''Abelodon'' is an extinct genus of
peramurid
The family Peramuridae is a family of mammals that lived in the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. They are considered to be advanced cladotherians closely related to therian mammals as part of Zatheria
Cladotheria is a clade (sometimes ran ...
mammal in the clade
Zatheria
Cladotheria is a clade (sometimes ranked as a legion) of mammals. It contains modern therian mammals (marsupials and placentals) and several extinct groups, such as the dryolestoids, amphitheriids and peramurids. The clade was named in 1975 by M ...
, which lived during the
Barremian
The Barremian is an age in the geologic timescale (or a chronostratigraphic stage) between 129.4 ± 1.5 Ma (million years ago) and 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma). It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous Epoch (or Lower Cretaceous Series). It is precede ...
age. It is known from a single tooth found in
Cameroon's Koum Formation.
Paleoecology
Abelodon lived alongside various
archosaurs
Archosauria () is a clade of diapsids, with birds and crocodilians as the only living representatives. Archosaurs are broadly classified as reptiles, in the cladistic sense of the term which includes birds. Extinct archosaurs include non-avia ...
in the Koum Formation, such as ornithopod dinosaurs like ''
Ouranosaurus
''Ouranosaurus'' is a genus of herbivorous basal hadrosauriform dinosaur that lived during the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous of modern-day Niger and Cameroon. ''Ouranosaurus'' measured about long. Two rather complete fossils were found in ...
'', theropods like ''
Spinosaurus
''Spinosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what now is North Africa during the Cenomanian to upper Turonian stages of the Late Cretaceous period, about 99 to 93.5 million years ago. The genus was known first f ...
'', and crocodilians like ''
Araripesuchus
''Araripesuchus'' is a genus of extinct crocodyliform that existed during the Cretaceous period of the late Mesozoic era some 125 to 66 million years ago. Six species of ''Araripesuchus'' are currently known. They are generally considered to be n ...
''.
References
Aptian genera
Early Cretaceous mammals of Africa
Cretaceous Cameroon
Fossils of Cameroon
Fossil taxa described in 1989
Prehistoric mammal genera
Cladotheria
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