AM F66763 defines Steropodon galmani and was interpreted as monotreme material from dental anatomy; it is not a direct ancestor or complete monotreme body plan.
claim:taxon:steropodon:taxonomySteropodon
Holotype AM F66763 is a tooth-bearing dentary that anchors a specimen-level test of Mesozoic monotreme dental anatomy and affinity.
Represented range110–100 Ma
Content packageother-mammals
PBDBtxn:39741
Evidence boundary
Automated checks cover structure, identifiers, translations and links only; maintainer and external expert review are not complete.
Claim ledger
The profile is limited to Lightning Ridge in the Griman Creek Formation and does not establish the complete range of Steropodon or Monotremata.
claim:taxon:steropodon:biogeographyMolar form permits a bounded feeding inference, while diet, habitat use and locomotion are not directly preserved by the jaw.
claim:taxon:steropodon:ecologyAM F66763 preserves a right dentary fragment with three molars compared with monotreme and tribosphenic dental conditions.
claim:taxon:steropodon:morphologyThe 110–100 Ma envelope is a broad formation-level navigation interval for the holotype, not a direct date, global FAD, LAD or crown-monotreme age.
claim:taxon:steropodon:fossil-rangeKnown limits
- A missing branch or fossil occurrence does not imply biological absence. Internal nodes are not calibrated divergence estimates.
References
- First Mesozoic mammal from Australia—an Early Cretaceous monotremeArcher, M.; Flannery, T.F.; Ritchie, A.; Molnar, R.E. · 1985 · DOI 10.1038/318363a0
- Open Tree of Life web servicesOpenTreeOfLife Project
- The Paleobiology Database application programming interfacePeters, S.E.; McClennen, M. · 2016 · DOI 10.1017/pab.2015.39
- Denormalized occurrence and taxon tables of the Paleobiology DatabaseThe Paleobiology Database Community; Kocsis, Á.T. · 2026 · DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21620933