- Paulchoffatia
Taxobox
name = "Paulchoffatia"
fossil_range =Late Jurassic -Early Cretaceous
regnum =Animal ia
phylum =Chordata
classis =Mammal ia
ordo =Multituberculata
familia =Paulchoffatiidae
genus = "Paulchoffatia"
species = "P. delgadoi"
binomial = "Paulchoffatia delgadoi"
binomial_authority =Kühne ,1961 "Paulchoffatia" is a genus of
extinct mammal of the UpperJurassic - LowerCretaceous . It was a relatively early member of the also extinct orderMultituberculata , within thesuborder "Plagiaulacida " and familyPaulchoffatiidae . It lived inEurope during the "age of thedinosaur s."The genus "Paulchoffatia" ("for Paul Choffat") was named by Kühne W.B. in 1961 based on a single species. It is also known as "Paulchoffia". "Paulchoffatia" is characterized by a massive Corpus mandibulae (the part of the jaw below the tooth row), a rounded lower margin of the jaw and a massive, only slightly curved and steeply inclined incisor with a short root", (Hahn & Hahn 2000, p.105). The name presumably honours the geologist Léon
Paul Choffat (1849-1919).Remains of the species "Paulchoffatia delgadoi" were found in the Kimmeridgian (Upper Jurassic)-age strata of
Guimarota ,Portugal . The skull probably had a length of 2.5 cm. This taxon is based on five lower jaw fossils. Further material of this genus, though very possibly not this species, has been reported from the LowerCretaceous location of Galve,Spain .References
* Kühne (1961), Eine Mammaliafauna aus dem Kimmeridge Portugals. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Monatshefte, 1961, p.374-381. ("A mammalian fauna from the Kimmeridgian of Portugal.")
* Hahn G & Hahn R (2000), Multituberculates from the Guimarota mine, p.97-107 in Martin T & Krebs B (eds), Guimarota - A Jurassic Ecosystem, Verlag Dr Friedrich Pfeil, München.
* Kielan-Jaworowska Z & Hurum JH (2001), "Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals". "Paleontology" 44, p.389-429.
* Much of this information has been derived from [http://home.arcor.de/ktdykes/multis.htm] Multituberculata (Cope 1884).
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