''Kielanodon'' is an

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 ...

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 Portuguese 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 also extinct

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 ...

. It eked out a living during the

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

era, also known as 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 is in the

suborder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...

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 ...

, family Paulchoffatiidae. The genus ''Kielanodon'', meaning "Kielan’s tooth" after Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska, was named by Hahn G. in 1987. The main species, ''Kielanodon hopsoni'', also named by Hahn, is known from fossils found in the Kimmeridgian (Upper Jurassic)-age strata of Guimarota,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. The identification is based on three upper jaws.

References

* Hahn (1987), ''Neue Beobachtungen zum Schädel- und Gebiss-Bau der Paulchoffatiidae (Multituberculata, Ober-Jura)''. Paleovertebrata 17 p. 155-196, 5 plates. ''(New observations on the skull and jaw constructions in Paulchoffatiidae (

, Upper Jurassic)).'' * 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. * Much of this information has been derived fro

Multituberculata Cope, 1884. Multituberculata Late Jurassic mammals of Europe Fossils of Portugal Prehistoric mammal genera Fossil taxa described in 1987 {{Jurassic-mammal-stub