Sulestes karakshi Nessov, 1985b (=Deltatheroides kizylkumensis Nessov, 1993, =Marsasia aenigma Nessov, 1997) from the Late Cretaceous (Turonian) Bissekty local fauna, Kyzylkum Desert, Uzbekistan, is revised based on additional material from the type locality. It is characterized by an absence of palatal vacuities, double-rooted P1, an asymmetrical M3 with reduced metastylar lobe, an unreduced M4 and m4, obliquely oriented p1, anterior wall of the upper canine alveolus formed by premaxilla, and Meckelian groove on the dentary. PAUP analyses using a data matrix modified from Rougier et al. (1998, 2004) places Sulestes within Deltatheridiidae in an unresolved trichotomy with the Mongolian Campanian Deltatheridium and Deltatheroides. Oklatheridium from the Early Cretaceous of North America is sister taxon to these Late Cretaceous Asiatic deltatheridiidans. The Deltatheridiidae is the sister group to other Metatheria including the crown clade Marsupialia. A Deltatheroides-like taxon from the Maastrichtian at Guril
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)301-330
JournalJournal of Systematic Palaeontology
Volume8
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2010
Externally publishedYes

    Research areas

  • Metatheria, Eutheria, phylogeny, evolution, Mesozoic, Asia

ID: 5239004