Sulestes Explained

Sulestes is an extinct genus of Deltatheridiidae from Cretaceous period. It has only been recovered from the Bissekty Formation in Uzbekistan.^[1]

Description

Sulestes is known from several jaw bones and teeth. Its holotype CCMGE 35/12000 consists of a left maxilla fragment with the first two molars. Significantly more material was referred to the genus in 2010 that included a right maxilla and several right and left dentary fragments.

The genus and the Deltatheridiidae family as a whole are thought to be predators.^[2]

Classification

The following cladogram is modified from Averianov et al., 2010:

Notes and References

1. A. O. Averianov, J. D. Archibald, and E. G. Ekdale. 2010. New material of the Late Cretaceous deltatheroidan mammal Sulestes from Uzbekistan and phylogenetic reassessment of the metatherian-eutherian dichotomy. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 8 (3): 301-330. doi:10.1080/14772011003603499
2. Nessov . Lev A. . Sigogneau-Russel . Denise . Russel . Donald E. . 1994 . A survey of Cretaceous tribosphenic mammals from middle Asia (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan), of their geological setting, age and faunal environment . Palaeovertebrata . 23 . 1-4 . 51-92.