Mahgarita

The exact nature of the placement of Mahgarita is complicated, with many authors disagreeing on where the genus lies. Mahgarita has been placed within Adapidae. Mescalerolemur, also from Texas, is suggested to be the sister taxon to Mahgarita. The placement of Mahgarita as an adapoid has been questioned, with some suggesting Mahgarita is an early simian, though the traits used to classify Mahgarita as such may be homoplasies according to some authors. Other authors consider Mahgarita to be a notharctid. The genus was named after Margaret Skeels Stevens, a collector of Cenozoic fossils in Texas and discoverer of the fossils of Mahgarita. == Description ==

), a modern day lemur with a skull similar in size to Mahgarita.Mahgarita is known from a crushed skull, as well as jaws and teeth. Unlike close relatives, Mahgarita has a completely reduced first premolar and a mostly reduced second premolar, resulting in a dental formula of . The anatomy of the premolars themselves is also unique, with the third premolar having an almost entirely reduced protocone, though it is still distinct. The mandible of Mahgarita is strongly fused, a derived trait seen in some other adapoids. The canines are similar to those in Europolemur, with them being sharply pointed and large. The skull of Mahgarita is comparable in size to modern day sportive lemurs, and the morphology of the base of the skull is similar to that of Adapis. == Paleoecology ==

Distribution Known from Texas, Mahgarita is unique in that most other members of their subfamily are endemic to Eurasia. North America's own adapoid lineage, the notharctines, are not known from the same strata as Mahgarita, which suggests that fauna from Eurasia crossed into North America in middle Eocene. Mahgarita lived alongside various other vertebrates, including the brontothere Sthenodectes, the amynodontid Metamynodon, the hyracodontidHyracodon and the hyaenodontid Hyaenodon. Mahgarita also co-oexisted with the omomyid primate Rooneyia. == References ==