Taeniolabis Explained

Taeniolabis ("banded incisor")^[1] is a genus of extinct multituberculate mammal from the Paleocene of North America.

Description

Taeniolabis is a member of the Taeniolabidoidea, a superfamily of multituberculates that are known for their highly derived teeth, and a short wide snout with a blocky head.^[2] The teeth modifications were likely an adaptation for herbivory that may have resulted from rapid diversification of angiosperms at the very end of the Cretaceous, which would thus have created opportunities for novel specialization in herbivores.^[3] It is the largest known multituberculate, as well as the largest allotherian mammal,^{[4] [5]} with T. taoensis weighing up to 34kg (75lb).^[6] Species under this genus have been known under other names.^[7] Taeniolabis taoensis is found frequently enough and in a very limited time range that it can be used as an index fossil for the Puercan faunal stage within Danian aged fossil deposits.^{[8] [9]}

Taxonomy

History

It is within the suborder of Cimolodonta and is a member of the superfamily Taeniolabidoidea. The genus was named by Edward Drinker Cope in 1882.^[10] Species have also been placed with the genera Catopsalis and Polymastodon.

Species

• Taeniolabis lamberti was named by Nancy Simmons in 1987.^[11] It has been found in the Danian aged Tullock Formation of Montana. It is not quite as large as T. taoensis, but still a hefty size for a multituberculate, weighing around 11kg (24lb).^[12]

• Taeniolabis taoensis was originally named Taeniolabis sulcatus by Cope in 1882 as the type species of the genus.^[13] It was later renamed as T. taoensis. Known fossils date to approximately 64 million years of age.^[14] They are found in Danian aged deposits of the Nacimiento Formation of New Mexico, the Ravenscrag Formation of Saskatchewan and the Denver Formation of Colorado.^[15] This species likely had a roughly16cm (06inches) long skull and had an average body mass of 22.7kg (50lb), which is approximately the size of a modern beaver. The species was once considered to have had a body mass of up to 100 kg and sized like a sheep^[16] or larger by extrapolating body size on the basis of their huge teeth. However, improved analyses and the realization that the teeth were extraordinarily robust due to herbivory rather has generally disproved that.^{[17] [18]}

References

• Web site: Taeniolabis. The Paleobiology Database . 24 January 2024.
• Cope . E.D. . Geology and Paleontology, A new genus of Taeniodonta. 1882. American Naturalist . 16. 7 . 604–605.
• Web site: Dykes . Trevor . Mesozoic Mammals; Eucosmodontidae, Microcosmodontidae and Taeniolabidoidea, an internet directory . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120716204423/http://home.arcor.de/ktdykes/taenio.htm . 16 July 2012 .
• Kielan-Jaworowska . Zofia . Hurum. J.H.. Phylogeny and Systematics of Multituberculate Mammals . 2001. Palaeontology . 44 . 3. 389–429. 10.1111/1475-4983.00185. 2001Palgy..44..389K .
• Krause . David W. . Hoffmann . Simone . Lyson . Tyler R. . Dougan . Lindsay G. . Petermann . Holger . Tecza . Adrienne . Chester . Stephen G. B. . Miller . Ian M. . 13 December 2021 . New Skull Material of Taeniolabis taoensis (Multituberculata, Taeniolabididae) from the Early Paleocene (Danian) of the Denver Basin, Colorado . Journal of Mammalian Evolution . 28 . 4 . 1083–1143 . 10.1007/s10914-021-09584-3. 34924738 . 8667543 .
• Palmer . T.S. . 1904. Index Generum Mammalium: a List of the Genera and Families of Mammals. North American Fauna. 23 . 659. 10.3996/nafa.23.0001 . free.
• Book: Rose, Kenneth David . The beginning of the age of mammals . 2006 . JHU Press . Baltimore . 978-0801884726.
• Simmons. Nancy B. . A Revision of Taeniolabis (Mammalia: Multituberculata), with a New Species from the Puercan of Eastern Montana. Journal of Paleontology. 61. 4. 1987. 794–808. 10.1017/S0022336000029140 . 1987JPal...61..794S . 133216712 .
• Williamson . Thomas E. . Brusatte . Stephen L. . Secord . Ross . Shelley . Sarah . A new taeniolabidoid multituberculate (Mammalia) from the middle Puercan of the Nacimiento Formation, New Mexico, and a revision of taeniolabidoid systematics and phylogeny: Revision of Taeniolabidoidea . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . May 2016 . 177 . 1 . 183–208 . 10.1111/zoj.12336 . free .
• Wilson . Gregory P. . Evans . Alistair R.. Corfe. Ian J.. Smits. Peter D.. Fortelius. Mikael. Jernvall. Jukka. Adaptive radiation of multituberculate mammals before the extinction of dinosaurs. 2012. Nature. 483. 7390 . 457–460. 10.1038/nature10880. 22419156 . 2012Natur.483..457W . 4419772 .

Further reading

• Cope . E.D. . Mammalia in the Laramie Formation. 1882. American Naturalist . 16. 10 . 830–831.
• Kielan-Jaworowska . Zofia . Hurum. J.H.. Phylogeny and Systematics of Multituberculate Mammals . 2001. Palaeontology . 44 . 3. 389–429. 10.1111/1475-4983.00185. 2001Palgy..44..389K .

• Osborn and Earle (1895), "Fossil mammals of the Puerco beds." Collection of 1892. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. VII, p. 1-70, with 21 figs.
• Granger and Simpson (1929), "A revision of the Tertiary Multituberculata." Bulletin Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 56, p. 601-676, 43 figs.

Notes and References

1. Palmer 1904, p 659. From Greek
2. Kielan-Jawoworska and Hurum, 2001
3. Wilson et al, 2012, pp 458-459
4. Rose 2006, p 60
5. Krause et al 2021, p 1085
6. T. R. Lyson . I. M. Miller . A. D. Bercovici . K. Weissenburger . A. J. Fuentes . W. C. Clyde . J. W. Hagadorn . M. J. Butrim . K. R. Johnson . R. F. Fleming . R. S. Barclay . S. A. Maccracken . B. Lloyd . G. P. Wilson . D. W. Krause . S. G. B. Chester . October 2019 . Exceptional continental record of biotic recovery after the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction . Science . 366 . 6468 . 977–983 . 10.1126/science.aay2268 . 31649141 . 204883579 . free .
7. Palebiology Database
8. Simmons 1987
9. Krause et al 2021, p 1085
10. Cope 1882, pg 604-605
11. Simmons 1987, pp 802-804
12. Wilson . G. P. . 2013 . Mammals across the K/Pg boundary in northeastern Montana, U.S.A.: Dental morphology and body-size patterns reveal extinction selectivity and immigrant-fueled ecospace filling . Paleobiology . 39 . 3 . 429–469 . 10.1666/12041. 2013Pbio...39..429W . 36025237 .
13. Cope 1882, pg 604-605
14. Wilson et al, 2012 Supplemental Table 5
15. Krause et al 2021, p 1086
16. Cope 1882, p 605
17. Krause et al 2021, p 1085 with lengthy discussion about estimates of size
18. Wilson et al, 2012 Supplemental Table 5