Barbatodon
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Barbatodon is a mammal genus from the Upper Cretaceous of Romania. It lived in Transylvania at the same time as some of the last dinosaurs and was a member of the extinct order of Multituberculata. It's within the suborder of Cimolodonta, and the family Kogaionidae. The genus Barbatodon was named by Rãdulescu R. and Samson P. in 1986.
The primary species, Barbatodon transylvanicum, was also named by Rãdulescu and Samson. It was found in strata dating to the Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) of the Sinpetru Beds of the Hateg Formation in Romania.
"Based on comparisons with the m1s from Vãlioara, the holotype of Barbatodon is regarded as a kogaionid m1," (Csiki Z & Grigorescu D, 2001, Fossil mammals from the Maastrichtian of the Hateg Basin, Romania, 6th European Workshop on Vertebrate Palaeontology - Florence and Montevarchi (Italy) - September 19-22, 2001, p.26). Kielan-Jaworowska and Hurum (2001) had it placed tentatively in the informal Paracimexomys group.
Most of Europe was covered by shallow seas during the Upper Cretaceous, which makes remains of terrestrial animals extremely rare. This location is one of the exceptions and the diversity of material is impressive.
References
- Rãdulescu & Samson (1986), Précisions sur les affinités des Multituberculés du Crétacé supérieur de Roumaine. C R Acad Sci II: Mec-Phys, Chim, Sci Terre, Sci Univ 303p, p.1825-1830.
- Kielan-Jaworowska Z & Hurum JH (2001), "Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals". Paleontology 44, p.389-429.
- Much of this information has been derived from [1] (http://home.arcor.de/ktdykes/cimolod.htm) MESOZOIC MAMMALS: "basal" Cimolodonta, Cimolomyidae, Boffiidae and Kogaionidae, an Internet directory.