Home > Ptilodontoidea
Ptilodontoidea is a group of extinct mammals from the northern hemisphere.
They were members of an also extinct order called Multituberculata.
These were generally small, somewhat rodent-like creatures.
Some of these genera boast a great many species, though remains are generally sparse.
PtilodusPtilodus Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Therapsida Class: Mammalia Order: Multituberculata Superfamily: Ptilodontoidea Family: Ptilodontidae Genus: Ptilodus Species P. fractus P. gnomus P. kummae P. mediaevus P. montanus P. tsosiensis P. is amongst the best known, and there's a tendency to depict it as an analog of a squirrel.
Upper CretaceousThe Cretaceous period is one of the major divisions of the geologic timescale, reaching from the end of the Jurassic period (about 135 mya) to the beginning of the Paleocene epoch of the Tertiary period (65 mya). The end of the Cretaceous also defines the remains are known from North America and Europe.
(Details about the Europeans would be welcome.)
Later representatives, ( PaleoceneThe Paleocene epoch (64-58 mya) ("early dawn of the recent") is the first geologic epoch of the Tertiary period in the modern Cenozoic era. As with most other older geologic periods, the strata that define the epoch's beginning are well identified, but th - EoceneThe Eocene epoch (55-37 mya) is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Tertiary period in the Cenozoic era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Paleocene epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene epoch. The start of), hail from North America, Europe and Asia.
These were some of the last multituberculates.
For the more technically minded, these animals are within the suborder of CimolodontaCimolodonta Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Therapsida Class: Mammalia Order: Multituberculata Superfamilies Paracimexomys group Djadochtatherioidea Taeniolabidoidea Ptilodontoidea Other families Eucosmodontidae Microcosmodontidae Kogaionidae.
The superfamily is further divided into:
Families:
Neoplagiaulacidae - 10 genera;
Ptilodontidae - 4 genera;
Cimolodontidae - possibly 3 genera.
The affinities of Neoliotomus are less clear, though it seems to fit somewhere within the superfamily.
Page reference: Kielan-Jaworowska Z & Hurum JH (2001), Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals. Paleontology 44, p.389-429.
(This information has been derived from [1] MESOZOIC MAMMALS; Ptilodontoidea, an internet directory. As that's my webpage, there are no issues of copyright. )
Prehistoric mammals
