Enigmatic Mammal from the Paleogene of Peru

GOIN, F.J., VIEYTES, E.C., VUCETICH, M.G., CARLINI, A.A., Y BOND, M.

The Paleogene Mammalian Fauna of Santa Rosa, Amazonian Peru

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Lugar: Los Angeles; Año: 2004; p. 145 - 153

We describe an isolated molariform tooth excavated from ?Eocene de-posits at Santa Rosa, Peru. The specimen most probably belongs to a mammal, and it may correspond to a left upper last molar. Analysis of its enamel and dentine micro-structure leads to no definite conclusion as to its relationships, or even as to its enamel–dentine structural patterns. Taphonomic processes, for example, digestion of the specimen by a predator, might be involved in some of its peculiar characteristics. Its unique gross morphology prevents us from assigning it to any known mammal group with confidence. Several features of its cusp and crest morphology resemble the general pattern of Late Cretaceous–Eocene gondwanatherian mammals, especially that of Ferugliotherium windhauseni (Ferugliotheriidae)