Kollikodon

Kollikodon
Temporal range: Cenomanian, 99–96 Ma
Opalised jaw of Kollikodon (backlit)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Monotremata
Family: Kollikodontidae
Genus: Kollikodon
Flannery, Archer, Rich & Jones, 1995[1]
Species:
K. ritchiei
Binomial name
Kollikodon ritchiei
Flannery, Archer, Rich & Jones, 1995[1]
Synonyms
  • Hotcrossbunodon (informal)

Kollikodon is an extinct species of mammal, considered to be an early monotreme.[2] It is known only from an opalised dentary fragment, with one premolar and two molars in situ, as well as a referred maxillary fragment containing the last premolar and all four molars. The fossils were found in the Griman Creek Formation at Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia. Kollikodon lived in the Late Cretaceous period, during the Cenomanian age (99–96 million years ago). Several other monotremes are known from the Griman Creek Formation, including Dharragarra, Opalios, Parvopalus, Steropodon, and Stirtodon.[3]

  1. ^ a b Flannery, Timothy F.; Archer, Michael; Rich, Thomas H. & Jones, Robert (1995). "A new family of monotremes from the Cretaceous of Australia". Nature. 377 (6548): 418–420. doi:10.1038/377418a0. S2CID 4301982.
  2. ^ Flannery, Timothy F.; Rich, Thomas H.; Vickers-Rich, Patricia; Ziegler, Tim; Veatch, E. Grace; Helgen, Kristofer M. (2022-01-02). "A review of monotreme (Monotremata) evolution". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 46 (1): 3–20. doi:10.1080/03115518.2022.2025900. ISSN 0311-5518.
  3. ^ Flannery, Timothy F.; McCurry, Matthew R.; Rich, Thomas H.; Vickers-Rich, Patricia; Smith, Elizabeth T.; Helgen, Kristofer M. (2024-05-26). "A diverse assemblage of monotremes (Monotremata) from the Cenomanian Lightning Ridge fauna of New South Wales, Australia". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology: 1–19. doi:10.1080/03115518.2024.2348753. ISSN 0311-5518.