Re: Mollusk eating (was Re: Sauropod necks????)

[Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

K and T Dykes wrote:

> There's a possible mammalian candidate from the Lower Cretaceous of
> Australia.  I've been informed that the molars of Kollikodon (a weird
> monotreme) might have worked well with a diet of shellfish.  Remains are
> restricted to partial lower jaw, but it must have been from a relatively
> large mammal for the time of Earth.  Unfortunately, I don't have a formal
> reference.

Flannery, T., Archer, M., Rich, T.H. and Jones, R. (1995).   A new family of 
monotremes from the Cretaceous of Australia. Nature 377: 418-420.

_Kollikodon ritchiei_ may have been around 1m long - a very rough estimate 
given that it's known only from a dentary (with some teeth still in place).  
We don't have any identifiable postcranial remains, so it's impossible to 
judge how specialized it was for swimming.  The shellfish-eating idea comes 
from the shape of the teeth, which appear suitable for crushing shellfish.

Cheers

Tim