biology

Lambdopsalis

Lambdopsalis is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lambdopsalis rather than just read about it. In short: Lambdopsalis is an extinct multituberculate mammal from the Late Paleocene of China and Mongolia. It is placed within the suborder Cimolodonta and is a member of the superfamily Taeniolabidoidea.

Key takeaways

Lambdopsalis belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lambdopsalis to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lambdopsalis from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lambdopsalis is an extinct multituberculate mammal from the Late Paleocene of China and Mongolia. It is placed within the suborder Cimolodonta and is a member of the superfamily Taeniolabidoidea. Fossil remains have been found in the Late Paleocene Nomogen and Khashat Formations in Nao-mugen and Bayn Ulan of China and Mongolia, dated to 59-55 million years ago from the Thanetian age. Lambdopsalis bulla is the type species of this genus. The genus and species were named by Chow and Tao Qi in 1978. Hair and fur fossilize very infrequently, if at all. This genus of multituberculate mammals provides one of the earliest unequivocal examples of mammal fur (Lower Cretaceous fossils of Eomaia, Volaticotherium and Castorocauda with the fur preserved still attached are currently the oldest). Indirect evidence suggest that hair first appeared on non-mammalian therapsids (Therapsida), back in the Triassic or even earlier. This is inferred from small hollows on the bone of the snout similar to holes in the skulls of cats which provide space for concentrations of nerves and blood vessels that innervate prominent whiskers (specialized hairs). This adaptation allows cats to use their whiskers as effective tactile sensory organs. In the same Upper Paleocene strata, exceptionally preserved coprolites, originally excreted by unknown carnivorous animals, were discovered to contain undigested remains, including hair from Lambdopsalis and three other different mammal taxa. Studies on its tooth prism and enamel patterns have been performed. It had deciduous enamel, and there is evidence that adults and juveniles had substantially different diets. Cervical vertebrae C2-C3 or C2-C3-C4 appear to be typically fused in individuals of this genus. Based on its robust humerus bones, its flat skull, its fused and stiff neck bones, and thick enamel on its lower incisors, it is believed that this genus was either partially or fully adapted to a burrowing (fossorial) lifestyle. Kielan-Jaworowska and Qi suggest similar locomotive behavior to the modern golden mole. Fully grown L.bulla individuals were estimated to have had a body mass of 0.78 kilograms (1.7 lb) and skull length of about 60.8 millimetres (2.39 in).

Notes

References Chow & Qi, Tao (1978). "Paleocene mammalian fossils from Nomogen Formation of Inner Mongolia". Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 16 (2): 77–85. Dykes, Trevor. "Mesozoic Mammals;Eucosmodontidae, Microcosmodontidae and Taeniolabidoidea, an internet directory". Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Kielan-Jaworowska Z., Hurum J.H. (2001). "Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals" (PDF). Palaeontology. 44 (3): 389–429. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00185. S2CID 83592270. Kielan-Jaworowska, Zofia; Qi, Tao (1990). "Fossorial adaptations of a Taeniolabidoid Multituberculate mammal from the Eocene of China". Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 28 (2): 83–94. Mao, Fang-Yuan; Wang, Yuan-Qing; Meng, Jin (2015). "A Systematic Study on Tooth Enamel Microstructures of Lambdopsalis bulla (Multituberculate, Mammalia) - Implications for Multituberculate Biology and Phylogeny". PLOS ONE. 10 (5) e0128243. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1028243M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0128243. PMC 4447277. PMID 26020958. Meng, J; Wyss, A.R. (1997). "Multituberculate and other mammal hair recovered from Paleogene excreta". Nature. 385 (6618): 712–714. Bibcode:1997Natur.385..712M. doi:10.1038/385712a0. PMID 9034186. S2CID 4325160. Novacek, Michael J. (1997). "Mammalian evolution: An early record bristling with evidence". Current Biology. 7 (8): R489–R491. doi:10.1016/s0960-9822(06)00245-4. PMID 9259539. Wilson, Gregory P.; Evans, Alistair R.; Corfe, Ian J.; Smits, Peter D.; Fortelius, Mikael; Jernvall, Jukka (2012). "Adaptive radiation of multituberculate mammals before the extinction of dinosaurs". Nature. 483 (7390): 457–460. doi:10.1038/nature10880. PMID 22419156. S2CID 4419772.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lambdopsalis

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lambdopsalis claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lambdopsalis before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lambdopsalis ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lambdopsalis

In research: Lambdopsalis appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lambdopsalis in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lambdopsalis is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cimolodonta, Fossil taxa described in 1978, Fossils of Mongolia, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lambdopsalis outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Lambdopsalis in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lambdopsalis means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lambdopsalis out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lambdopsalis in simple terms?

Lambdopsalis is an extinct multituberculate mammal from the Late Paleocene of China and Mongolia. It is placed within the suborder Cimolodonta and is a member of the superfamily Taeniolabidoidea.

Why does Lambdopsalis matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lambdopsalis?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lambdopsalis.