First record of Mesozoic mammals from Saskatchewan

Abstract

The discovery of mammalian fossils in the sandy phase of the Frenchman Formation of Saskatchewan documents the first record of Mesozoic mammals from that province, and from Canada outside of Alberta. Mammals identified include Mesodma (Multituberculata), a didelphid marsupial, a species of Cimolestes (Insectivora) apparently structurally intermediate between C. cerberoides and Procerberus formicarum, and Protungulatum (Condylarthra). Elsewhere in Cretaceous strata, Protungulatum occurs only in the Hell Creek beds of Montana, thereby corroborating the hypothesis that the Frenchman and Hell Creek formations are chronostrati-graphically equivalent. The presence of Protungulatum and the dominance of placentals rather than marsupials in the sample document a facies of apparent Paleocene aspect, resembling that at certain sites in the Hell Creek Formation of Montana, and otherwise unknown in the Cretaceous.