| Vilevolodon Temporal range: Oxfordian,
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| Fossil specimen of V. diplomylos, National Natural History Museum of China | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Clade: | Therapsida |
| Clade: | Cynodontia |
| Clade: | Mammaliaformes |
| Order: | †Haramiyida |
| Family: | †Eleutherodontidae |
| Genus: | †Vilevolodon Luo et al., 2017 |
| Type species | |
| Vilevolodon diplomylos Luo et al., 2017
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Vilevolodon is an extinct, monotypic genus of volant, arboreal euharamiyids[1][2] from the Oxfordian age of the Late Jurassic of China. The type species is Vilevolodon diplomylos. The genus name Vilevolodon references its gliding capabilities, Vilevol (Latin for “glider”), while don (Greek for “tooth”) is a common suffix for mammalian taxon titles. The species name diplomylos refers to the dual mortar-and-pestle occlusion of upper and lower molars observed in the holotype; diplo (Greek for “double”), mylos (Greek for “grinding”).[1]
Vilevolodon is known from the Tiaojishan Formation in Qinglong County, China. Due to its unique combination of characters, Vilevolodon provides additional evidence to an increasingly complex scope of mammalian morphology and niche inhabitation. As the volant herbivorous lifestyle is previously only known from therian gliders, Vilevolodon stands as evidence of locomotor convergence, as well as mammaliaform evolutionary experimentation during the Jurassic.[1] Along with Maiopatagium, Vilevolodon represents the most primitive known gliders in mammalian evolution, appearing approximately 100 million years before the earliest known therian gliders.[3]
- ^ a b c Luo ZX, Meng QJ, Grossnickle DM, Liu D, Neander AI, Zhang YG, Ji Q (August 2017). "New evidence for mammaliaform ear evolution and feeding adaptation in a Jurassic ecosystem". Nature. 548 (7667): 326–329. doi:10.1038/nature23483. PMID 28792934. S2CID 4463476.
- ^ Bi S, Wang Y, Guan J, Sheng X, Meng J (October 2014). "Three new Jurassic euharamiyidan species reinforce early divergence of mammals". Nature. 514 (7524): 579–84. doi:10.1038/nature13718. PMID 25209669. S2CID 4471574.
- ^ Meng QJ, Grossnickle DM, Liu D, Zhang YG, Neander AI, Ji Q, Luo ZX (August 2017). "New gliding mammaliaforms from the Jurassic". Nature. 548 (7667): 291–296. doi:10.1038/nature23476. PMID 28792929. S2CID 205259206.