Paleontologists have discovered fossilized dental remains of a new kind and multiple plagiabid species in the formation of lulworth of the lower Cretaceous of the Purbeck group, Dorset, United Kingdom.
The restoration of an artist of Novinoladon wonderful. Image credit: Hamzah Imran.
The multitisseur is a very successful and most diverse group of mesozoic mammals.
More than 200 species are known to science, ranging from creatures the size of a mouse to creatures the size of a beaver.
These mammals existed from the average Jurassic throughout the mesozoic and persisted before the extinction of the surviving final Cretaceous until the beginning of the oligocene.
They occupied various ecological niches, whip climbers with climbing trees resembling squirrels.
The newly discovered species traveled our planet during the Berriasian age of the early time of Cretaceous, around 143 million years ago.
Double Novinoladon wonderfulThis mammal was omnivorous, probably feeding on small invertebrates such as verses and insects.
Its sharp incisors and striated premolars in the shape of the blade indicate a distinct food strategy of modern rodents such as squirrels and rats.
“This research shows how the first mammals sculpted the ecological niches while the dinosaurs dominated the landscape,” said professor emeritus of the University of Portsmouth, David Martill and his colleagues.
The 1.65 cm long jaw of Novinoladon wonderful was found by the undergraduate student of the University of Portsmouth, Benjamin Weston, in 2024.
“The fossil is characterized by a long pointed incisor in front, followed by a gap and then four razor premolars,” said paleontologists.
“While the jaw of a superficial rabbit, the sharp incisors and the distinct premolars identify it as belonging to the multi -burned group.”
The specimen came from a town on the upper part of Durlston Bay, Dorset, United Kingdom.
This locality belongs to the formation of Lulworth of the lower Cretaceous of the Purbeck group.
“The new specimen is the most complete multi -burned material recovered from the Purbeck group,” said the researchers.
“The fossil was obtained from a very distinctive horizon in the Cherry freshwater beds, the supposedly flint bed, which scientists considered as representing the deposit in a freshwater lagoon.”
“”Novinoladon wonderfulS is also the first mammal to be recovered from the flint bed, ”they added.
The discovery of Novinoladon wonderful is described in an article in the Proceedings of the Association of Geologists.
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Benjamin T. Weston and al. A new multituberculate (mammalia, allotheria) of the formation of Lulworth (Cretaceous, Berriasian) of Dorset, in England. Proceedings of the Association of Geologistspublished online on July 9, 2025; DOI: 10.1016 / J.PGEOLA.2025.101128
