Fruitafossor

Fruitafossor; Temporal range: Late Jurassic,
	Forelimb model at the Smithsonian
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Clade:	Theriimorpha
Genus:	†Fruitafossor; Luo and Wible, 2005
Species:	†F. windscheffeli
Binomial name
	†Fruitafossor windscheffeli; Luo and Wible, 2005

Fruitafossor was a termite-eating mammal endemic to North America during the Late Jurassic epoch (around 150 mya).^[1]

The description is based on a complete skeleton of a chipmunk-sized animal.^[1] It was discovered on March 31, 2005, in Fruita, Colorado. The genus name, Fruitafossor, comes from Fruita, Colorado, where it was discovered. The suffix "fossor" indicates the fossorial, or digging, specialization of the forelimbs. The specific epithet, windscheffeli, is in honor of Wally Windscheffel, who discovered the specimen along with Charles E. Safris of Des Moines, Iowa.

It resembled an armadillo (or anteater) and probably ate colonial insects in much the same manner as these animals do today. Other skeletal features clearly show that Fruitafossor was not related to armadillos, anteaters, or any modern group of mammal. This indicates that specializations associated with feeding on ants or termites have independently evolved many times in mammals: in Fruitafossor, anteaters, numbats, aardwolves, aardvarks, pangolins, and echidnas.

^ ^a ^b Luo, Z.-X.; Wible, J.R. (2005). "A Late Jurassic Digging Mammal and Early Mammalian Diversification". Science. 308 (5718): 103–107. Bibcode:2005Sci...308..103L. doi:10.1126/science.1108875. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 15802602. S2CID 7031381.

[Luo2005-1] Luo, Z.-X.; Wible, J.R. (2005). "A Late Jurassic Digging Mammal and Early Mammalian Diversification". Science. 308 (5718): 103–107. Bibcode:2005Sci...308..103L. doi:10.1126/science.1108875. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 15802602. S2CID 7031381.

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