''Iberodon'' is a small, extinct mammal of the Lower

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

. It was a member of the also extinct

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Multituberculata, and led its obscure and plant-eating existence in the company of

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

s. It lies within the suborder " Plagiaulacida" and family Pinheirodontidae. The genus ''Iberodon'' was named by Hahn G. and Hahn R. in 1999 based on a single species. The species, known as ''Iberodon quadrituberculatus'', is known from teeth found in Berriasian (Lower Cretaceous)-age

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 Portugal.

References

* Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska, Richard L. Cifelli, and Zhe-Xi Luo (2005). "Mammals from the age of dinosaurs : origins, evolution, and structure" pp. 314. * Hahn & Hahn (1999), "Pinheirodontidae n. fam. (Multituberculata) (Mammalia) aus der tiefen Unter-Kreide Portugals". Palaeontographica Abt. A Vol. 253, pp. 77–222. (Pinheirodontidae n. fam. (Multituberculata) ( Mammalia) from the deepest Lower Cretaceous of Portugal). * 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 Multituberculata, an Internet directory. Multituberculates Early Cretaceous mammals of Europe Fossils of Portugal Prehistoric mammal genera Fossil taxa described in 1999 {{cretaceous-mammal-stub