Cranial and postcranial remains of a new species of <i>Cimolodon</i> (Mammalia, Multituber

Late Cretaceous fossils from the Campanian El Gallo Formation in Baja California, Mexico, dated between 75.17 and 74.55 million years ago. The dataset describes craniodental and postcranial remains of a new multituberculate mammal species, Cimolodon desosai, authored by Gregory P. Wilson Mantilla. It represents the most complete mammal known from the Mesozoic of Mexico and one of the best known cimolodontan multituberculates from North America.

Use Cases

• Phylogenetic analysis of cimolodontan relationships based on described morphological characters.
• Reconstructing body mass and locomotor modes of extinct mammals based on postcranial data.
• Studying biogeographic affinities of Late Cretaceous mammalian faunas based on taxonomic occurrences.
• Comparative anatomical studies of multituberculate dentition based on molar cusp formulae and premolar shape.

Strengths

• Includes craniodental and associated postcranial remains, described as the most complete mammal from the Mesozoic of Mexico.
• Specimen age is precisely dated to between 75.17 ± 0.30 Ma and 74.55 ± 0.18 Ma.
• Quantitative reconstruction provides specific body mass (~100 g), diet (animal-dominated omnivore), and locomotor mode (scansorial).
• The El Gallo mammalian local fauna is described with 16 specimens referred to five species across three groups.

Limitations

• Row count and column-level documentation are absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset is small (2.0 MB), which may limit the scope of quantitative analysis.
• Phylogenetic analysis uncertainties regarding relationships among cimolodontan families are noted.

Provenance

Source

figshare, authored by Gregory P. Wilson Mantilla.

Collection Method

Fossil discovery and morphological description from the Upper Cretaceous El Gallo Formation.

Time Range

75.17 to 74.55 million years ago (Campanian, Late Cretaceous).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-22 13:01:18; freshness should be verified.

Geography

El Gallo Formation, Baja California, México.