Name:
Liaoconodon
(Liaoning cone tooth).
Phonetic: Le-ow-con-o-don.
Named By: J. Meng, Y. Wang & C.
Li - 2011.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia,
Eutriconodonta.
Species: L. hui (type).
Diet: Insectivore?/Carnivore?
Size: Roughly about 30 centimetres long.
Known locations: China, Liaoning - Jiufotang
Formation.
Time period: Aptian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Almost complete individual.
Liaoconodon is an interesting genus of mammal that lived in China during the latter half of the early Cretaceous. The ear structure of Liaoconodon has been identified as being transitional, helping to reveal how primitive ear structures in mammals developed to what we see in later more advanced forms.
Further reading
- Transitional mammalian middle ear from a new Cretaceous Jehol
eutriconodont. - Nature 472:181-185. - J. Meng, Y.
Wang & C. Li - 2011.