A new Late Cretaceous metatherian from the Williams Fork Formation, Colorado.

ABSTRACT: Heleocola piceanus, a new, relatively large metatherian from Upper Cretaceous ('Edmontonian') strata of the Williams Fork Formation in northwestern Colorado is described, based on a recently discovered jaw fragment (MWC 9744), in addition to three isolated teeth initially referred by other studies to Aquiladelphis incus and Glasbius piceanus. Although sharing several morphologic characters with the Lancian genus Glasbius, H. piceanus lower molars are considerably larger than those of Glasbius and differ from the latter in lacking a buccal cingulid, possessing carnassiform notches on the cristid obliqua and entocristid, and bearing an entoconulid on m3. To examine the relationship of Heleocola piceanus to other metatherians, H. piceanus was scored into a previously existing taxon-character

SUBMITTER: Eberle J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11498682 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature