''Essonodon'' is a mammal genus from the Upper Cretaceous of North America. It was a member of the extinct order (biology), order Multituberculata and lived towards the end of the "age of the dinosaurs." It is within the suborder Cimolodonta and perhaps the family Cimolomyidae. It contains a single species, ''Essonodon browni'', formerly also known as ''Cimolodon nitidus'' (Marsh 1889). The genus ''Essonodon'' was named by Simpson G.G. in 1927, and is also partly known as ''Cimolodon''. The inclusion of this taxon within Cimolomyidae is tentative. (Kielan-Jaworowska & Hurum 2001, p. 408). Fossils are known from the late Campanian to the end of the Maastrichtian. They are known from the Hell Creek Formation of Montana & North Dakota (USA), the Frenchman Formation of Saskatchewan (Canada), and the Fruitland Formation, Fruitland & Ojo Alamo Formation, Ojo Alamo Formations of New Mexico (USA). This species was a relatively large multituberculate that weighed around 1.18 kilograms.

References

* Simpson (1927), "Mammalian fauna of the Hell Creek Formation of Montana." ''Amer. Mus. Novit.'' 267, p. 1-7, 6 figs. * Kielan-Jaworowska Z & Hurum JH (2001), "Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals." ''Paleontology'' 44, p. 389-429. * Much of this information has been derived fro

MESOZOIC MAMMALS; 'basal' Cimolodonta, Cimolomyidae, Boffius, Boffiidae and Kogaionidae, an Internet directory. Prehistoric mammal genera Cretaceous mammals Cimolodonta Late Cretaceous mammals of North America Hell Creek fauna Ojo Alamo Formation {{cretaceous-mammal-stub Campanian genus first appearances Maastrichtian genus extinctions