Indodelphis

Indodelphis Temporal range: Eocene, 56.0–47.8 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Family:	†Herpetotheriidae
Genus:	†Indodelphis Bajpai, Kapur, Thewissen, Tiwari & Das, 2005
Species:	†I. luoi
Binomial name
†Indodelphis luoi Bajpai, Kapur, Thewissen, Tiwari & Das, 2005

Indodelphis is an extinct genus of opossum-like metatherian from Eocene of Cambay Shale Formation of India. The type and the only species is Indodelphis luoi.^[1]

Indodelphis is the only known metatherian from Insular India (another, Jaegeria, has had its metatherian status questioned). It is known from the well-preserved lower molars of two individuals. This species probably represents the oldest known record of Cenozoic metatherians from Asia, and it occurs in association with a diverse land mammal fauna comprising perissodactyls, artiodactyls, insectivores, laurasiatherians, apatotherians, bats, rodents, and several other taxa currently under study.^[1]

It was initially assigned to the Peradectidae,^[1] but more likely belongs to the Herpetotheriidae. It may possibly be a junior synonym of Asiadidelphis from the Paleogene of Pakistan and Kazakhstan, which is known only from upper molars.^[2] It is unknown whether Indodelphis descended from a metatherian that colonized Insular India from Asia, or if it was a relict of India's original Gondwanan mammalian fauna.^[3]

References

1. Bajpai, Sunil; Kapur, Vivesh; Thewissen, J G M; Tiwari, Brahma; Das, Debasis (2005-06-01). "First fossil marsupials from India: Early Eocene Indodelphis n. gen. and Jaegeria n. gen. from Vastan Lignite mine, District Surat, Gujarat". Journal of the Palaentological Society of India. 50 (1): 147–151. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
2. Crochet, J.-Y.; Antoine, P.-O.; Benammi, Mouloud; Iqbal, N.; Marivaux, Laurent; Metais, Grégoire; Welcomme, Jean-Loup (2007). "A herpetotheriid marsupial from the Oligocene of Bugti Hills, Balochistan, Pakistan". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 52 (3): 633–637.
3. Bennett, C. Verity; Upchurch, Paul; Goin, Francisco J.; Goswami, Anjali (2018). "Deep time diversity of metatherian mammals: implications for evolutionary history and fossil-record quality". Paleobiology. 44 (2): 171–198. doi:10.1017/pab.2017.34. ISSN 0094-8373.