Name:
Maotherium
(Mao’s beast).
Phonetic: Mow-fee-ree-um.
Named By: G. W. Rougier, Q. Ji &
M. J. Novacek - 2003.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia,
Symmetrodonta, Zhangheotheriidae.
Species: M. sinensis (type), M. asiaticus.
Diet: Insectivore.
Size: About 15 centimetres long.
Known locations: China - Yixian Formation.
Time period: Aptian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Almost complete individuals
preserved flat.
A symmetrodont mammal from the Early Cretaceous of China, Maotherium would have been a small predatory of insects. Maotherium was named after the Chinese politician Mao Zedong.
Further reading
- A new symmetrodont mammal with fur impressions from the Mesozoic of
China. - Acta Geologica Sinica 77(1):7-14. - G. W.
Rougier, Q. Ji & M. J. Novacek - 2003.