Putative Triassic stem mammal Tikitherium copei is a Neogene shrew
摘要
The putative stem mammal taxon Tikitherium copei was erected based on a single tooth, identified as an upper molar, from the Upper Triassic Tiki Formation of India. Originally thought to be Carnian in age, this taxon was regarded as the oldest mammaliaform in the fossil record. We show that this tooth actually represents the last upper premolar (P4) of a Neogene crocidurine soricid insectivore (order Lipotyphla).