Mammals of the Mesozoic

[Morose]

Name: Eomaia
Pronunciation: E-oh-my-ah
Meaning of name: "Dawn mother"
Species: E. scanosoria
Size: 10cm long
Family: Uncertain
Diet: Insectivore
First fossils found: Known only from a single, well-preserved specimen including impressions of its fur, discovered in the Yixian Formation of Liaoning Province, northeast China. Named by Q. Ji, Z. X. Luo, C. X. J. R. Yuan Wible, J. P. Zhang and J. A. Georgi in 2002. Eomaia is thought to be one of the earliest placental mammals.
Lived: 125 million years ago during the Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous in what is now northeast China.

[Morose]

Name: Zalambdalestes
Pronunciation: Za-lam-dah-less-teez
Meaning of name: "Much-like-lambda robber"
Species: Z. lechei
Size: 20cm long
Family: Zalambdalestidae
Diet: Insectivore
First fossils found: Known only from partial specimens discovered in the Djadokhta Formation of Mongolia. Named by W. K. Gregory and G. G. Simpson in 1926.
Lived: 83.6 to 72.1 million years ago during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now Mongolia.

[Morose]

Name: Fruitafossor
Pronunciation: Froo-tah-foss-sor
Meaning of name: "Fruita digger", after Fruita, Colorado, where its fossils were discovered.
Species: F. windscheffeli
Size: 15cm long
Family: Uncertain
Diet: Insectivore
First fossils found: Known only from a single, almost-complete skeleton discovered in the Morrison Formation of Colorado in 2005. Named in the same year by Zhe-Xi Luo and John R. Wible.
Lived: 150 million years ago during the Tithonian stage of the Late Jurassic in what is now the western United States.

[Morose]

Name: Alphadon
Pronunciation: Al-fah-don
Meaning of name: "First tooth"
Species: A. marshi, A. wilsoni, A. halleyi, A. attaragos, A. sahnii, A. clemensi, A. lillegraveni, A. perexiguus, A. eatoni
Size: Uncertain due to a lack of fossils, but is estimated to have measured around 30cm long.
Family: Alphadontidae
Diet: Uncertain. Likely omnivore.
First fossils found: Known only from teeth, skull fragments and a lower jaw discovered in Canada and the United States. A. marshi named by American palaeontologist, George Gaylord Simpson, in 1927. A. wilsoni named in 1969. A. halleyi named in 1972. A. attaragos and A. sahnii named in 1986. A. clemensi and A. lillegraveni named in 1993. A. perexiguus named in 1994. A. eatoni named in 1998.
Lived: Depending on species, lived between 84.9 and 66 million years ago from the Santonian stage through to the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now western Canada and the midwestern, south-central, western and southwestern United States.

[Morose]

Name: Maotherium
Pronunciation: Mow-thee-ree-um
Meaning of name: "Mao's beast", after Chinese politician, Mao Zedong.
Species: M. sinensis, M. asiaticus
Size: 15cm long
Family: Zhangheotheriidae
Diet: Insectivore
First fossils found: Known from a number of specimens discovered in the Yixian Formation of Liaoning Province, northeast China, in 2003. M. sinensis named in the same year by G. W. Rougier, Q. Ji and M. J. Novacek 2003. M. asiaticus named in 2009.
Lived: Depending on species, lived between 125 and 122.46 million years ago during the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous in what is now northeast China.

[Morose]

Name: Thrinaxodon
Pronunciation: Thrin-ax-o-don
Meaning of name: "Trident tooth"
Species: T. liorhinus
Size: Between 40 and 50cm long and weighing around 2.2kgs
Family: Thrinaxodontidae
Diet: Carnivore
First fossils found: Known from several specimens discovered in Antarctica and South Africa. Named by British palaeontologist, Harry Govier Seeley, in 1894.
Lived: 251.2 to 247.2 million years ago during the Olenekian stage of the Early Triassic in what is now Antarctica and South Africa.

[Morose]

Name: Repenomamus
Pronunciation: Re-pe-no-may-mus
Meaning of name: "Reptile mammal"
Species: R. robustus, R. giganticus
Size: Varied between species (R. robustus measured around 0.6 metres long, R. giganticus reached 1 metre long)
Family: Gobiconodontidae
Diet: Carnivore
First fossils found: Known from several specimens discovered in the Yixian Formation of Liaoning Province, northeast China. R. robustus named by J.-L. Li, Y. Wang, Y.-Q. Wang and C.-K. Li in 2000. R. giganticus named in 2005. Repenomamus is one of the largest-known Mesozoic mammals.
Lived: Depending on species, lived between 125 and 123.2 million years ago during the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous in what is now northeast China.

[Morose]

Name: Teinolophos
Pronunciation: Tie-na-low-fos
Meaning of name: "Extended ridge"
Species: T. trusleri
Size: Uncertain due to a lack of fossils, but is estimated to have measured around 10cm long.
Family: Steropodontidae
Diet: Insectivore
First fossils found: Known only from a partial lower jaw discovered in the Wonthaggi Formation of Victoria, Australia. Named in 1999.
Lived: 123 million years ago during the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous in what is now southern Australia.

[Morose]

Name: Kuehneotherium
Pronunciation: Koo-nee-oh-thee-ri-um
Meaning of name: "Kuhne's beast"
Species: K. praecursoris, K. stanislavi
Size: 10cm long
Family: Kuehneotheriidae
Diet: Insectivore
First fossils found: Known from teeth and jaw fragments discovered in France, Luxembourg, Greenland and the UK. K. praecursoris named by Doris M. Kermack, K. A. Kermack and Frances Mussett in 1967. K. stanislavi named in 2017.
Lived: Depending on species, lived between 205.6 and 189.6 million years ago from the Rhaetian stage of the Late Triassic through to the Pliensbachian stage of the Early Jurassic in what is now the UK, Luxembourg, France and Greenland.

[Morose]

Name: Didelphadon
Pronunciation: Die-del-foe-don
Meaning of name: "Opossum tooth"
Species: D. vorax, D. coyi, D. padanicus
Size: Depending on species, measured up to 30cm long and weighing up to 5kgs.
Family: Stagodontidae
Diet: Carnivore/insectivore
First fossils found: Known from several specimens discovered in the Scollard Formation of Alberta, Canada as well as the Hell Creek Formation of Montana and the Lance Formation of Wyoming. D. vorax named by American palaeontologist, Othniel Charles Marsh, in 1889. D. padanicus named in 1892. D. coyi named in 1986.
Lived: Depending on species, lived between 72.1 and 66 million years ago during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now western Canada and the western United States.

[Morose]

Name: Steropodon
Pronunciation: Steh-roe-poe-don
Meaning of name: "Lightning tooth"
Species: S. glamani
Size: Uncertain due to a lack of fossils.
Family: Steropodontidae
Diet: Carnivore
First fossils found: Known only from a single opalized jaw with three teeth discovered by brothers David and Alan Galman in the Griman Creek Formation of northern New South Wales, Australia. Named by palaeontologists T. F. Richie, Michael Archer, Ralph Molnar and Timothy Fridtjof Flannery in 1985.
Lived: 105 million years ago during the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous in what is now eastern Australia.

[Morose]

Name: Juramaia
Pronunciation: Joo-rah-my-ah
Meaning of name: "Jurassic mother"
Species: J. sinensis
Size: Estimated to have measured between 7 and 10cm long.
Family: Uncertain
Diet: Insectivore
First fossils found: Known from a single, almost-complete skeleton discovered in the Tiaojishan Formation of Liaoning Province, northeast China. Named by Zhe-Xi Luo, Chong-Xi Yuan, Qing-Jin Meng and Qiang Ji in 2011.
Lived: 160 million years ago during the Oxfordian stage of the Late Jurassic in what is now northeast China.

[Morose]

Name: Galulatherium
Pronunciation: Ga-loo-la-thee-ree-um
Meaning of name: "Galula beast", after the Galula Formation of southwestern Tanzania, East Africa, where its fossils were discovered.
Species: G. jenkinsi
Size: Unknown due to a lack of fossils.
Family: Uncertain
Diet: Uncertain. Likely herbivore.
First fossils found: Known only from a partial lower jaw discovered in the Galula Formation of southwestern Tanzania, East Africa, in 2002. Named by P. M. O'Connor, D. W. Krause, N. J. Stevens, J. R. Groenke, R. D. E. MacPhee, D. C. Kalthoff, and E. M. Roberts in 2019.
Lived: 93.9 to 72.1 million years ago from the Turonian stage through to the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now Tanzania, East Africa.

[Morose]

Name: Kollikodon
Pronunciation: Kol-le-ko-don
Meaning of name: "Bread roll tooth", in reference to its teeth which, when viewed from above, resemble hot cross buns.
Species: K. ritchiei
Size: Uncertain due to a lack of fossils.
Family: Kollikodontidae
Diet: Uncertain. May have fed on shellfish.
First fossils found: Known only from an opalized partial lower jaw discovered in the Griman Creek Formation of northern New South Wales, Australia. Named by Timothy F. Flannery, Michael Archer, Thomas H. Rich and Robert Jones in 1995.
Lived: 99 to 96 million years ago during the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now eastern Australia.

[Morose]

Name: Volaticotherium
Pronunciation: Vo-la-ti-co-thee-ree-um
Meaning of name: "Gliding beast"
Species: V. antiquum
Size: 15cm long
Family: Uncertain
Diet: Insectivore
First fossils found: Known only from a single, skeleton discovered in the Haifanggou Formation of Inner Mongolia, northeast China. Named by J. Meng in 2006. Volaticotherium is the earliest-known gliding mammal.
Lived: 164 million years ago during the Callovian stage of the Middle Jurassic in what is now Inner Mongolia, China.

[Morose]

Name: Ukhaatherium
Pronunciation: Uk-ha-thee-ree-um
Meaning of name: Named after the Ukhaa Tolgod fossil field of Mongolia's Gobi Desert where its fossils were discovered.
Species: U. nessovi
Size: 25cm long
Family: Uncertain
Diet: Insectivore
First fossils found: Known from at least eight skeletons, six of which are complete, discovered in the Ukhaa Tolgod fossil field of Mongolia's Gobi Desert. Named by M. J. Novacek, G. W. Rougier, J. R. Wible and M. C. McKenna in 1997.
Lived: 83.6 to 72.1 million years ago during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now southern Mongolia.