Multituberculata is an extinct order of rodent-like mammals with a fossil record spanning over 130 million years. They first appeared in the Middle Jurassic, and reached a peak diversity during the Late Cretaceous and Paleocene. They eventually declined from the mid-Paleocene onwards, disappearing from the known fossil record in the late Eocene. They are the most diverse order of Mesozoic mammals with more than 200 species known, ranging from mouse-sized to beaver-sized. These species occupied a diversity of ecological niches, ranging from burrow-dwelling to squirrel-like arborealism to jerboa-like hoppers. Multituberculates are usually placed as crown mammals outside either of the two main groups of living mammals—Theria, including placentals and marsupials, and Monotremata—but usually as closer to Theria than to monotremes. They are considered to be closely related to Euharamiyida and Gondwanatheria as part of Allotheria.
Arginbaatar is a genus of extinct mammal from the Lower Cretaceous of Mongolia. It was a member of the Multituberculata, an order which is also extinct. It belongs to the family Arginbaataridae. The genus Arginbaatar was named by Trofimov B.A. in 1980. Baatar is Mongolian for "hero" or "warrior."
Kuehneodon is a genus of extinct mammal of the Upper Jurassic - Lower Cretaceous of Europe. It was a relatively early member of the also extinct order of Multituberculata. Members of this genus lived alongside such dinosaurs as Allosaurus. It belongs to the suborder "Plagiaulacida", family Paulchoffatiidae. In addition, this genus is the only known member of a subfamily called Kuehneodontinae. It was named by Hahn G. in 1969, the name meaning "Kühne’s tooth" in honor of paleontologist Walther Kühne, pioneer of the Guimarota site of Portugal where remains were found in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Hahnodon is an extinct genus of mammaliaforms from the Early Cretaceous Ksar Metlili Formation in Morocco. Although originally considered to be a relatively early member of the extinct clade Multituberculata, recent studies indicate that it instead is a haramiyid.
Pinheirodon is a genus of extinct mammal from Portugal. It is a member of the also extinct order of Multituberculata, and shared the world with dinosaurs. It is placed in the suborder "Plagiaulacida" and family Pinheirodontidae.
Ecprepaulax is a Lower Cretaceous mammal from Portugal. It was a member of the also extinct order Multituberculata and shared the world with dinosaurs. It lies within the suborder "Plagiaulacida" and family Pinheirodontidae.
Pinheirodontidae is a poorly known family of fossil mammals which belong to the informal suborder "Plagiaulacida" within the order Multituberculata. Remains are known from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous of Europe, but are so far restricted to teeth.
Lavocatia is a genus of extinct mammal from the Lower Cretaceous of Spain. It was a member of the also extinct order Multituberculata, and lived alongside of dinosaurs. Like most Mesozoic mammals, it was a shrewish-sized animal. It's in the suborder "Plagiaulacida" and family Pinheirodontidae. The genus Lavocatia was named by J. I. Canudo and G. Cuenca in 1996 based on a single tooth, with the generic name in honor of French paleontologist René Lavocat and the specific epithet a reference to the town of Alfambra.
Iberodon is a small, extinct mammal of the Lower Cretaceous from Portugal. It was a member of the also extinct order Multituberculata, and led its obscure and plant-eating existence in the company of dinosaurs. It lies within the suborder "Plagiaulacida" and family Pinheirodontidae.
Eobaatar is a genus of extinct mammal from the Lower Cretaceous of Mongolia, Spain and England. A member of the also extinct order Multituberculata, it lies within the suborder Plagiaulacida and family Eobaataridae. The genus Eobaatar was named by Kielan-Jaworowska Z., Dashzeveg D. and Trofimov B.A. in 1987. Its name was made from Greek "eos" = "dawn" and Mongolian "baatar" = "hero"", "warrior".
Sinobaatar is a genus of extinct mammal from the Lower Cretaceous of China. It is categorized within the also extinct order Multituberculata and among these it belongs to the plagiaulacid lineage. Sinobaatar was a small herbivore during the Mesozoic era, commonly called "the age of the dinosaurs". The genus was named by Hu Y. and Wang Y. in 2002. Three species have been described.
Taeniolabidoidea is a group of extinct mammals known whose fossils can be found in North America and Asia. They were the largest members of the extinct order Multituberculata, as well as the largest non-therian mammals. Lambdopsalis even provides direct fossil evidence of mammalian fur in a fairly good state of preservation for a 60-million-year-old animal. Some of these animals were large for their time; Taeniolabis taoensis is the largest known multituberculate and though smaller, Yubaatar is the largest known Mesozoic Asian multituberculate. T. taoensis averaged a body mass of 22.7 kilograms (50 lb).
Cimolodon is a genus of the extinct mammal order of Multituberculata within the suborder Cimolodonta and the family Cimolodontidae. Specimens are known from the Late Cretaceous of North America.
Microcosmodon is a mammal genus from the Paleocene of North America. It was a member of the extinct order Multituberculata, and lies within the suborder Cimolodonta and family Microcosmodontidae. The genus Microcosmodon was named by G.L. Jepsen in 1930.
Boffius is a genus of mammal from the Paleocene of Europe, which was named by Vianey-Liaud M. in 1979. It is a member of the extinct order of Multituberculata.
Viridomys is a genus of extinct mammal from the Upper Cretaceous of North America. It was a member of the extinct order of Multituberculata, and lived during the Mesozoic, also known as the "age of the dinosaurs." It's within the suborder of Cimolodonta, though its further affinities are unclear.
Haramiyida is a possibly paraphyletic order of mammaliaform cynodonts or mammals of controversial taxonomic affinites. Their teeth, which are by far the most common remains, resemble those of the multituberculates. However, based on Haramiyavia, the jaw is less derived; and at the level of evolution of earlier basal mammals like Morganucodon and Kuehneotherium, with a groove for ear ossicles on the dentary. Some authors have placed them in a clade with Multituberculata dubbed Allotheria within Mammalia. Other studies have disputed this and suggested the Haramiyida were not crown mammals, but were part of an earlier offshoot of mammaliaformes instead. It is also disputed whether the Late Triassic species are closely related to the Jurassic and Cretaceous members belonging to Euharamiyida/Eleutherodontida, as some phylogenetic studies recover the two groups as unrelated, recovering the Triassic haramiyidians as non-mammalian cynodonts, while recovering the Euharamiyida as crown-group mammals closely related to multituberculates.
Euharamiyida also known as Eleutherodontida, is clade of early mammals or mammal-like cynodonts from the Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous of Eurasia and possibly North America. The group is sometimes considered a sister group to Multituberculata, or part of an earlier divergence within the synapsid line. It is disputed whether or not they are related to the Haramiyids from the Late Triassic, such as Haramiyavia. The morphology of their teeth indicates that they were herbivorous or omnivorous. Some members of the group are known to be arboreal, including gliding forms similar to modern flying squirrels or colugos.
Cifelliodon is an extinct genus of mammaliaforms from the Lower Cretaceous of North America. In the describing paper, it was considered one of the latest surviving haramiyids yet known, belonging to the family Hahnodontidae. Its discovery led to the proposal to remove hahnodontids from the larger well-known group, the multituberculates. However, later papers have considered it to be a basal allotherian outside of Haramiyida.
Denise Sigogneau-Russell is a French palaeontologist who specialises in mammals from the Mesozoic, particularly from France and the UK. She is currently based at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle.
