First monotreme from the Late Cretaceous of South America

Nicolás R. Chimento; Federico L. Agnolín; Makoto Manabe; Takanobu Tsuihiji; Thomas H. Rich; Patricia Vickers-Rich; Fernando E. Novas

doi:10.1038/s42003-023-04498-7

First monotreme from the Late Cretaceous of South America

Nicolás R. Chimento, Federico L. Agnolín, Makoto Manabe, Takanobu Tsuihiji, Thomas H. Rich, Patricia Vickers-Rich, Fernando E. Novas

School of Earth Atmosphere and Environment

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Monotremata is a clade of egg-lying mammals, represented by the living platypus and echidnas, which is endemic to Australia, and adjacent islands. Occurrence of basal monotremes in the Early Cretaceous of Australia has led to the consensus that this clade originated on that continent, arriving later to South America. Here we report on the discovery of a Late Cretaceous monotreme from southern Argentina, demonstrating that monotremes were present in circumpolar regions by the end of the Mesozoic, and that their distinctive anatomical features were probably present in these ancient forms as well.

Original language	English
Article number	146
Number of pages	6
Journal	Communications Biology
Volume	6
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-04498-7
Publication status	Published - Feb 2023

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10.1038/s42003-023-04498-7Licence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{67e863c6906f409e8e9bba60920bb1ef,

title = "First monotreme from the Late Cretaceous of South America",

abstract = "Monotremata is a clade of egg-lying mammals, represented by the living platypus and echidnas, which is endemic to Australia, and adjacent islands. Occurrence of basal monotremes in the Early Cretaceous of Australia has led to the consensus that this clade originated on that continent, arriving later to South America. Here we report on the discovery of a Late Cretaceous monotreme from southern Argentina, demonstrating that monotremes were present in circumpolar regions by the end of the Mesozoic, and that their distinctive anatomical features were probably present in these ancient forms as well.",

author = "Chimento, {Nicol{\'a}s R.} and Agnol{\'i}n, {Federico L.} and Makoto Manabe and Takanobu Tsuihiji and Rich, {Thomas H.} and Patricia Vickers-Rich and Novas, {Fernando E.}",

note = "Funding Information: The present paper is the result of a second Argentine-Japanese expedition, carried out in March 2022. We thank Coleman Burke (New York) for his encouragement and financial assistance to carry out the first field explorations to La Anita farm. A special thanks to Dr. Y. Harashi, former General Director of the National Museum of Nature and Science, Japan. Special thanks to Federico Braun for allowing access to his property. Facundo Echeverr{\'i}a and his wife Daphne Fraser (La Anita farm) offered their valuable geographic knowledge of these territories, allowing us an easy access to fossil sites with our 4×4 vehicles. Oscar Canto and Carla Almaz{\'a}n (Secretar{\'i}a de Cultura) for supporting our projects and explorations in Santa Cruz. Also, we thank Marcelo Isasi (LACEV-MACN, CONICET) for the technical preparation of the specimen. Thanks to geologists Francisco Nullo, Dami{\'a}n Moyano Paz, Maria Sol Raigemborn, Sabrina Lizzoli and Daniel Poir{\'e} provided valuable comments on the stratigraphy and regional geology of the Chorrillo Formation. Thanks to Jorge Barrientos for providing the bibliography. Thanks to Mauro Aranciaga Rolando, Gerardo {\'A}lvarez Herrero, Ana Moreno Rodr{\'i}guez, F. Briss{\'o}n Egl{\'i}, G. Mu{\~n}oz, Santiago Miner, David Piazza, Adrian Misantone (LACEV-MACN) and Mateo Monferran (CECOAL-CONICET) which made part of the field crew to La Anita farm. We thank two anonymous reviewers, Steve Brusatte and Robin Beck, for their enlightening comments that greatly improved the quality of this paper. This work was supported by The Susan and Coleman Burke Foundation (New York), and a grant from the National Museum of Nature and Science, Japan. Funding Information: The present paper is the result of a second Argentine-Japanese expedition, carried out in March 2022. We thank Coleman Burke (New York) for his encouragement and financial assistance to carry out the first field explorations to La Anita farm. A special thanks to Dr. Y. Harashi, former General Director of the National Museum of Nature and Science, Japan. Special thanks to Federico Braun for allowing access to his property. Facundo Echeverr{\'i}a and his wife Daphne Fraser (La Anita farm) offered their valuable geographic knowledge of these territories, allowing us an easy access to fossil sites with our 4×4 vehicles. Oscar Canto and Carla Almaz{\'a}n (Secretar{\'i}a de Cultura) for supporting our projects and explorations in Santa Cruz. Also, we thank Marcelo Isasi (LACEV-MACN, CONICET) for the technical preparation of the specimen. Thanks to geologists Francisco Nullo, Dami{\'a}n Moyano Paz, Maria Sol Raigemborn, Sabrina Lizzoli and Daniel Poir{\'e} provided valuable comments on the stratigraphy and regional geology of the Chorrillo Formation. Thanks to Jorge Barrientos for providing the bibliography. Thanks to Mauro Aranciaga Rolando, Gerardo {\'A}lvarez Herrero, Ana Moreno Rodr{\'i}guez, F. Briss{\'o}n Egl{\'i}, G. Mu{\~n}oz, Santiago Miner, David Piazza, Adrian Misantone (LACEV-MACN) and Mateo Monferran (CECOAL-CONICET) which made part of the field crew to La Anita farm. We thank two anonymous reviewers, Steve Brusatte and Robin Beck, for their enlightening comments that greatly improved the quality of this paper. This work was supported by The Susan and Coleman Burke Foundation (New York), and a grant from the National Museum of Nature and Science, Japan. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023, The Author(s).",

year = "2023",

month = feb,

doi = "10.1038/s42003-023-04498-7",

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AU - Chimento, Nicolás R.

AU - Agnolín, Federico L.

AU - Manabe, Makoto

AU - Tsuihiji, Takanobu

AU - Rich, Thomas H.

AU - Vickers-Rich, Patricia

AU - Novas, Fernando E.

N1 - Funding Information: The present paper is the result of a second Argentine-Japanese expedition, carried out in March 2022. We thank Coleman Burke (New York) for his encouragement and financial assistance to carry out the first field explorations to La Anita farm. A special thanks to Dr. Y. Harashi, former General Director of the National Museum of Nature and Science, Japan. Special thanks to Federico Braun for allowing access to his property. Facundo Echeverría and his wife Daphne Fraser (La Anita farm) offered their valuable geographic knowledge of these territories, allowing us an easy access to fossil sites with our 4×4 vehicles. Oscar Canto and Carla Almazán (Secretaría de Cultura) for supporting our projects and explorations in Santa Cruz. Also, we thank Marcelo Isasi (LACEV-MACN, CONICET) for the technical preparation of the specimen. Thanks to geologists Francisco Nullo, Damián Moyano Paz, Maria Sol Raigemborn, Sabrina Lizzoli and Daniel Poiré provided valuable comments on the stratigraphy and regional geology of the Chorrillo Formation. Thanks to Jorge Barrientos for providing the bibliography. Thanks to Mauro Aranciaga Rolando, Gerardo Álvarez Herrero, Ana Moreno Rodríguez, F. Brissón Eglí, G. Muñoz, Santiago Miner, David Piazza, Adrian Misantone (LACEV-MACN) and Mateo Monferran (CECOAL-CONICET) which made part of the field crew to La Anita farm. We thank two anonymous reviewers, Steve Brusatte and Robin Beck, for their enlightening comments that greatly improved the quality of this paper. This work was supported by The Susan and Coleman Burke Foundation (New York), and a grant from the National Museum of Nature and Science, Japan. Funding Information: The present paper is the result of a second Argentine-Japanese expedition, carried out in March 2022. We thank Coleman Burke (New York) for his encouragement and financial assistance to carry out the first field explorations to La Anita farm. A special thanks to Dr. Y. Harashi, former General Director of the National Museum of Nature and Science, Japan. Special thanks to Federico Braun for allowing access to his property. Facundo Echeverría and his wife Daphne Fraser (La Anita farm) offered their valuable geographic knowledge of these territories, allowing us an easy access to fossil sites with our 4×4 vehicles. Oscar Canto and Carla Almazán (Secretaría de Cultura) for supporting our projects and explorations in Santa Cruz. Also, we thank Marcelo Isasi (LACEV-MACN, CONICET) for the technical preparation of the specimen. Thanks to geologists Francisco Nullo, Damián Moyano Paz, Maria Sol Raigemborn, Sabrina Lizzoli and Daniel Poiré provided valuable comments on the stratigraphy and regional geology of the Chorrillo Formation. Thanks to Jorge Barrientos for providing the bibliography. Thanks to Mauro Aranciaga Rolando, Gerardo Álvarez Herrero, Ana Moreno Rodríguez, F. Brissón Eglí, G. Muñoz, Santiago Miner, David Piazza, Adrian Misantone (LACEV-MACN) and Mateo Monferran (CECOAL-CONICET) which made part of the field crew to La Anita farm. We thank two anonymous reviewers, Steve Brusatte and Robin Beck, for their enlightening comments that greatly improved the quality of this paper. This work was supported by The Susan and Coleman Burke Foundation (New York), and a grant from the National Museum of Nature and Science, Japan. Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s).

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First monotreme from the Late Cretaceous of South America

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