*Fruitafossor*

[David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

Through dark, albeit not hideous, channels I have acquired a pdf of the 
description of *Fruitafossor*. It's almost cute how strongly the authors 
emphasize _twice at every occasion_ that *F.* is not a xenarthran or 
anything remotely similar; that's because *F.* falls between the error 
margins of the ludicrous divergence time estimate for Xenarthra vs. other 
placentals calculated by Kumar & Hedges in 1998 (129 +- 18.5 Ma ago).

Pangolins, palaeanodonts, *Eurotamandua* and *Ernanodon* (a particularly 
mysterious Paleocene mammal from China that's sometimes suspected to be a 
xenarthran) are mentioned in the supplementary information. They all lack 
the tremendous list of plesiomorphies that *F.* retains. (On the other hand, 
it isn't mentioned that basal palaeanodonts, like *Arcticanodon* which was 
mentioned onlist today, have a more plesiomorphic dentition than *F.*, for 
example retaining two-rooted cheek teeth!)

I can't hazard a guess about whether the middle ear was still connected to 
the lower jaw (as the authors infer) or if the Meckelian groove just housed 
a big splenial. However, the vestigial angular process is interesting --  
that's exactly how the missing link between the australosphenidan grade 
(bigger angular process) and the triconodont-multituberculate grade (no 
trace of an angular process) is supposed to look like! :-)

To answer my own questions, yes, it's the metacoracoid, and yes, epipubes 
are at least reconstructed...

The retention of lumbar ribs is especially impressive.

The hands are weird. Except for the phalangeal formula they look so 
unmammalian. Like a turtle's, sort of (though there again it wouldn't fit 
that the 5th finger is completely gone). Only six carpals!

Dinosaurs! Dinosaurs! There. I said it. Twice. :-)

If only I could think of an April Fools joke... somehow I'm not so 
imaginative this year...