The Garden of Eden hypothesis states that, "Modern eutherian lineages diversified in regions that have no known Late Cretaceous mammals (such as Africa, Australia, and Antarctica) and suddenly dispersed widely during the early Tertiary," (Foote, Hunter, Janis & Sepkoski 1999). The occurrence of Ausktribosphenos nyktos, a possible erinaceid within the Eutheria in the Early Cretaceous of Australia, is consistent with that hypothesis.