Docodontans from the Lower Cretaceous of Yakutia, Russia: New insights into diversity, morphology, and phylogeny of Docodonta

Abstract

Docodonta are the most abundant and taxonomically diverse group of mammaliaforms in the high paleolatitude Lower Cretaceous Teete locality in Yakutia, Russia. Docodontans are represented by the tegotheriids Khorotherium yakutense and Ergetiis ichchi gen. et sp. nov., and possibly two more taxa known from fragmentary specimens (Docodonta indet.). Ergetiis ichchi gen. et sp. nov. shows a reduction and posterior shift of the angular process of the dentary which could indicate a reduction of the mandibular middle ear potentially in a way analogous to the transitional mammalian middle ear of Eutriconodonta. A revised phylogenetic analysis of Docodonta suggests a stemward position of Docodontidae and a sister group relationship for Simpsonodontidae and Tegotheriidae.