Scalaridelphys

Scalaridelphys; Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, Turonian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	†Pediomyoidea
Family:	†Aquiladelphidae
Genus:	†Scalaridelphys; Cohen, Davis & Cifelli, 2021
Species
	†S. aquilana Cohen, Davis & Cifelli, 2020; †S. martini Cohen, Davis & Cifelli, 2020 (type species);
Synonyms
	†Scalaria Cohen, Davis & Cifelli, 2020 (preoccupied);

Scalaridelphys (meaning "womb that resembles stairs"—in reference to the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument and the fact that it was related to extant marsupials) is an extinct genus of aquiladelphid pediomyoid mammal from the Late Cretaceous (Turonian)-aged Straight Cliffs Formation of Utah.^[1] Initially named as Scalaria in 2020,^[1] the genus name was changed to Scalaridelphys in 2021^[2] when the authors were told by B. Creisler that the name Scalaria was already in use for a now-obsolete genus of gastropod named by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in 1801.^[3] Two species of Scalaridelphys are known: the type species S. martini and S. aquilana.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Cohen, Joshua E.; Davis, Brian M. & Cifelli, Richard L. (2020). "Geologically oldest Pediomyoidea (Mammalia, Marsupialiformes) from the Late Cretaceous of North America, with implications for taxonomy and diet of earliest Late Cretaceous mammals". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 40 (5) e1835935. Bibcode:2020JVPal..40E5935C. doi:10.1080/02724634.2020.1835935. S2CID 228856795.
^ Cohen, Joshua E.; Davis, Brian M. & Cifelli, Richard L. (2021). "Scalaridelphys Nom. Nov. A New Replacement Name for Scalaria Cohen et al., 2020 (Marsupialiformes, Aquiladelphidae)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 40 (6) e1877721. doi:10.1080/02724634.2021.1877721.
^ Lamarck, J.-B. (1801). Système des animaux sans vertèbres, ou tableau général des classes, des ordres et des genres de ces animaux; présentant leurs caractères essentiels et leur distribution, d'après la considération de leurs..., Paris, Detreville, VIII: 1–432.