''Xenachoffatia'' is a small

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. ...

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 ...

from

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 ...

. It was a relatively early member of the also

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 ...

order of

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 lived during "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" and belongs to the suborder

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 ...

. The genus ''Xenachoffatia'' ("for Xena Choffat") was named by Hahn G. and Hahn R. in 1998. The primary species ''Xenachoffatia oinopion'' (Hahn & Hahn, 1998) was found in Kimmeridgian (Upper Jurassic) Camadas de Guimarota of Guimarota,

. The classification is based on three upper

molars The molars or molar teeth are large, flat tooth, teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammal, mammals. They are used primarily to comminution, grind food during mastication, chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, '' ...

References

* Hahn & Hahn (1998), "Neue Beobachtungen an Plagiaulacoidea (Multituberculata) des Ober-Juras. 3. Der Bau der Molaren bei den Paulchoffatiidae." ''(New observations on the skull and jaw constructions in Paulchoffatiidae Multituberculata, Upper Jurassic.) Berliner Geowissenschaftlich Abhandlungen, E'', 28, p. 39-84. * 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, J.H. (2001), "Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals", ''Paleontology'' 44, p. 389-429. * Much of this information has been derived fro

Multituberculata Cope, 1884. * With thanks to David Marjanovic for additional info. Multituberculata Late Jurassic mammals of Europe Fossils of Portugal Prehistoric mammal genera {{Jurassic-mammal-stub