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Mesozoic Mammals from South America and Their Forerunners

Part of the book series: Springer Earth System Sciences ((SPRINGEREARTH))

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Abstract

Mammals from ancient times, living in past ecosystems surrounded by dinosaurs, toothed birds, fast running crocodyliforms, among other unfamiliar creatures, are a fascinating subject. These archaic mammals include the old, distant, relatives of the lineages that gave rise to the modern radiation of mammals and eventually ourselves. Mesozoic mammals are known from the Northern Hemisphere since the eighteenth century, while the first record of these creatures in the Southern Hemisphere came about half a century ago. As usual for Mesozoic mammals, the bulk of the SA species are solely known by jaw fragments and isolated teeth; but the collections also hold footprints, and a few beautifully preserved skulls and partial skeletons. In this chapter, we present a historical account of the first steps in the knowledge of SA Mesozoic mammals, the main personalities that helped to get it established as a distinct discipline, and provide definitions for some of the major mammalian groups.

…porque te hago saber, Sancho, que la boca sin muelas es como Molino sin piedra, y en mucho más se ha de estimar un diente que un diamante.

[…you must know Sancho, that a mouth without teeth is like a mill without a stone, and that a diamond is not so precious as a tooth.]

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha, 1605

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA

    Guillermo W. Rougier

  2. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”-CONICET, Sección Paleontología de Vertebrados, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Agustín G. Martinelli

  3. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales, Centro Científico Tecnológico-CONICET, Mendoza, Argentina

    Analía M. Forasiepi

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  1. Guillermo W. Rougier
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  2. Agustín G. Martinelli
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  3. Analía M. Forasiepi
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Correspondence to Guillermo W. Rougier .

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Rougier, G.W., Martinelli, A.G., Forasiepi, A.M. (2021). Introduction. In: Mesozoic Mammals from South America and Their Forerunners. Springer Earth System Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63862-7_1

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