| abstract
| - Specworld mammals are perhaps one of the greatest enigmas of this timeline. That they were present in great numbers was not unexpected; that they had come to such a prominent fore front was quite surprising. Spec mammals are probably not quite as numerous species wise as their HE counterparts; however, a greater diversity of forms exists, with several archaic clades surviving to the present day. This has been a boon for mammalogists, who have had to revise much speculation to conform with existing reality. Spec is home, for instance, to living multituberculates. These mammals, situated somewhere between the rest of the furry creatures and the monotremes; are greatly reduced from their former glory as "the rodents of the Mesozoic", but multituberculates are still present on almost all continents, and some form important parts of the ecology of their habitats. The gondwanatheres, a further group of frustrating, enigmatic, gnawing mammals; have shown themselves as the last of the plagiaulacoid multies. These very derived critters form a southern hemisphere analogue to the cimolodontans. The beaked mammals, the monotremes, have expanded far beyond our world's evolutionary pathways, producing not only a small number of platypus and odd terrestrial raccoon/glutton and mole like forms in Australia and Aotearoa , but a variety of giant marine forms, including the walducks, among the largest mammals on Spec. Perhaps the strangest and most astonishing of the archaic mammal clades are the volaticotheres. These are the original bats of both timelines. Volaticothere remains extend from the Jurassic into the Maastrichian of both timelines; with putative remains uncertainly assigned to them from the Paleocene of both as well. HE either lost all it's volaticotheres at the end K or the PETM to be replaced by true bats. Spec never saw that event, although all modern volaticotheres can trace their ancestry close to certain Messel specimens. True bats never established themselves in Spec, and the bizarre egg-laying volaticotheres have remained supreme denizens of the nighttime skies. Theria is well represented in Spec, though not as diverse as they were hoped to be. There are a few remnants within Quirogatheria, often called dryolestids. Metatheria in Spec has been a boon, since a large diversity of Boreometatherians and Notometatherians aside from Marsupialia is often well represented. This clade has spun out many weird and wonderful forms. However, the teasing South American Myrmecodelphidans and the Australian Specuperamelemorphans strongly indicate that true marsupials were present before the K in both timelines. The Eutherians of Spec tend to be a mystery. They have a rather un-storied history for much of the Paleogene except for a few spectacular fossils causing much gibbering consternation to this day in both timelines. They have retained the archaic Madagascartherans. These bizarre eutherians are early birthers like metatherians, but their genetic and morphological profile allies them with their more advanced placental brethren. They are in fact the last of the zhelestids. There is an even odder critter, the Spec bibymalagasy; which may be the last of the Asioryctitherans. Aside from that, all Spec eutherians frustratingly tease researchers. The remaining clades are obviously placental mammals; yet they mix known quantities with off the wall critters unlike anything known on HE. Several ancient clades are known, the xenarthroid Antarctitheria, the Afrotheria, the Glimates and even some apparent Laurasiatheria. The most likely fossil candidate for K placental diversification; the controversial Eulipotyphla, is rare in Spec, with just the bizarre almiquimorphic hellrats extant in Spec. Aside from the head scratching, the placentals of Spec have done their HE cousins proud in becoming the most morphologically diverse mammal clade of either timeline. They burrow under soil in the form of pig-shrews and bastardsloths, terrorize prey in the form of pokemurids and hellrats, swim the oceans as algae and kelp grazers, graze the toughest browse from mountain high to valley low, fly the daytime skies and rule as the preeminent muroids of much of the world.
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![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)