Article: New dryolestoid mammals from the basal Cretaceous Purbeck Limestone Group of southern England

The dryolestoid mammal Dorsetodon haysomi gen. et sp. nov. is described from the Purbeck Limestone Group (Lower Cretaceous) of southern England, on the basis of lower molars. Dorsetodon is assigned to the Paurodontidae, a family of Theria previously known only from North America. The distinction between Paurodontidae and Henkelotheriidae (from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal), although maintained for lack of solid contrary data, is argued to have been based on variable or subjective characters. A further small mammal, Chunnelodon alopekodes gen. et sp. nov., representing an undetermined cladotherian family, is also described from lower molar teeth. The non-procumbent paraconid on the lower molar places Chunnelodon as a sister-taxon to the Laurasian Dryolestoidea.