''Ctenacodon'' ("comb needle tooth" from Ancient Greek κτενός (ktenós), "comb" + Latin acus, "needle" + Ancient Greek ὀδών (odṓn), "tooth") is a genus of extinct mammal that lived in what is now North America during the Upper

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

period. It is a member of the family

Allodontidae Allodontidae (from ancient Greek "ἄλλος" "ὀδούς", "different tooth") is a family of extinct multituberculate mammal that lived in what is now North America during the Upper Jurassic period. They were relatively early mammals and a ...

within the order

Multituberculata Multituberculata (commonly known as multituberculates, named for the multiple tubercles of their teeth) is an extinct order of rodent-like mammals with a fossil record spanning over 130 million years. They first appeared in the Middle Jurassic, ...

. ''Ctenacodon'', also known as ''Allodon'' (Marsh 1881), was named by

Othniel Charles Marsh Othniel Charles Marsh (October 29, 1831 – March 18, 1899) was an American professor of Paleontology in Yale College and President of the National Academy of Sciences. He was one of the preeminent scientists in the field of paleontology. Among ...

in 1879. At least three

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

are currently recognized. Present in stratigraphic zone 5. Remains possibly referrable to ''Ctenacodon'' have been recovered from stratigraphic zone 2.Foster, J. (2007). "Appendix." ''Jurassic West: The Dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation and Their World''. Indiana University Press. pp. 327-329.

Species

The species ''Ctenacodon laticeps'' was named by Marsh in 1881 and Simpson G.G. in 1927. It has also been known as ''Allodon laticeps'' (Marsh 1881). Remains were found in the Upper Jurassic

strata In geology and related fields, a stratum ( : strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as e ...

of the

Morrison Formation The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Upper Jurassic sedimentary rock found in the western United States which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America. It is composed of mudstone, sandstone, siltstone, ...

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the sou ...

(United States). The holotype, collected by Reed W.H. in 1880, is in the

Peabody Museum of Natural History The Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University is among the oldest, largest, and most prolific university natural history museums in the world. It was founded by the philanthropist George Peabody in 1866 at the behest of his nephew O ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. The species ''Ctenacodon scindens'' was named by Simpson G.G. in 1928. Remains were found in Jurassic strata of the Morrison Formation of Wyoming. This species was originally assigned to ''C. serratus''. The species ''Ctenacodon serratus'', also named by Marsh in 1879, is also known from the Morrison Formation.

References

*Simpson (1927), "Mesozoic Mammalia. VII. Taxonomy of Morrison multituberculates". ''Am. J. Sci.'' (5) xiv, p. 36-38. * Kielan-Jaworowska Z. and Hurum J.H. (2001), "Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals". ''Paleontology'' 44, p. 389-429. * Marsh (1879), "Notice of new Jurassic mammals". ''Am. J. Sci.'', 3pp., xviii. Multituberculates Morrison mammals Prehistoric mammal genera Fossil taxa described in 1879 {{jurassic-mammal-stub