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Didelphoidae

Mammalia

Taxonomy
Didelphoidea was named by Gray (1821) [also said to be 1827]. It is extant. Its type is Didelphis. It was considered paraphyletic by de Muizon and Cifelli (2001).

It was corrected as Didelphoidae by Hay (1930).

It was assigned to Polyprotodontia by Hay (1930); to Marsupialia by Clemens (1979), Marshall (1982); to Marsupicarnivora by Hooker (1986); to Metatheria by Nowak (1991); to Marsupialia by McKenna and Bell (1997); and to Didelphimorphia by Goin (1997), de Muizon and Cifelli (2001), Case et al. (2004), Goin et al. (2007).

Synonyms
  • Sparassocynus heterotopicus was named by Villarroel and Marshall (1983) [Sparassocyninae were previously known only from Argentina where they occur in beds of Huayquerian, Montehermosan, and Uquian (early Pleistocene) age. The oldest known specimen was a partial cranium (Field Museum of Natural History P15225) from beds of Huayquerian age at Chiquimil, Catamarca Province. This specimen was noted by Riggs and Patterson (1939, p. 148), Reig (1958, p. 279-280), and Reig and Simpson (1972), and was recently described by Simpson (1974, p. 11) as Sparassocynus sp. innominata. The systematic relationship of this specimen to S. heterotopicus cannot be evaluated at this time due to lack of comparable elements.]. It is considered to be a form taxon. Its type specimen is GEOBOL no. UM (Umala) 250, a maxilla (Fragment of a left maxillary with complete M1-3 and labial root of M4), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Umala, La Paz, which is in a Montehermosan/Chapadmalalan terrestrial horizon in the Umala Formation of Bolivia.

    It was considered a nomen dubium by Abello et al. (2015).
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1821Didelphoidea Gray
1930Didelphoidae Hay p. 389
1979Didelphoidea Clemens p. 193
1982Didelphoidea Marshall
1983Sparassocynus heterotopicus Villarroel and Marshall p. 1062 figs. 3 and 4
1986Didelphoidea Hooker p. 212
1991Didelphoidea Nowak
1997Didelphoidea Goin p. 481
1997Didelphoidea McKenna and Bell
2001Didelphoidea de Muizon and Cifelli p. 88
2004Didelphoidea Case et al. p. 234
2007Didelphoidea Goin et al.

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
RankNameAuthor
subclassSynapsida
—Therapsida()
infraorderCynodontia()
—Mammaliamorpha
—Mammaliaformes
classMammalia
—Cladotheria
—Zatheria
subclassTribosphenida()
subclassTheria
subclassMetatheria()
—Marsupialiformes
—Marsupialia()
suborderPolyprotodontia(Owen 1866)
superfamilyDidelphoidae(Gray 1821)
superfamilyDidelphoidae(Gray 1821)

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

Superfm. Didelphoidae Gray 1821
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Invalid names: Sparassocynus heterotopicus Villarroel and Marshall 1983 [nomen dubium]
Diagnosis
No diagnoses are available
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: phosphaticsubp
Environment: terrestrialc
Locomotion: actively mobilec
Life habit: scansorialf
Diet: omnivoref
Reproduction: viviparoussubc
Created: 2005-09-07 09:16:13
Modified: 2011-04-27 20:22:07
Source: f = family, subc = subclass, c = class, subp = subphylum
References: Carroll 1988, Hendy et al. 2009, Lillegraven 1979, Hopson 1973, Clemens 1979

Age range: base of the Danian to the top of the Chapadmalalan or 66.00000 to 3.00000 Ma

Collections (4 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Danian66.0 - 61.66Bolivia (Mizque) Didelphoidea indet. (13501)
Colhuehuapian21.0 - 17.5Argentina (Chubut) Didelphoidea indet. (141368)
Montehermosan - Chapadmalalan5.0 - 3.0Bolivia (La Paz) Didelphoidea indet., Sparassocynus heterotopicus (70641 142380)