Ambondro mahabo

Ambondro mahabo was named following the discovery of a fragmentary right mandible (catalogued as UA 10602) from the Isalo III Formation (Bathonian, ~167 Ma) of the Mahajanga Basin in northwestern Madagascar. The binomial derives from the nearby village of Ambondromahabo, tying the taxon to its locality. Upon formal description in 1999 (Flynn et al.), Ambondro was interpreted as an early mammal bearing tribosphenic-like molars, a conclusion that spurred further study and debate about its phylogenetic placement.

Known only from a single fragmentary right lower jaw preserving three teeth (interpreted as the last premolar and first two molars), Ambondro's dentition exhibits a prominent lingual cingulum on each tooth. The p‑last shows a strong central cusp, a posterior cuspule, and a probable inner anterior cuspule. The first and second molars (m1–m2) display an 'open' trigonid (paraconid, protoconid, metaconid) with the paraconid higher than the metaconid; a talonid that is wider than long with a well-developed hypoconid, a talonid basin, a hypoconulid and an entocristid rim, but lacking a distinct entoconid cusp. Wear patterns on the talonid basin and surrounding crests have been interpreted differently by subsequent authors.

Not applicable as a supernatural entity. In scientific terms, inferences drawn from tooth morphology and observed wear concern occlusion and food processing: initial describers argued that wear facets indicated interaction with an upper protocone (supporting a tribosphenic function), whereas other authors contested those wear interpretations, affecting hypotheses about whether Ambondro possessed a functional tribosphenic occlusion or rather a convergently similar dentition.