No other cusps are visible in the talonid, but the specimen is worn and poorly preserved; the posterolophid, a crest descending from the hypoconid, may end in a small hypoconulid.
22.
Anterior border of talonid on P 4-M 2 deeply convoluted, often with alternating series of major and minor enamel loops . . . . ( Russell and Harris 1986 : 632-633)
23.
They characterized Australosphenida by the shared presence of a cingulum on the outer front corner of the lower molars, a short and broad talonid, a relatively low trigonid, and a triangulated last lower premolar.
24.
Australosphenida is characterized by the shared presence of a cingulum on the outer front corner of the lower molars, a short and broad talonid, a relatively low trigonid, and a triangulated last lower premolar.
25.
Further towards the inner side, a crest, the entocristid, rims the talonid basin; on m1, it is swollen and on m2, it contains two small cuspules, but a distinct entoconid cusp is absent.
26.
The last lower molar, m3, is smaller and has a longer talonid, with a well-developed hypoconulid lobe at the back, and generally resembles that of " Phenacopithecus ", but the trigonid is smaller.
27.
Flynn and colleagues identified two wear facets at the front and back margins of the talonid basin; they argue that these wear facets suggest the presence of a protocone ( another cusp on the outer side of the tooth ) on the upper molars.
28.
In a 2005 paper on " Asfaltomylos ", a related primitive mammal from Argentina, Thomas Martin and Oliver Rauhut disputed the presence of these wear facets within the talonid basin in " Ambondro " and instead identified wear facets on the cusps and crests surrounding the basin.
29.
In " Indraloris himalayensis " lower molars, there are four main cusps ( protoconid and metaconid in the trigonid, hypoconid and entoconid in the talonid ), which give the crown a rectangular aspect, although the labial cusps ( protoconid and hypoconid ) are placed somewhat anterior to their lingual counterparts.
30.
In their paper, Flynn and colleagues described " Ambondro " as the oldest mammal with tribosphenic molars the basic molar type of metatherian ( marsupials and their extinct relatives ) and eutherian ( placentals and their extinct relatives ) mammals, characterized by the protocone cusp on the upper molars contacting the talonid basin on the lower molars in chewing.
