![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Ptilodus_skull_BW.jpg/640px-Ptilodus_skull_BW.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Multituberculate
order of mammals (fossil) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The multituberculates were a group of rodent-like mammals which survived for about 166 million years – the longest fossil history of any mammal line.[1][2]
Quick Facts Multituberculates Temporal range: early Jurassic–end Eocene ~200 to ~34 million years ago, Scientific classification ...
Multituberculates | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Skull of Ptilodus | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | |
Phylum: | |
Class: | |
Subclass: | |
Order: | †Multituberculata Cope, 1884 |
Suborders | |
|
Close
They were eventually outcompeted by rodents, becoming extinct during the late Eocene.[3]
At least 200 species are known, ranging from mouse-sized to beaver-sized. These species occupied many ecological niches, ranging from burrow-dwelling to squirrel-like tree-dwelling.[4]
Multituberculates are usually placed outside both the two main groups of living mammals, the Theria (placentals and marsupials), and monotremes. Some cladistic analyses put them closer to Theria than to monotremes.[5][6]