Amphilestes
Sign in to saveAmphilestes is a genus of extinct eutriconodont mammal from the Middle Jurassic of the United Kingdom. It was one of the first Mesozoic mammals discovered and described.
Wikidata facts
- Parent taxon
- Amphilestidae
- Image
- EB1911 Marsupialia - Lower Jaw and Teeth of Amphilestes broderipi.jpg
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- taxon name
- Amphilestes
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Encyclopedic overview
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- Discovery
- Description
- References
Amphilestes is a genus of extinct eutriconodont mammal from the Middle Jurassic of the United Kingdom. It was one of the first Mesozoic mammals discovered and described.
==Discovery== The first specimen of Amphilestes was discovered along with several other mammal jaws in the Stonesfield Slate Quarry, Oxfordshire before 1764. However, it was not until 1812 that William Broderip bought the jaws, and he and his mentor - the famous palaeontologist Revd William Buckland - recognised that they were of mammal origin. Amphilestes broderipii was originally Amphitherium broderipii, until it was recognised as a distinct and new species in 1871.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Amphilestes” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.