Description
- Kuehneotherium praecursoris
- Triassic Age
- Pant Quarry, Neaer Bridgend
- South Glamorgan
- South Wales, United Kingdom
- TINY 1/32″ – 1/16″ Specimen will come in the 3.25″ x 4.25″ Riker Mount with Label as Shown.
Kuehneotherium is an early mammaliaform genus that lived during the late Triassic period and is characterized by reversed-triangle pattern of molar cusps. Although a large number of fossils have been found, the fossils are limited to teeth, dental fragments, and mandible fragments.
Kuehneotherium is thought to be an insectivore that could consume only soft-bodied insects such as moths. Their teeth were shaped for vertical shearing and could not crush harder prey. They lived alongside another early mammal, Morganucodon, which had teeth that could crush harder insects such as beetles. This distinction in diet shows that early mammals adapted to have a separate feeding niche so they would not compete for food.
