New multituberculate-like teeth from the Middle Jurassic of England
Kenneth A. Kermack, Doris M. Kermack, Patricia M. Lees, and John R.E. Mills
New fossil mammal teeth are described from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) Forest Marble of Kirtlington, Oxfordshire, England. They are referred to a new genus and species, Eleutherodon oxfordensis, family Eleutherodontidae nov., suborder Eleutherodontida nov., order incertae sedis, assigned to Allotheria Marsh, 1880. These teeth are unique, but share with multituberculates and haramiyids the longitudinal arrangement of their cusps and with the former at least the propalinal action of the jaws in chewing, and palinal movement of the dentary during the power stroke. They differ in that respect from the Greenlandic Late Triassic Haramiyavia clemmenseni in which an orthal movement is predominant.
Key words: Multituberculata, Haramiyidae, Bathonian, England.
Kenneth A. Kermack & Doris M. Kermack, 124 Wood Lane, Osterley, Isleworth, Middx TW7 5EQ, England.Patricia M. Lees, 842 Fishponds Road, Fishponds, Bristol BS16 3XA, England.
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