Alphadon
Extinct genus of mammals
Alphadon is an extinct genus of small, primitive mammal that was a member of the metatherians, a group of mammals that includes modern-day marsupials. Its fossils were first discovered and named by George Gaylord Simpson in 1929.
01Description
Not much is known about the appearance of Alphadon, as it is only known from teeth, a lower jaw and skull fragments. It probably grew to about 12 in (30 cm) and may have resembled a modern opossum. Judging from its teeth, it was likely an omnivore, feeding on fruits, invertebrates and possibly small vertebrates. Alphadon had a very good sense of smell and sight to track down its food, both during the day and night. Its possible whiskers could have also aided in its search for food.
02Taxonomy and classification
The type species is Alphadon marshi. Eight other species are known.
The species Alphadon jasoni was originally described by Storer (1991); it was subsequently transferred to the herpetotheriid genus Nortedelphys.
Recent phylogenetic studies group it with other northern non-marsupial metatherians such as Albertatherium and Turgidodon. A 2016 phylogenetic analysis is shown below.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Alphadon”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Alphadon sp. - MUSE.jpg by Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0
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