Skip to content
Megazostrodon
EntityQ132813· pop 31· linked from 174 articles

Megazostrodon

Sign in to save

Megazostrodon is an extinct genus of basal mammaliaforms belonging to the order Morganucodonta. It is approximately 200 million years old. Two species are known: M. rudnerae from the Early Jurassic of Lesotho and South Africa, and M. chenali from the Late Triassic of France.

~5 min read

Encyclopedic overview

7 sections
Contents
  • Discovery
  • Characteristics
  • Evolution
  • Reproduction
  • See also
  • References
  • External links

Megazostrodon is an extinct genus of basal mammaliaforms belonging to the order Morganucodonta. It is approximately 200 million years old. Two species are known: M. rudnerae from the Early Jurassic of Lesotho and South Africa, and M. chenali from the Late Triassic of France.

==Discovery== The type species M. rudnerae was first discovered in 1966 in the Elliot Formation of Lesotho, southern Africa, by palaeontologist and archaeologist Ione Rudner. It was first described by A. W. Crompton and F. A. Jenkins Jr. in 1968. The generic name Megazostrodon means, literally, 'large girdle tooth' (from the Greek mega -large, zostros -girdle and don -tooth—referring to the large external cingula of the upper molars). The specific name honours Rudner for her discovery.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Megazostrodon” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (2)