biology

Sinodelphys

Sinodelphys 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 Sinodelphys rather than just read about it. In short: Sinodelphys is an extinct mammal from the Early Cretaceous, estimated to be 125 million years old. It was discovered and described in 2003 in rocks of the Yixian Formation in Liaoning Province, China, by a team of scientists including Zhe-Xi Luo and John Wible.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Sinodelphys is an extinct mammal from the Early Cretaceous, estimated to be 125 million years old. It was discovered and described in 2003 in rocks of the Yixian Formation in Liaoning Province, China, by a team of scientists including Zhe-Xi Luo and John Wible. While initially suggested to be the oldest known metatherian, later studies interpreted it as a eutherian.

Description The holotype specimen is a slab and counterslab given catalog number CAGS00-IG03. It is in the collection of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences. Sinodelphys szalayi grew only 15 cm (5.9 in) long and possibly weighed about 30 g (1.05 oz). Its fossilized skeleton is surrounded by impressions of fur and soft tissue, thanks to the exceptional sediment that preserves such details. Luo et al. (2003) inferred from the foot structure of Sinodelphys that it was a scansorial tree-dweller, like the contemporary Eomaia and modern opossums such as Didelphis. Sinodelphys probably hunted worms and insects.

Taxonomy Sinodelphys szalayi, living in China around 125 million years ago, was initially interpreted as the earliest known metatherian. This makes it almost contemporary to the eutherian Acristatherium, which has been found in the same area. However, Bi et al. (2018) reinterpreted Sinodelphys as an early member of Eutheria.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sinodelphys

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sinodelphys 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 Sinodelphys 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 Sinodelphys 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 Sinodelphys

In research: Sinodelphys 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 Sinodelphys 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: Sinodelphys is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cretaceous mammals, Early Cretaceous mammals of Asia, Fossil taxa described in 2003, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sinodelphys 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.

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How to study Sinodelphys in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Sinodelphys 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 Sinodelphys out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sinodelphys in simple terms?

Why does Sinodelphys 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 Sinodelphys?

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 Sinodelphys.