basal mammalian classification (and grasses)

[Ken Kinman]

Whoops,
      Already found a couple of mistakes regarding gondwanatheres.  Family
Sudamericanidae should read Sudamericidae.  And there may be a separate
Family Feruiotheriidae (not sure if it is widely regarded as a separate
family or not).
      Anyway, the assignment of gondwanatheres as multituberculates is
apparently still controversial.  They were originally thought to be early
xenarthrans, and perhaps this is why someone (I think it was Bonaparte?)
suggested xenarthrans are living multituberculates.
      In any case, their affinities are still up in the air.  I wonder if
they could have been the first specialized grass-eaters (given the kind of
molars they had)?   Is there any evidence that grasses may have first
evolved and spread in the southern hemiphere during the late Cretaceous?
           -----   Ken Kinman

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