biology

Spinolestes

Spinolestes 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 Spinolestes rather than just read about it. In short: Spinolestes is an extinct mammal genus from the Early Cretaceous of Spain. A gobiconodontid eutriconodont, it is notable for the remarkable degree of preservation, offering profound insights to the biology of non-therian mammals.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Spinolestes is an extinct mammal genus from the Early Cretaceous of Spain. A gobiconodontid eutriconodont, it is notable for the remarkable degree of preservation, offering profound insights to the biology of non-therian mammals.

Description Spinolestes' holotype, MCCMLH30000A, hails from Las Hoyas, Spain. The living animal was about 24 centimeters long and weighted somewhere between 50 and 70 grams. As a Konservat-Lagerstätten specimen, it is famous for being remarkably well preserved, including not only the skeleton but also multiple soft tissues like fur, skin, internal organs and ears (both external and internal), a rarity among Mesozoic mammals. Besides soft-tissues, Spinolestes is also remarkable for its xenarthrous vertebrae, convergent with those of xenarthrans and to a lesser extent hero shrews.

Soft tissue Hair is very well preserved, down to the cellular level; among fossil mammals it is among the best preserved. Spinolestes' fur was similar to that of modern mammals, possessing compound hair follicles with primary and secondary hair. The guard hairs are proto-spines similar to those of modern spiny mice. In some places on the body, hairs appear to have broken off close to the skin and were discolored near the broken tip – possible signs of dermatophytosis, making it the first Mesozoic mammal with a clear record of a skin infection. Besides hair, Spinolestes also had keratinous scutes. Uniquely among Mesozoic mammal fossils the internal organs are also preserved, deposits of iron marking the position of the liver and microscopic structures being interpreted as the bronchioles. These are separated by a curved line, assumed to be the thoracic diaphragm. The ear is very well preserved. The external ear (pinnae) is fairly large and broad in a mouse-like fashion. The inner ear is also exceptionally preserved in the form of the Meckel's cartilage, which may be of extreme relevance in understanding the evolution of the mammalian ear.

Phylogeny Cladogram after Thomas Martin et al. 2015:

Ecology The environment of Las Hoyas dates to the Barremian, and it was probably a tropical or subtropical wetland habitat, based on its vegetation: Bennettitales, Brachyphyllum, Pagiophyllum, Sphenolepis and Cupressinocladus conifers, Weitchselia reticulata, Montsechia vidali and several others. Various species of fish and aquatic invertebrates are also known.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Spinolestes

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

In research: Spinolestes 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 Spinolestes 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: Spinolestes is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Barremian genera, Cretaceous Spain, Early Cretaceous mammals of Europe, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Spinolestes 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 Spinolestes in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Spinolestes in simple terms?

Why does Spinolestes 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 Spinolestes?

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 Spinolestes.