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Ptilodontoidea

Ptilodontoidea is a group of extinct mammals from the Northern Hemisphere. They were generally small, somewhat rodent-like creatures of the extinct order Multituberculata.

Some of these genera boast a great many species, though remains are generally sparse. Ptilodus is among the best known, and there's a tendency to depict it as an analog of a squirrel.

Upper Cretaceous remains are known from North America and Europe. Later representatives ( Paleocene - Eocene) hail from North America, Europe and Asia. These were some of the last multituberculates, and they are within the suborder Cimolodonta.

The superfamily is further divided into the following families:

  • Neoplagiaulacidae - 10 genera;
  • Ptilodontidae - 4 genera;
  • Cimolodontidae - possibly 3 genera.

The affinities of Neoliotomus are less clear, though it seems to fit somewhere within the superfamily.