Docodonts from the British Mesozoic
Denise Sigogneau-Russell
This paper deals with new docodont teeth from the upper Bathonian of Forest Marble, collected by Prof. K.A. Kermack and his team, and from the basal Cretaceous of the Purbeck Limestone Group, collected by P. Ensom. Study of this material led to the recognition of three new taxa: Borealestes mussetti sp. nov. and Krusatodon kirtlingtonensis gen. et sp. nov. from Forest Marble, Peraiocynodon major sp. nov. from Purbeck; this makes the Bathonian locality the richest (four species) docodont locality so far known. The possible synonymy of Cyrtlatherium-Simpsonodon (Forest Marble) and of Peraiocynodon-Docodon (Purbeck-Morrison) suggested by several authors is discussed. In conclusion, phyletic relationships between the known docodont genera are proposed, based on lower molars.
Key words: Mammalia, Docodonta, Bathonian, Berriasian, Forest Marble, Purbeck, Great Britain.
Denise Sigogneau−Russell [ds.dr@free.fr], Laboratoire de Paléontologie, 8 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France.
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