Morganucodon

Morganucodon watsoni · Morganucodon was a tiny, shrew-like early mammaliaform whose fossils are found mostly in Wales, and also in China, Europe and North America.

It lived about 205.7 to 165.3 million years ago.

Morganucodon
Photo: Nobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.ca/), CC BY-SA 4.0
Morganucodon
Photo: FunkMonk, CC BY-SA 3.0
Morganucodon
Photo: Theodolite, CC BY-SA 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassMammalia
OrderMorganucodonta
FamilyMorganucodontidae
GenusMorganucodon
SpeciesMorganucodon watsoni

Where its fossils were found

Wales and England, Switzerland, Yunnan (China) and North America.

Fun facts

  • Morganucodon probably looked like a shrew or mouse, with a skull only 2–3 cm long and a body about 10 cm long.
  • It likely laid small, leathery eggs, like those of modern monotremes.
  • A 2020 study suggests Morganucodon had a slow, reptile-like metabolism, and the oldest specimen lived 14 years.
  • Morganucodon was probably nocturnal and spent its days in a burrow, like many small mammals today.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).