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A Late Cretaceous mammalian dentary from the Ashizawa Formation (Futaba Group), Fukushima, northeastern Japan
Author(s) -
Kusuhashi Nao,
Suzuki Tadashi,
Terui Kazuaki,
Sato Atsushi,
Amiot Romain
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
island arc
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.554
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1440-1738
pISSN - 1038-4871
DOI - 10.1111/iar.12133
Subject(s) - cretaceous , mammal , mesozoic , paleontology , evolution of mammals , geology , biology , biochemistry , structural basin , gene
Abstract A mammalian dentary discovered in the Coniacian Ashizawa Formation (Fukushima, northeastern Japan) is described. The specimen is a fragment of the horizontal ramus of a left edentulous dentary with five alveoli, the distal four of which are plugged with broken roots. Based on the morphologies of the dentary and the roots, it is considered to be of a therian mammal. This constitutes the first discovery of a Mesozoic mammal in northeastern Japan and highlights the potential for future mammal discoveries in the Cretaceous System in northeastern Japan, which will be significant for disclosure of the mammalian faunal evolution in East Asia during the Late Cretaceous.