Galulatherium fossil map
Where fossils of Galulatherium have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 85 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 85 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Early mammals |
|---|---|
| Lived | 100.5–72.2 million years ago (Cenomanian to Campanian) |
| Periods | Cretaceous |
| Family | Sudamericidae |
| Named by | O'Connor et al. 2019 |
| Fossil records | 2 occurrences at 1 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | Tanzania |
| Rock formations | Galula |
About Galulatherium
Galulatherium is an extinct genus of possibly gondwanathere mammal, from the Late Cretaceous (Turonian-Campanian)-aged Galula Formation of Tanzania. It is known solely from the type specimen TNM 02067 (Tanzanian National Museums specimen 02067) a fragmentary fossil dentary (lower jaw). The short, deep bone is about 19.5 mm (0.77 in) long, but the back part is broken off. It contains a large, forward-inclined incisor with a root that extends deep into the jaw, separated by a diastema (gap) from five cheekteeth. Very little remains of the teeth, but enough to determine that they are hypsodont (high-crowned). The third cheektooth is the largest and the roots of the teeth are curved. First described in 2003, TNM 02067 has been tentatively identified as a sudamericid—an extinct family of high-crowned gondwanathere mammals otherwise known from South America, Madagascar, India, and Antarctica. If truly a gondwanathere, it would be the only African member of the group and may be the oldest. The describers could not exclude other possibilities, such as that the jaw represents some mammalian group known only from younger, Cenozoic times (less than 66 million years ago). In 2019 the fossil was CT scanned, which revealed additional details of the specimen.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Galulatherium (revision 1242782779), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q7670888.
