals of uncertain affinities, who lived during the early

Cenozoic The Cenozoic Era ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three g ...

. It was one of the oldest members of the order, and is now considered one of the most basal members of the family Pyrotheriidae.

References

Bibliography

*F. Ameghino. 1901. Notices préliminaires sur des ongulés nouveaux des terrains crétacés de Patagonie reliminary notes on new ungulates from the Cretaceous terrains of Patagonia Boletin de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias de Córdoba 16:349-429 *G. G. Simpson. 1967. The beginning of the age of mammals in South America. Part II. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 137:1-260 {{Taxonbar, from1=Q60977930, from2=Q125151602 Pyrotheria Eocene mammals of South America Paleogene Argentina Fossils of Argentina Fossil taxa described in 1901 Taxa named by Florentino Ameghino Prehistoric placental genera Monotypic mammal genera