Docodon (meaning 'beam tooth') was an omnivorous mammal from the middle to upper Jurassic Period that lived in Europe and North America approximately 175.6 to 144 million years ago. Docodon likely inhabited woodland and stayed in trees out of the reach of predators. Weather Docodon was a true mammal is under debate, and some suggest it was an evolved therapsid or mammal like reptile.

 Docodon had complex teeth, which suggest it had a diverse diet. The dentition patterns of the cusps and other molars are complex and distinct and closely resemble that of mammals, but Docodon and other docodonts are only distantly related to living mammals.

 It was first discovered by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1880. Like other early small mammals it is known only from fossilized teeth since the rest of the body did not fossilize as efficiently. Docodon fossils are found most commonly at the 'Morrison Formation of the Black Hills' and suggest a possible habitat preference.

 Its height is estimated at 10 centimeters with a length of 4 inches and approximate weight of 1 once. A 2006 study by J. R. Foster concluded it is the most massive mammal genus of the formation.

 Docodonta is an order of extinct mammaliaforms that lived during the mid- to late-Mesozoic era. Their most distinguishing physical features were their relatively sophisticated set of molars, from which the order gets its name. In the fossil record, Docodonta is represented primarily by isolated teeth and bits of jawbones. While most of these specimens have been found across former Laurasia (modern-day North America, Europe, and Asia), some have also been found from Gondwana (modern-day India and Southern Hemisphere).

 Docodonts are not quite as closely related to the placentals and marsupials as the monotremes are, so they are not included among the crown-group mammals. Because of the complexity of their molars and the fact that they possess the dentary-squamosal jaw joint, though, they have generally been regarded as mammals. Some authors do limit the term "Mammalia" to the crown group, however, excluding mammaliaforms like the docodonts.

 Docodonts are thought to have been primarily herbivorous or insectivorous, although Castorocauda has teeth which suggest it ate fish.

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Tags: Вымершие млекопитающие, Юра, докодонты

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