An exceptional specimen of Cimexomys judithae (Mammalia : Multituberculata) from the Campanian Two Medicine Formation of Montana, and the phylogenetic status of Cimexomys
M. Montellano et al., An exceptional specimen of Cimexomys judithae (Mammalia : Multituberculata) from the Campanian Two Medicine Formation of Montana, and the phylogenetic status of Cimexomys, J VERTEBR P, 20(2), 2000, pp. 333-340
We here describe a near-complete dentition, partial rostrum, and associated
lumbar vertebrae of the multituberculate mammal Cimexomys judithac, discov
ered on a dinosaur nest horizon at Egg Mountain, in Montana's Campanian Two
Medicine Formation. This specimen confirms associations of isolated teeth
made by previous authors and provides a wealth of phylogenetically useful i
nformation. A phylogenetic analysis including this specimen indicates that
Cimexomys is diagnosed on the basis of primitive and widely distributed cha
racter states, is probably not monophyletic, and that C. judithae is more d
erived than other species of Cimexomys. Species of Cimexomys are too primit
ive to be included in the suborders Taeniolabidoidea or Ptilodontoidea, and
are thus useful as outgroups in future analyses, but they must be scored s
eparately to insure monophyly.