What is "stagodontidae"

Stagodontidae is an extinct family of carnivorous metatherian mammals that inhabited North America during the late Cretaceous. Currently, the family includes two genera, Eodelphis and Didelphodon, which together include some five different species. Other extinct mammals, such as Pariadens, were once considered members of this family, but this is no longer the case. Stagodontids were some of the largest known Cretaceous mammals, ranging from in mass. One of the most unusual features of stagodontids are their robust, bulbous premolars, which are thought to have been used to crush freshwater mollusks. Postcranial remains suggest that stagodontids were most likely semi-aquatic. The most well described forms are found in Laramidia, but they are also present on appalachian sites, further leading credence to their aquatic habits.

Stagodontids were once thought to be closely related to the Sparassodonta, but later studies suggest they belong to a more ancient branch of the metatherian family tree, possibly closely related to pediomyids, being in particular closest to Pariadens, which forms the immediate outgroup to Stagodontidae. Stagodontids are last known from the Maastrichtian, and are thought to have gone extinct in the K-T Extinction.

• Family Stagodontidae
  • Genus Didelphodon
    • Didelphodon coyi
    • Didelphodon padanicus
    • Didelphodon vorax
  • Genus Eodelphis
    • Eodelphis browni
    • Eodelphis cutleri