Ptilodontoidea
Ptilodontoidea is a group of extinct mammals from the Northern Hemisphere. They were generally small, somewhat rodent-like creatures of the extinct order Multituberculata.
Ptilodontoidea | |
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Skull of Ptilodus | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | †Multituberculata |
Superfamily: | †Ptilodontoidea |
Families | |
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Some of these genera boast a great many species, though remains are generally sparse. Ptilodus is among the best known, and there's a tendency to depict it as an analog of a squirrel.
Upper Cretaceous remains are known from North America and Europe. Later representatives (Paleocene - Eocene) hail from North America, Europe and Asia. These were some of the last multituberculates, and they are within the suborder Cimolodonta.
The superfamily is further divided into the following 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.