RE: Cretaceous, yes -- Netherlands, yes -- marsupial, unlikely

[Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

The same issue of the Journal of Mammalian Evolution also has an article on 
a new Early Cretaceous mammal from Australia.  This critter, named 
_Kryoryctes cadburyi_, is known from a single humerus, described as 
'tachyglossid-like' - although the authors are reluctant to jump to the 
conclusion that it belongs to a monotreme.  The humerus does seem adapted to 
digging, as in modern echidnas (and many other furry critters).  The name 
_Kryoryctes_ means 'cold-temperature digger', and the species name honors 
the Cadbury-Schweppes company.

Reference:

Peter A. Pridmore, Thomas H. Rich, Pat Vickers-Rich, and Petr P. Gambaryan 
(2005).  A tachyglossid-like humerus from the Early Cretaceous of 
South-Eastern Australia  J. Mammal. Evol. 12: 359-378.




> James E. Martin, Judd A. Case, John W. M. Jagt, Anne S. Schulp & Eric W. A. 
> Mulder: A New European Marsupial Indicates a Late Cretaceous High-Latitude 
> Transatlantic Dispersal Route, Journal of Mammalian Evolution 12(3/4), 495 
> -- 511 (December 2005)