Vertebrate Paleontology Blog

News and reviews of scientific research on fossil vertebrates.

Monday, August 23, 2004

An eutherian mammal from the Cretaceous of India

A new eutherian mammal was reported from India's Late Cretaceous Deccan intertrappean site near Kisalpuri. The single specimen indicates a close affinity to the Laurasian (North American/Euroasian) boreosphenidan. This runs counter to the hypothesis that mammals, trapped on India's continent during the Late Cretaceous, would be more closely related to African mammals, rather than Lauriasian faunas. The research was published in Current Science, on August 10th.