View source for Glirodon

{{Short description|Extinct family of mammals}}
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{{Automatic Taxobox
| name              = ''Glirodon''
| fossil_range      = [[Late Jurassic]]
| display_parents   = 2
| taxon             = Glirodon
| authority         = Engelmann and Callison, 1999
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision       = 
''G. grandis''
}}

'''''Glirodon''''' is a [[genus]] of extinct [[mammal]] from the Upper [[Jurassic]]. It was a relatively early member of the also-extinct order of [[Multituberculata]], suborder "[[Plagiaulacida]]". These mammals lived in [[North America]] during the Mesozoic, also known as the "age of the [[dinosaur]]s".

The genus ''Glirodon'' has been described by Engelmann G.F. and Callison G. (1999) from a 'gliriform tooth'.

The [[species]] ''Glirodon grandis'', also described by Engelmann and Callison, has been found in the Upper Jurassic formations of [[Dinosaur National Monument]] in [[Utah]] (United States). Other than being a large, early American Multituberculate, (see [[Multituberculata]]), the nature of this beast is somewhat unclear. It is an "allodontid (two families and the genus ''Glirodon'')", (Kielan-Jaworowska and Hurum, 2001). It had gliriform [[incisor]]s; incisors with the "enamel reduced to a stripe on the front side." Apparently, this condition evolved several times among Multituberculates.

It is based on a portion of snout. "''Glirodon'' retains the plesiomorphic 'plagiaulacidan' ("[[Plagiaulacida]]") [[dental formula]] and shares with [[Allodontidae]] the structure of the upper premolars (Pl.1 fis 2-4). It differs from the Paulchoffatiidae and Plagiaulacidae in having a single-cusped I3," (Kielan-Jaworowska & Hurum, 2001, p.&nbsp;401-402). I3 refers to an upper incisor and 'plesiomorphic' means 'basal'.

Present in stratigraphic zones 4 and 6.<ref name="foster-appendix">Foster, J. (2007). "Appendix." ''Jurassic West: The Dinosaurs of the Morrison Formation and Their World''. Indiana University Press. pp. 327–329.</ref>

== References ==
* Engelmann & Callison, (1999), Glirodon grandis, ''a new multituberculate mammal from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation''. Vertebrate Paleontology of Utah, pp.&nbsp;161–178, in the Utah Geological Survey, (ed. Gillette DD), 8/99.
* Kielan-Jaworowska Z & Hurum JH (2001), ''Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals''. Paleontology 44, p.&nbsp;389–429.
* Most of this information has been derived from [https://web.archive.org/web/20110514101729/http://home.arcor.de/ktdykes/plagiau.htm] MESOZOIC MAMMALS; Basal Multituberculata, an Internet directory.
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{{Allotheria|A.}}
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[[Category:Multituberculata]]
[[Category:Morrison mammals]]
[[Category:Fossil taxa described in 1999]]
[[Category:Prehistoric mammal genera]]


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