The multituberculates are an extinct order of nontherian, mostly Mesozoic mammals, the largest order of the subclass Prototheria (which also includes triconodonts and monotremes). They were the longest lived mammalian order, originating in the Rhaetic (latest Triassic) and surviving into the early Oligocene, and were the ecological equivalents of modern small rodents, at least in the Cretaceous and Early Teritiary. For a review of the group, see Clemens and Kielan-Jaworowska (1979).
They are relatively common fossils, which is reasonable in view of their ecological role as small herbivores, and are taxonomically diverse. As a result of this diversity and their rapid evolution, they are stratigraphically useful. However, most species of multituberculates are generally recovered as loose teeth; preserved skulls and jaws are rare except in Mongolia. They are known from North America and Europe (which were a single continent until the early Eocene) in the uppermost Triassic to the lower...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Clemens, W. A., 1964. Fossil mammals of the type Lance Formation, Wyoming. Part I. Introduction and Multituberculata, Univ. Calif. Publ. Geol. Sci., 48, 106p.
Clemens, W. A., and Kielan-Jaworowska, Z., 1979. Multituberculata, in Z. Kielan-Jaworowska et al., eds., Mesozoic Mammals: The First Two-Thirds of Mammalian History. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
Granger, W., and Simpson, G. G., 1929. Revision of the Tertiary Multituberculata, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. Bull., 56, 601–676.
Hahn, G., 1969. Beiträge zur Fauna der Grube Guimarota. Nr. 3, Die Multituberculata, Palaeontographica, A. 133, 1–100.
Jepsen, G. L., 1940. Paleocene faunas of the Polecat Bench Formation, Park County, Wyoming, Part I, Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., 83, 217–341.
Kielan-Jaworowska, Z., 1971. Skull structure and affinities of the Multituberculata: Results of the Polish-Mongolian Palaeontological Expeditions, Part III, Palaeontol. Polonica, 25, 5–41.
Kielan-Jaworowska, Z., 1974a. Multituberculate succession in the Late Cretaceous of the Gobi Desert (Mongolia): Results of the Polish-Mongolian Palaeontological Expeditions, Part V, Palaeontol. Polonica, 30, 23–44.
Kielan-Jaworowska, Z., 1974b. Migrations of the Multituberculata and the Late Cretaceous connections between Asia and North America, Ann. S. African Mus., 64, 231–243.
Parrington, F. R., 1946. On a collection of Rhaetic mammalian teeth, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 116, 707–728.
Peyer, B., 1956. Uber Zahne von Haramiyden, von Triconodonten und von wahrscheinlich synsapsiden Reptilien aus dem Rhät von Hallau, Schweiz. Paläont. Abh., 72. 1–71.
Romer, A. S., 1966. Vertebrate Paleontology, 3rd ed. Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press, 200p.
Simpson, G. G., 1928. A Catalogue of the Mesozoic Mammalia in the Geological Department of the British Museum. London: British Mus. (Nat. Hist.), 215p.
Sloan, R. E., and Van Valen, L., 1965. Cretaceous mammals from Montana, Science, 148, 220–227.
Van Valen, L. and Sloan, R. E., 1966. The extinction of multituberculates, Systematic Zool., 15, 261–278.
Cross-references
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1979 Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Inc.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Sloan, R.E. (1979). Multituberculata . In: Paleontology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31078-9_90
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31078-9_90
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-0-87933-185-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-31078-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive