A high-latitude fauna of mid-Mesozoic mammals from Yakutia, Russia

• Published in: PLOS ONE
• Main Authors: Averianov, Alexander, Martin, Thomas, Lopatin, Alexey, Skutschas, Pavel, Schellhorn, Rico, Kolosov, Petr, Vitenko, Dmitry
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science 2018
• Subjects: Research Article; Yakutia; Siberia
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6059412/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30044817; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199983

The Early Cretaceous (?Berriasian-Barremian) Teete vertebrate locality in Western Yakutia, East Siberia, Russia, has produced mammal remains that are attributed to three taxa: Eleutherodontidae indet. cf. Sineleutherus sp. (Haramiyida; an upper molariform tooth), Khorotherium yakutensis gen. et sp. nov. (Tegotheriidae, Docodonta; maxillary fragment with three molariform teeth and dentary fragment with one molariform tooth), and Sangarotherium aquilonium gen. et sp. nov. (Eutriconodonta incertae sedis; dentary fragment with one erupted molariform tooth and one tooth in crypt). This is the second occurrence of Mesozoic mammals in high latitudes (paleolatitude estimate N 63–70°) of the Northern Hemisphere. In spite of the presumed Early Cretaceous age based on freshwater mollusks, the Teete mammal assemblage has a distinctive Jurassic appearance, being most similar to the Middle-Late Jurassic mammal assemblages known from Siberia, Russia and Xinjiang, China. The smooth transition from Jurassic to Cretaceous biota in Northern Asia is best explained by stable environmental conditions.