Live Science has a story about a new Jurassic mammaliaform.  Feredocodon chowi lived during the Jurassic in what is now China.  It’s a Shuotheriid, which is a group of mammal-like animals that have long been problematic as to where they fit into the mammalian family tree.   Their unique dental characteristics make them hard to classify.  A new paper in the journal Nature describes F. chowi and its classification.

Professor Vickers-Rich and her colleagues examined pseudotribosphenic teeth of a new Jurassic shuotheriid, Feredocodon chowi, represented by two skeletal specimens.

They were able to more fully analyze the dental structures using a variety of analysis, which suggested that shuotheriid dental structures appear to be very similar to those of docodontans.

The study suggests that shuotheriids do not have a genuine trigonid in their bottom teeth, indicating a closer relationship to docodontans than previously thought.

This reassessment of tooth architecture not only resolves unresolved interpretations but also triggers a reconsideration of the evolutionary connections within mammaliaforms.