Fruitafossor
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Fruitafossor Temporal range: Late Jurassic, Kimmeridgian–Tithonian |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Clade: | Tribosphenida |
| Genus: |
†Fruitafossor Luo and Wible, 2005 |
| Species: | †F. windscheffeli |
| Binomial name | |
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Fruitafossor windscheffeli Luo and Wible, 2005 |
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Fruitafossor was a termite-eating mammal endemic to North America during the Late Jurassic epoch (155.7—150.8 mya), existing for approximately 4.9 million years.
The description is based on a surprisingly complete skeleton of a chipmunk-sized animal. It was discovered on March 31, 2005, in Fruita, Colorado. It resembled an armadillo (or anteater) and probably ate colonial insects in much the same manner as these animals do today. Other skeletal features clearly show that Fruitafossor was not related to armadillos, anteaters, or any modern group of mammal. This indicates that specializations associated with feeding on ants or termites have independently evolved many times in mammals: in Fruitafossor, anteaters, numbats, aardvarks, pangolins, and echidnas.
In 2009, a study by J. R. Foster was published that estimated the body masses of mammals from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation by using the ratio of dentary length to body mass of modern marsupials as a reference. Foster concludes that Fruitafossor was the least massive of the formation at 6g, much lower than the average Morrison mammal of 48.5g.
The teeth of Fruitafossor bear a striking resemblance to modern armadillos and aardvarks. They were open-rooted, peg-like teeth without enamel. This type of tooth is present today in insectivorous mammals, particularly those that are highly specialized to feed on colonial insects. This is termed "myrmecophagy." Since ants had not yet evolved at the time of Fruitafossor, it is assumed that these animals fed on termites, which were abundant – along with their relatives, the cockroaches.
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