''Krusatodon'' is a genus of extinct
docodont
Docodonta is an Order (biology), order of extinct Mesozoic Mammaliaformes, mammaliaforms (advanced cynodonts closely related to true Crown group, crown-group mammals). They were among the most common mammaliaforms of their time, persisting from t ...
mammaliaform
Mammaliaformes ("mammalian forms") is a clade of synapsid tetrapods that includes the crown group mammals and their closest extinct relatives; the group radiated from earlier probainognathian cynodonts during the Late Triassic. It is defined a ...
from the Middle Jurassic of the United Kingdom. It is known from remains found in the
Forest Marble Formation, England, and also from the
Kilmaluag Formation on the
Isle of Skye
The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some of ...
, Scotland.
[Sigogneau-Russell D. 2003]
Docodonts from the British Mesozoic
''Acta Palaeontologica Polonica'', 48(3)[Panciroli, E., Benson, R.B.J., Walsh, S. Butler, R.J., Castro, T.A., Jones, M.E.H. and Evans, S. 2020]
Diverse vertebrate assemblage of the Kilmaluag Formation (Bathonian, Middle Jurassic) of Skye, Scotland
''Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh'', 111: 135-156.
Etymology
The name ''Krusatodon'' honours the German zoologist and palaeontologist
Dr. Georg Krusat, who carried out important research on docodonts and other early mammals.
Description
Prior to 2024, ''Krusatodon'' was mainly known from a handful of individual molar teeth, and an undescribed jaw.
In 2024, a juvenile and an adult skeleton of the species were described.
Like all docodontans, these teeth have a more complex arrangement of cusps than other groups of early
mammaliaforms
Mammaliaformes ("mammalian forms") is a clade of synapsid tetrapods that includes the crown group mammals and their closest extinct relatives; the group radiated from earlier probainognathian cynodonts during the Late Triassic. It is defined as ...
(the group that includes mammals). This includes a large main cusp on the lower teeth (cusp a) and a number of smaller cusps around it, with a "pseudotalonid" - a basin where food can be crushed and ground. This arrangement is similar to the
tribosphenic molar
The molars or molar teeth are large, flat teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammals. They are used primarily to grind food during chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, ''molaris dens'', meaning "millstone toot ...
seen in later mammals.
Adult individuals were relatively small-sized compared to living mammals, with a body mass of .
Paleobiology
Analysis of tooth histology suggests that ''Krusatodon'' had relatively long lives compared to modern mammals of similar size, with the adult skeleton described in 2024 estimated to have been 7 years old at the time of death.
References
External links
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{{paleo-cynodont-stub
Docodonta
Fossil taxa described in 2003
Middle Jurassic synapsids of Europe
Taxa named by Denise Sigogneau-Russell