Kuehneotheriidae is an extinct family of mammaliaforms traditionally placed within ' Symmetrodonta', though now generally considered more basal than true symmetrodonts. All members of Kuehneotheriidae which have been found so far are represented only by teeth, but these teeth have features which have led paleontologists to classify kuehneotheriids as very close relatives of the first true

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s. But fossil clades based solely on teeth often lead to difficulties ( Ausktribosphenidae being a good example), and it is not possible to draw significant conclusions about

mammalian evolution The evolution of mammals has passed through many stages since the first appearance of their synapsid ancestors in the Pennsylvanian (geology), Pennsylvanian sub-period of the late Carboniferous period. By the mid-Triassic, there were many synaps ...

from Kuehneotheriidae unless some more complete skeletons are found.

References

Prehistoric mammaliaforms Prehistoric therapsid families Late Triassic first appearances Early Jurassic extinctions {{paleo-therapsid-stub

See also

References