Pucadelphys

Pucadelphys is an extinct genus of non-marsupial metatherian. The genus contains a single species, P. andinus. Fossils of Pucadelphys have been found in the Santa [Lucía Formation] in Tiupampa in Bolivia.

Description

Pucadelphys was small and likely to have eaten insects. It had a long tail, although incomplete on the best preserved fossils. It is possible that the tail was longer than its body. 17 vertebrae were preserved, and its estimated that there was 5 to 10 additional vertebrae originally. It is regarded as partially arboreal, and partially terrestrial. It may have been social, as more than 30 specimens have been found together.

Taxonomy

A 2016 phylogenetic analysis recovered Pucadelphys as a member of a metatherian clade including sparassodonts and other South American taxa, but not marsupials. The phylogenetic tree from the analysis is shown below.