Henkelotherium

Henkelotherium is an extinct genus of dryolestidan mammal from the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) Camadas de Guimarota, in Portugal.Krebs B., 1991. Das Skelett von Henkelotherium guimarotae gen. et sp. nov. (Eupantotheria, Mammalia) aus dem Oberen Jura von Portugal. Berl Geowiss Abh A.: 133:1–110. Unlike many other Jurassic mammals, it is known from a largely complete skeleton, and is thought to have had an arboreal lifestyle.

Description The skull of Henkelotherium is long, and presacral body length is . This suggest a weight of about .

Paleobiology Primitive characters of Henkelotherium (e.g. asymmetric condyles of the femur) indicate that this species had a mode of locomotion similar to tree shrews and opossums. The small size of Henkelotherium and elongated tail made it suited to an arboreal lifestyle and capable of climbing trees, a notion supported by the paleoecological reconstruction of the Guimarota ecosystem indicating a densely vegetated environment.Vázquez-Molinero, R., Martin, T., Fischer, M. S. and Frey, R. (2001), Comparative anatomical investigations of the postcranial skeleton of Henkelotherium guimarotae Krebs, 1991 (Eupantotheria, Mammalia) and their implications for its locomotion. Zool. Reihe, 77: 207–216. doi: 10.1002/mmnz.20010770206 Based on its late growth of jaws and it possessing additional molars that erupted after antemolar replacement was completed, Henkelotherium is believed to have had a long lifespan, a slower life history, or a combination of the two.

Taxonomy In cladistic analyses, Henkelotherium has been considered closely related to Dryolestidae, either as a part of that group, or as closely related but placed outside that family as a non-dryolestid dryolestidan.

Henkelotherium

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