Allotheria

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Allotheria Fossil range: Late Triassic– Early Oligocene PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Gobiconodon, a triconodont.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Subclass: †Allotheria Marsh, 1880
Orders
†Gondwanatheria †Haramiyida †Multituberculata †Triconodonta †Volaticotheria

Allotheria ("other beasts", from the Greek allos-other and therion-wild animal) was a branch of successful mesozoic mammals. The most important characteristic was the presence of lower molariform teeth equipped with two longitudinal rows of cusps.

[edit] Interpretations

When he first identified Allotheria in 1880, Othniel Marsh regarded this group as an order within Marsupialia. But in 1997, McKenna and Bell classified Allothera as an infraclass.

[edit] Further reading

Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska, Richard L. Cifelli, and Zhe-Xi Luo, Mammals from the Age of Dinosaurs: Origins, Evolution, and Structure (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004), 249.