''Dobunnodon'' its an extinct genus of

docodont Docodonta is an order of extinct mammaliaforms that lived during the Mesozoic, from the Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous. They are distinguished from other early mammaliaforms by their relatively complex molar teeth, from which the order get ...

from the

Middle Jurassic The Middle Jurassic is the second epoch of the Jurassic Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 163.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relatively rare, but geological formations co ...

( Bathonian) Forest Marble Formation of England, first discovered in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

near the village of Kirtlington. The type species, ''D. mussettae'', was originally named as a species of ''

Borealestes ''Borealestes'' was a genus of docodontan from the Middle Jurassic of Britain, first discovered on the Isle of Skye near the village of Elgol. It was the earliest mammaliaform from the Mesozoic found and named in Scotland. A second species and ...

'' in 2003.Sigogneau-Russell D. (2003
Docodonts from the British Mesozoic
''Acta Palaeontologica Polonica'' 48, 3, 357-374 __TOC__

History

In 2003, ''Borealestes mussettae'' (originally 'B. mussetti') was named by Denise Sigogneau-Russell, based on isolated molars found in the Bathonian aged Kirtlington Mammal bed of

, England. It differs from ''B. serendipitus'' in the details of cusps and ridges on the molar teeth. The species name ''mussetti'' was in honour of Dr Frances Mussett, in recognition of her major participation in fossil excavation at Kirtlington Cement Quarry. However, ''mussetti'' is the masculine form, and so this has been amended to ''mussettae'' by subsequent authors, starting with Alexander Averianov in 2004.Panciroli, E., Benson, R.B. and Luo, Z.X., (2019)
The mandible and dentition of Borealestes serendipitus (Docodonta) from the Middle Jurassic of Skye, Scotland
''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'', 39(3), p.e1621884 It was moved to the new genus ''Dobunnodon'' in 2021.

Appearance

''Dobunnodon'' is currently only known from isolated molars.Panciroli, E., Schultz J.A., and Luo, Z-X. (2018)
The morphology of the petrosal and stapes of Borealestes (Mammaliaformes, Docodonta) from the Middle Jurassic of Skye, Scotland
''Papers in Palaeontology'' https://doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1233 Docodonts are small (shrew to rat sized) mammaliaforms. ''Dobunnodon'' is believed to be a

basal Basal or basilar is a term meaning ''base'', ''bottom'', or ''minimum''. Science * Basal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features associated with the base of an organism or structure * Basal (medicine), a minimal level that is nec ...

member of

Docodonta Docodonta is an Order (biology), order of extinct Mammaliaformes, mammaliaforms that lived during the Mesozoic, from the Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous. They are distinguished from other early Mammaliaformes, mammaliaforms by their relativel ...

.Luo Z-X, and Martin. (2007
Analysis of molar structure and phylogeny of docodont genera
''Bulletin of Carnegie Museum of Natural History'' 39: 27-47

References

Docodonts Prehistoric cynodont genera Bathonian life Jurassic synapsids Jurassic England Fossils of England Fossil taxa described in 2021 {{Paleo-therapsid-stub