Eucosmodontidae
| Eucosmodontidae Temporal range: Late Cretaceous - early Eocene
| |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Multituberculata |
| Superfamily: | †Djadochtatherioidea |
| Family: | †Eucosmodontidae |
| Genera | |
Eucosmodontidae is a poorly preserved family of fossil mammals within the extinct order Multituberculata. Representatives are known from strata dating from the Upper Cretaceous through the Lower Eocene of North America, as well as the Paleocene to Eocene of Europe. The family is part of the suborder of Cimolodonta. They might be related with the Djadochtatherioidea but without further finds, this remains unclear. Other than a partial snout, fossil evidence is limited to teeth. A 2021 study vindicates this relationship.[1]
The taxonomic name Eucosmodontidae was given by Jepsen in 1940. Some authors interpret this version of Eucosmodontidae and Microcosmodontidae as being subfamilies rather than families.
References
[edit]- ^ Smith, Thierry; Codrea, Vlad A.; Devillet, Ghéreint; Solomon, Alexandru A. (2021-09-24). "A New Mammal Skull from the Late Cretaceous of Romania and Phylogenetic Affinities of Kogaionid Multituberculates". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 29: 1–26. doi:10.1007/s10914-021-09564-7. ISSN 1064-7554. S2CID 244194193.
- Most of this information has been derived from [1] MESOZOIC MAMMALS; Eucosmodontidae, Microcosmodontidae and Taeniolabidoidea, an Internet directory.
- Kielan-Jaworowska Z. and Hurum J.H. (2001), "Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals". Paleontology 44, p. 389-429.
