Sinodelphys is an extinctmammal from the Early Cretaceous, estimated to be 125 million years old. It was discovered and described in 2003 in rocks of the Yixian Formation in Liaoning Province, China, by a team of scientists including Zhe-Xi Luo and John Wible.[1] While initially suggested to be the oldest known metatherian, later studies interpreted it as a eutherian.
Only one fossil specimen is known, a slab and counterslab given catalog number CAGS00-IG03. It is in the collection of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences.
Sinodelphys szalayi grew only 15 cm (5.9 in) long and possibly weighed about 30 g (1.05 oz). Its fossilized skeleton is surrounded by impressions of fur and soft tissue, thanks to the exceptional sediment that preserves such details. Luo et al. (2003) inferred from the foot structure of Sinodelphys that it was a scansorial tree-dweller, like the contemporary Eomaia and modern opossums such as Didelphis. Sinodelphys probably hunted worms and insects.[2]
Taxonomy
Sinodelphys szalayi, living in China around 125 million years ago, was initially interpreted as the earliest known metatherian.[2][3][4] This makes it almost contemporary to the eutherian Acristatherium, which has been found in the same area.[5] However, Bi et al. (2018) reinterpreted Sinodelphys as an early member of Eutheria.[6]
^Shundong Bi; Xiaoting Zheng; Xiaoli Wang; Natalie E. Cignetti; Shiling Yang; John R. Wible (2018). "An Early Cretaceous eutherian and the placental–marsupial dichotomy". Nature. 558 (7710): 390–395. doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0210-3. PMID29899454.
