Tsagandelta
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Tsagandelta Temporal range: 99–70 Ma Late Cretaceous |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Deltatheroida |
| Family: | †Deltatheridiidae |
| Genus: |
†Tsagandelta G. W. Rougier, B. M. Davis, and M. J. Novacek. 2015 |
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Tsagandelta (from "tsagan", mongolian for white, and "delta", greek for "crest") is an extinct mammal genus from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. Distantly related to modern marsupials, it is part of Deltatheroida, a lineage of carnivorous metatherians common in the Cretaceous of Asia and among the most successful non-theropod carnivores of the region.
Tsagandelta is currently known from one specimen, the holotype PSS-MAE 629. This specimen is composed of a left dentary fragment containing an almost intact second molar, the base of the third molar and the roots of the first premolar; various other tooth sockets are empty, and the dental formula is probably similar to that of Deltatheridium. The animal was slightly smaller than the related Lotheridium, itself an animal about the size of a modern marten.
Tsagandelta groups in Deltatheridiidae, more derived than Sulestes and Oklatheridium but less so than the rest of the family. This phylogenetic position has been argued to suggest an asian origin for Deltatheroida.
Like most deltatheroideans, Tsagandelta was a carnivore, its molar anatomy similar to the carnassials of other carnivorous therians. It and its relatives (as well as the unrelated eutriconodonts) are among the Mesozoic mammals most clearly specialised to meat-eating.
Tsagandelta hails from the Baynshiree Formation, dating somewhere from the Cenomanian to the Campanian. It is adjacent to the Iren Dabasu Formation, and likely held a similar fauna. Various small mammals, squamates, gobiosuchids and dinosaurs are known, which could have been hunted by Tsagandelta; in turn, tyrannosaurs and the larger dromaeosaurs would have hunted it.
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