Donodon fossil map
Where fossils of Donodon have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 145 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 145 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Early mammals |
|---|---|
| Lived | 145.06–141 million years ago (Tithonian to Berriasian) |
| Periods | Jurassic, Cretaceous |
| Family | Donodontidae |
| Named by | Sigogneau-Russell 1991 |
| Fossil records | 8 occurrences at 1 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | Morocco |
| Rock formations | Ksar Metlili |
About Donodon
Donodon is an extinct genus of mammal from the Ksar Metlili Formation of Talssint, Morocco, which has been dated to the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous epochs (Tithonian–Berriasian ages). The type species D. perscriptoris was described in 1991 by the palaeontologist Denise Sigogneau-Russell. A second species, D. minor, was named in 2022. Donodon was a member of Cladotheria, a group that includes therian mammals (marsupials and placentals) and some of their closest relatives. It differed from dryolestids in having upper molars that were not compressed mesiodistally. Some studies have suggested that it was closely related to various South American cladotherians in the clade Meridiolestida, with specific similarities to Mesungulatum, a herbivorous mesungulatid, being noted. On the other hand, a 2022 phylogenetic analysis found it to be only distantly related to meridiolestidans, and instead closer to crown group therians.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Donodon (revision 1335137713), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q5296771.
