Sinobaatar

Taxobox
name = "Sinobaatar"
fossil_range = Early Cretaceous
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Multituberculata
subordo = Plagiaulacida
familia = Eobaataridae
genus = "Sinobaatar"
species = "S. lingyuanensis"
binomial = "Sinobaatar lingyuanensis"
binomial_authority = Hu & Wang, 2002

"Sinobaatar" is a genus of extinct mammal from the Lower Cretaceous of China. It is categorized within the also extinct order Multituberculata and among these it belongs to the plagiaulacid lineage (a possible infraorder). "Sinobaatar" was a small herbivore during the Mesozoic era, commonly called "the age of the dinosaurs". The genus was named by Hu Y. and Wang Y. in 2002. "Sinobaatar lingyuanensis" is the only species known to date.

It has been found in Lower Cretaceous strata of the Yixian Formation in Liaoning, China. According to Hu & Wang (2002),

" [t] he dental features of "Sinobaatar" show again that eobaatarids are obviously intermediate between Late Jurassic multituberculates and the later forms".

Many Multituberculata are only known from teeth, but the type specimen of "Sinobataar" is a reasonably complete skeleton.

"Sinobataar" was eaten, at least on occasion, by the feathered dinosaur "Sinosauropteryx prima" (Hurum "et al." 2006).

Etymology

The name "Sinobaatar" is a Latin and Mongolian mixture and means "Chinese hero". The species name is in honor of Lingyuan City.

References

* Hurum, Jørn H.; Luo, Zhe-Xi & Kielan-Jaworowska, Zofia (2006): Were mammals originally venomous? "Acta Palaeontologica Polonica" 51(1): 1–11. [http://www.app.pan.pl/acta51/app51-001.pdf PDF fulltext]
* Kielan-Jaworowska, Zofia & Hurum, Jørn H. (2001): Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals. "Paleontology" 44: 389-429.
* Hu & Wang (2002): "Sinobaatar" gen. nov.: First multituberculate from the Jehol Biota of Liaoning, Northeast China. "Chinese Science Bulletin" 47(11): 933-938.
* Much of the above material has been derived from [http://home.arcor.de/ktdykes/basmult.htm Mesozoic Mammals: Plagiaulacidae, Albionbaataridae, Eobaataridae & Arginbaataridae]