| Fossil range | Rhaetian-Sinemurian ~ |
|---|---|
| Taxon | Nujalikodon |
| Type species | Nujalikodon cassiopeiae |
| Type species authority | Patrocinio et al., 2025[1] |
Nujalikodon is a genus of mammaliaform from the Rhætelv Formation of central East Greenland. It dates to the Late Triassic, making it the oldest definitive docodontan. It is known from a fragment of jaw with a single preserved molar tooth.
Etymology
Nujalikodon is named after Nujalik, the goddess of hunting on land in Inuit mythology, and the suffix '-odon' meaning tooth. The name for the type species N. cassiopeiae, comes from the cusp pattern in the tooth, which resembles the arrangement of the stars in the constellation Cassiopeia.
References
- ^ Patrocínio, S., Panciroli, E., Rotatori, F. M., Mateus, O., Milàn, J., Clemmensen, L. B., Crespo, V. D. 2025. The oldest definitive docodontan from central East Greenland sheds light on the origin of the clade. Papers in Palaeontology, 11, 3, e70022.