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Morganucodonta

Morganucodon watsoni from Wales and M. oehleri from China anchor a Lower Jurassic skull comparison with both a squamosal–dentary contact and retained articular–quadrate joint; the anatomy is not a linear transition or direct ancestry claim.

Represented range201.4–145 Ma
Content packagemammal-origins
PBDBtxn:175182

Evidence boundary

Automated checks cover structure, identifiers, translations and links only; maintainer and external expert review are not complete.

Claim ledger

taxonomy · medium

Morganucodontans are sampled as early mammaliaforms outside narrower crown Mammalia in the cited broad character analysis; this placement is a higher-taxon convention and topology, not evidence that Morganucodonta is the direct ancestor of living mammals.

claim:taxon:morganucodonta:taxonomy
biogeography · medium

The primary skull study describes Lower Jurassic Morganucodon watsoni from Wales and M. oehleri from China; these two source localities are representative material, not a complete geographic distribution for Morganucodonta.

claim:taxon:morganucodonta:biogeography
ecology · medium

The described Morganucodon skulls have teeth differentiated into incisors, canines, premolars and molars, but the study does not directly observe diet, habitat, locomotion or behaviour for Morganucodonta as a whole.

claim:taxon:morganucodonta:ecology
morphology · high

Kermack and colleagues describe a 26 mm Morganucodon watsoni skull and a slightly larger M. oehleri skull, with a squamosal–dentary contact while the articular–quadrate joint is retained; this is one anatomical mosaic, not a linear transition or direct ancestry claim.

claim:taxon:morganucodonta:morphology
fossil-range · medium

Morganucodonta is displayed at 201.4–145 Ma only as the synthesis's sampled fossil envelope, not exact global genus-group endpoints. The interval is a source-bounded sample window, not a global FAD, LAD, divergence date, continuous occupancy claim or direct-ancestor assertion.

claim:taxon:morganucodonta:source-bounded-range-rc49

Known limits

References

  1. In quest for a phylogeny of Mesozoic mammalsLuo, Z.-X.; Kielan-Jaworowska, Z.; Cifelli, R.L. · 2002
  2. International Chronostratigraphic Chart v2026/06Cohen, K.M.; Harper, D.A.T.; Gibbard, P.L.; Car, N. · 2026 · DOI 10.18814/epiiugs/2025/025001
  3. Open Tree of Life web servicesOpenTreeOfLife Project
  4. The Paleobiology Database application programming interfacePeters, S.E.; McClennen, M. · 2016 · DOI 10.1017/pab.2015.39
  5. The skull of MorganucodonKermack, K.A.; Mussett, F.; Rigney, H.W. · 1981 · DOI 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1981.tb01127.x
  6. Denormalized occurrence and taxon tables of the Paleobiology DatabaseThe Paleobiology Database Community; Kocsis, Á.T. · 2026 · DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21620933
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