| Hondonadia | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Polydolopimorphia |
| Family: | †Rosendolopidae |
| Genus: | †Hondonadia Goin & Candela, 1998 |
| Type species | |
| †Hondonadia feruglioi Goin & Candela, 1998 | |
| Species | |
  Hondonadia (South America) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Hondonadia is an extinct genus ofLate Eocene toEarly Oligocene (Tinguirirican)marsupials related to today'sshrew opossums and with similar features as the relatedRosendolops. Thetype speciesHondonadia feruglioi was described byGoin and Candela in1998.[1] In later years, five more species were recognized, of whichPascualdelphys fierroensis, described by Flynn and Wyss in 1999,[2] that was in 2010 synonymized withHondonadia.[3]
It was a small animal, with estimates of the body weight of the mammal ranging from 27 to 93.3 grams (0.95 to 3.29 oz). The speciesH. feruglioi andH. praecipitia were possibly larger. Its main diet probably consisted ofseeds rather than insects.[4] Thetype speciesHondonadia feruglioi preserves at least four upper incisors (of which the posteriormost is the smallest), but the presence of five teeth cannot be ruled out.H. feruglioi also preserves a very large, subvertical C1.[5]
Fossils of the genus were found in theTinguiririca fauna of theAbanico Formation of Chile, theSanta Rosa local fauna of theYahuarango Formation in AmazonianPeru and in the Gran Barranca fauna of theVera Member pertaining to theSarmiento Formation in Argentina.[6]
