Chunnelodon

Chunnelodon is a genus of extinct mammal from the Early Cretaceous of southern England. The type and only species is Chunnelodon alopekodes, represented by two lower molars from the Sunnydown Farm locality of the Lulworth Formation of Dorset. The taxon was described by Paul Ensom and Denise Sigogneau-Russell in 1998, who gave the species name from the translation of the Ancient Greek phrase "sly as a fox", with the generic name honouring the British-French collaboration and the newly inaugurated Channel Tunnel. Chunnelodon is diagnosed by multiple features of the dental anatomy including slightly asymmetrical but aligned roots, sharp cusps, a tall protoconid and metaconid, a small paraconid, and a reduced talonid. While it was only assigned to Cladotheria indeterminate, Chunnelodon was likely closely related to Dryolestoidea, although outside the clade.[1]

Cladotheria	Zatheria (incl Marsupialia and Placentalia)       Donodontidae       Chunnelodon   Dryolestoidea     Henkelotheriidae?     Paurodontidae         Henkelotheriidae?     Dryolestidae

Chunnelodon Temporal range: Berriasian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Clade:	Cladotheria
Genus:	†Chunnelodon Ensom & Sigogneau-Russell, 1998[1]
Species:	†C. alopekodes
Binomial name
†Chunnelodon alopekodes Ensom & Sigogneau-Russell, 1998[1]

References

1. Ensom, P.C.; Sigogneau-Russell, D. (1998). "New dryolestoid mammals from the Basal Cretaceous Purbeck Limestone Group of southern England". Palaeontology. 41 (1): 35–55.