''Kuehneodon'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of extinct

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. ...

- Lower

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

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 ...

. 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 ...

. Members of this genus lived alongside such

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 as

Allosaurus ''Allosaurus'' ( ) is an extinct genus of theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic period ( Kimmeridgian to late Tithonian ages). The first fossil remains that could definitively be ascribed to th ...

. It belongs to 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 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 ...

. In addition, this genus is the only known member of a

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

called Kuehneodontinae. It was named by Hahn G. in 1969, the name meaning "Kühne’s tooth" in honor of

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

Walther Kühne, pioneer of the Guimarota site of

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 ...

where remains were found in the late 1950s and early 1960s. ''Kuehneodon'' is the one genus of the taxon

from the Guimarota site whereby the lower and upper jaws have been found united. These "exhibit the lowest number of derived characters (apomorphies), and are thus closest to the main evolutionary lineage of the multituberculates" (Hahn & Hahn 2000, p. 106). The genus is based mainly upon remains of jaw, a number of species are recorded from Guimarota: ''Kuehneodon dietrichi'' Hahn G, 1969; ''K. dryas'' Hahn G, 1977; ''K. guimarotensis'' Hahn G, 1969; ''K. simpsoni'' Hahn, 1969 and ''K. uniradiculatus'' Hahn, 1978. A further Upper Jurassic, Portuguese locality near

Lourinhã Lourinhã () is a municipality in the District of Lisbon and in the portuguese Oeste region. The population in 2011 was 25,735, in an area of 147.17 km2. The seat of the municipality is the town of Lourinhã, with a population of 8,800 inhab ...

, Porto das Barcas, has yielded ''K. barcasensis'' Hahn G & Hahn R, 2001. Lower Cretaceous fossils have also been found in Galve,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. K. hahni Antunes, 1998 was reported from Paimogo, Lourinhã, by

Miguel Telles Antunes Dr. Miguel Telles Antunes (born 11 January 1937) is a Portuguese academic, specializing in paleontology, zooarchaeology, and geology. Antunes is a ranking member of various institutions, including the Lisbon Academy of Sciences, Nova Universi ...

References

* Antunes, M.T. (1998). A new Upper Jurassic Paulchoffatiid Multituberculate (Mammalia) from Pai Mogo, Portugal / and a few comments on Walter Georg Kühne. Memórias da Academia de Ciências de Lisboa. 37:125-153. * Hahn (1969), ''Beiträge zur Fauna der Grube Guimarota Nr. 3. Die Multituberculata. Paleontographica'', A, 133, p. 1-100. ''(''Contributions on the fauna of the Guimarota mine no. 3. The Multituberculates''.)'' * Hahn G. and Hahn R. (2000), ''Multituberculates from the Guimarota mine'', p. 97-107 in Martin T. and Krebs B. (eds), ''Guimarota - A Jurassic Ecosystem'', Published Dr Friedrich Pfeil, Münich. * Kielan-Jaworowska Z. and Hurum J.H. (2001), ''Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals''. Paleontology 44, p. 389-429.
Multituberculata Cope, 1884
Multituberculata Late Jurassic mammals of Europe Prehistoric mammal genera Fossil taxa described in 1969 {{Jurassic-mammal-stub