Othnielmarshia is an extinct genus of placental mammal from the Paleocene and the Eocene of South America, belonging to the family Henricosborniidae within the order Notoungulata. It was named after the famous paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh.[1]

Othnielmarshia
Temporal range: Paleocene-Eocene
~58–40 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Notoungulata
Family: Henricosborniidae
Genus: Othnielmarshia
Ameghino 1901
Type species
Othnielmarshia lacunifera
Ameghino, 1901
Species
  • O. curviristra Ameghino 1901
  • O. lacunifera Ameghino 1901
  • O. reflexa Ameghino 1901
Synonyms
  • Postpithecus Ameghino 1901

Description

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This genus is mainly known from its brachyodont and bunolophodont molars. The upper molars had generally a very scanty crochet, in many cases completely absent. Only the first and second upper molars consistently had an hypocone. Unlike Henricosbornia, Othnielmarshia had a sharp labial cingulum. The third molar did not have a metastyle, or it was weakly developed. For the lower molars, the hypoconulid is more difficult to differentiate and the entoconid is more conical and closer from the hypoconulid than in Henricosbornia.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Ameghino, Florentino (1901). "Notices préliminaires sur des ongulés nouveaux des terrains crétacès de Patagonie". Boletin de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias de Córdoba. 16: 349–429. OCLC 123174974.
  2. ^ Simpson, George Gaylord (1948). "The beginning of the age of mammals in South America. Part 1, Introduction: Systematics: Marsupialia, Edentata, Condylarthra, Litopterna and Notioprogonia". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 91 (1): 1–232. hdl:2246/1632.