Paurodontidae is a family of

Late Jurassic The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 163.5 ± 1.0 to 145.0 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata.Owen 1987. In European lithostratigraphy, the name ...

to Early Cretaceous mammals in the order Dryolestida. Remains of paurodontids have been found in the United States,

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

. The group likely represents a paraphyletic group of basal non

dryolestid Dryolestidae is an extinct family of Mesozoic mammals, known from the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous of the North Hemisphere. The oldest known member, '' Anthracolestes'', is known from the Middle Jurassic Itat Formation of Western Siber ...

dryolestidans. ''

Paurodon ''Paurodon'' is an extinct genus of Late Jurassic mammal from the Morrison Formation of the Western United States. Taxonomy ''Paurodon'' is the type genus of the dryolestidan group Paurodontidae. ''Araeodon'', ''Archaeotrigon'', ''Foxraptor'', ...

'' has been suggested to have been a specilast feeder on earthworms due to the morphology of its teeth closely resembling that of the

golden mole Golden moles are small insectivorous burrowing mammals endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa. They comprise the family Chrysochloridae and as such they are taxonomically distinct from the true moles, family Talpidae, and other mole-like families, all ...

genus ''

Amblysomus ''Amblysomus'' (also narrow-headed golden mole or South African golden mole) is a genus of the golden mole family, Chrysochloridae, comprising five species of the small, insect-eating, burrowing mammals endemic to Southern Africa. All five spec ...

''.A.O. Averianov and T. Martin (2015). "Ontogeny and taxonomy of Paurodon valens (Mammalia, Cladotheria) from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of USA" (PDF). Proceedings of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences 319 (3): 326–340.

References

Dryolestida Late Jurassic mammals Kimmeridgian first appearances Early Cretaceous extinctions Prehistoric mammal families {{cretaceous-mammal-stub