A new tritylodontid from the Upper Jurassic of Xinjiang, China

Abstract

A new genus and species of Tritylodontidae, Yuanotherium minor, is described and compared with other known tritylodontids. The new taxon is represented by a partially preserved upper jaw with three postcanines, collected from the upper part of the Shishugou Formation (Oxfordian, Late Jurassic) in the Wucaiwan area of the Junggar Basin, northwestern Xinjiang, China. Like other tritylodontids its maxillary teeth have three rows of blade like trenchant cusps separated by deep furrows. The new species differs from other tritylodontids mainly in having posteriormost two cusps of the median row on upper postcanines closely placed. The new tritylodontid may have been omnivorous rather than herbivorous, as previously suggested for tritylodontids in general.