''Paurodon'' is an extinct genus of
Late Jurassic
The Late Jurassic is the third Epoch (geology), epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time scale, geologic time from 161.5 ± 1.0 to 143.1 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic stratum, strata.Owen ...
mammal from the
Morrison Formation
The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Upper Jurassic sedimentary rock found in the western United States which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America. It is composed of mudstone, sandstone, siltston ...
of the
Western United States
The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau.
As American settlement i ...
.
Taxonomy
''Paurodon'' is the type genus of the dryolestidan group Paurodontidae. ''Araeodon'', ''Archaeotrigon'', ''Foxraptor'', and ''Pelicopsis'' are apparently growth stages of ''Paurodon''.
Distribution and stratigraphy
Remains of ''Paurodon'' have been found in stratigraphic zone 5 of the Morrison Formation in
Como Bluff
Como Bluff is a long ridge extending east–west, located between the towns of Rock River and Medicine Bow, Wyoming. The ridge is an anticline, formed as a result of compressional geological folding. Three geological formations, the Sundance, ...
,
Wyoming
Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...
.
[Foster, J. (2007). "Appendix." ''Jurassic West: The Dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation and Their World''. Indiana University Press. pp. 327-329.]
Biology
''Paurodon'' was strongly convergent with modern
golden mole
Golden moles are small insectivorous burrowing mammals endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa. They comprise the family Chrysochloridae (the only family in the suborder Chrysochloridea) and as such they are taxonomically distinct from the true moles, f ...
s in terms of dentition and jaw shape. This suggests that its diet was composed of earthworms (unlike other contemporary dryolestoids, which were more insectivorous)
[Ontogeny and taxonomy of Paurodon valens (Mammalia, Cladotheria) from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of USA. (pdf), Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS Vol. 319, No. 3, 2015, рр. 326–340] and may have even been subterranean, like the more derived ''
Necrolestes''.
See also
*
Prehistoric mammal
This is an incomplete list of prehistoric mammals. It does not include extant mammals or recently extinct mammals. For extinct primate species, see: list of fossil primates.Mikko's Phylogeny Archiv
Mammaliaformes
'
*Genus †''Adelobasile ...
**
List of prehistoric mammals
This is an incomplete list of prehistoric mammals. It does not include List of mammals, extant mammals or List of extinct mammals, recently extinct mammals. For extinct primate species, see: list of fossil primates.Mikko's Phylogeny Archiv
Ma ...
*
Paleobiota of the Morrison Formation
References
* Foster, J. (2007). Jurassic West: The Dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation and Their World. Indiana University Press. 389pp.
Dryolestida
Morrison mammals
Fossil taxa described in 1887
Prehistoric mammal genera
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