Paurodontidae Temporal range:
Late Jurassic -
Early Cretaceous
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Lower jaw of Paurodon valens from the Late Jurassic of North America | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | † Dryolestida |
Family: | †
Paurodontidae Marsh, 1887 |
Genera | |
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Paurodontidae is a family of Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous mammals in the order Dryolestida. Remains of paurodontids have been found in the United States, Britain, Portugal, and Tanzania. The group likely represents a paraphyletic group of basal non dryolestid dryolestidans. [1] Paurodon has been suggested to have been a specilast feeder on earthworms due to the morphology of its teeth closely resembling that of the golden mole genus Amblysomus. [2]