''Henkelodon'' was a small

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

of 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 143.1 Mya. ...

. It was a relatively early member of the

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

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

. ''Henkelodon'' was a

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat ...

that lived during the "age of the

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

s". It lies within the suborder "

Plagiaulacida Plagiaulacida is a group of extinct Multituberculata, multituberculate mammals. Multituberculates were among the most common mammals of the Mesozoic, "the age of the dinosaurs". Plagiaulacids are a paraphyletic grouping, containing all multituber ...

" and family

Paulchoffatiidae Paulchoffatiidae is a family of extinct mammals that lived predominantly during the Upper Jurassic period, though a couple of genera are known from the Early Cretaceous. Fossils have been reported from Europe (Portugal, Spain, Germany and England ...

. The genus ''Henkelodon'' ("Henkel's tooth") was named by Hahn G. in 1977 based on a single species.

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

remains of the species ''Henkelodon naias'' were discovered in the Kimmeridgian (Upper Jurassic)-age

Alcobaça Formation The Alcobaça Formation, previously known as the Guimarota Formation and also known as the Consolação Unit, is a geological Formation (geology), formation in Portugal. It dates back to the Kimmeridgian stage of the Late Jurassic. It is an impor ...

of Guimarota, Portugal. The remains consisted of one upper jaw. According to Kielan-Jaworowska and Hurum, 2001, (p. 413), this genus was named in 1987. However, Hahn and Hahn 2000 (p. 105) supports 1977.

References

ia) from the Malm of Portugal)'' * Hahn G & Hahn R (2000), Multituberculates from the Guimarota mine, p. 97-107 in Martin T & *Krebs B (eds), Guimarota - A Jurassic Ecosystem, Verlag Dr Friedrich Pfeil, München. *Kielan-Jaworowska Z & Hurum JH (2001), "Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals". ''Paleontology'' 44, p. 389-429. * author and year information were kindly supplied by Vince Ward. * Much of this information has been derived fro

Multituberculata Cope, 1884. Multituberculata Kimmeridgian life Jurassic mammals of Europe Jurassic Portugal Fossils of Portugal Fossil taxa described in 1977 Prehistoric mammal genera {{Jurassic-mammal-stub

References

Further reading