#agilodocodon

It's time for a Jurassic Classic, say hey to Magma from Paultons Park. A Drop and Twist Tower who's been a stepping stone for young thrillseekers since 2012!.

You may not recognise the species here either, I don't blame you though as Agilodocodons aren't a common sight... unless you're staring at mamallian fossils all day!

Just like last year it's Offer to Adopt. Valid offers can be art, designs, and/or Money {min £10/usd equivalent} so may the best win!

Here’s some of the amazing diversity of Mammaliaformes of Jurassic China. Volaticotherium glides in pursuit of a tasty bug. Agilodocodon, an excellent climber, already got one and brings it back to its young in the trees. Some Docofossors are digging up the lawn. Castorocauda, the largest mammaliaform of the Mesozoic, is going for a swim. With the exception of Volaticotherium, these are all Docodonts, a group closely related to the crown group mammals, having branched off a little before the monotremes did. I wanted to show off how much more diverse and interesting Mesozoic mammals were than we usually imagine. They did a lot more than cowering from dinosaurs and being eaten by them!

Month of Mesozoic Mammals #05: Climbing Trees Agilodocodon

Before we get to the actual-Mammalia-mammals, there’s one more group of mammaliaformes who deserve some attention -- the docodonts.

Falling evolutionarily just outside of Mammalia itself, docodonts first appeared in the mid-Jurassic and lasted until the Early Cretaceous. They used to only be known from teeth and jaw fragments and were thought to have been fairly generic shrew-like terrestrial insectivores, but more recent discoveries have shown them to have actually been some of the earliest mammals to specialize into diverse habitats.

Agilodocodon was adapted for climbing around in trees, making it one of the earliest known arboreal mammals (although not the first climbing synapsid). Living in China during the Middle Jurassic (165-161 mya), it measured about 13cm long (5″) and had sharp gripping claws and flexible wrists and ankles similar to modern climbing mammals like tree squirrels.

When it was first described in 2015 it was suggested that its spade-like front teeth were specialized for gnawing bark and feeding on tree sap -- but a later study found that its teeth didn’t really resemble those of any modern sap-eating mammals, and in fact were closer in shape to those of insectivorous marsupials and elephant shrews.