Reply to: “Patagomaia could be a gondwanatherian”

Abstract

Patagomaia chainko Chimento et al.1 is a fossil mammal based on a partial hindlimb and pelvis coming from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Santa Cruz province, Argentina. In spite of being described as belonging to the therian lineage by Chimento et al.1, Puschel et al.2 proposed that it may belong to the Gondwanatheria clade. It should be mentioned that most gondwanatherians are only poorly represented, and include taxa with a great degree of missing entries. Among the taxa assigned to Gondwanatheria, the Malagasy Adalatherium hui, is the only one that can be compared with Patagomaia, having clearly associated postcranial material.