Parendotherium
Extinct genus of multituberculate
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Parendotherium is an extinct genus of multituberculate mammal known from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian age) Camarillas Formation of Spain. The genus contains a single species, Parendotherium herreroi, known from an isolated tooth.
| Parendotherium Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Multituberculata |
| Family: | †Paulchoffatiidae (?) |
| Genus: | †Parendotherium Crusafont-Pairó & Adrover, 1966 |
| Species: | †P. herreroi |
| Binomial name | |
| †Parendotherium herreroi Crusafont-Pairó & Adrover, 1966 | |
Taxonomy
The genus Parendotherium was named by Crusafont-Pairó and Adrover in 1966. The known fossil remains of the type species, Parendotherium herreroi, were found in Barremian (Lower Cretaceous)-age strata of Galve, Spain. According to McKenna and Bell (1997, p. 37), Parendotherium is a junior synonym of Loxaulax. However, Kielan-Jaworowska and Hurum (2001, p. 415) lists it as a separate genus.
It has been variably classified within the families Paulchoffatiidae, Plagiaulacidae, and Eobaataridae, or considered a nomen dubium or synonym of Loxaulax.[1] A 2021 publication noted the presence of a prominent basal cusp on the holotype, a characteristic of the upper incisor of paulchoffatiids unseen in eobaatarids, and concluded that paulchoffatiid affinities were most likely.[2]
