Vilevolodon

Vilevolodon is a monotypic genus of volant, arboreal euharamiyids[1][2] from the Oxfordian age of the Late Jurassic of China. The type species is Vilevolodon diplomylos. The genus name Vilevolodon references its gliding capabilities, Vilevol(Latin for “glider”), while don (Greek for “tooth”) is a common suffix for mammalian taxon titles. The species name diplomylosrefers to the dual mortar-and-pestle occlusion of upper and lower molars observed in the holotype; diplo (Greek for “double”), mylos (Greek for “grinding”).[1]

Vilevolodon is known from the Tiaojishan Formation in Qinglong County, China. Due to its unique combination of characters, Vilevolodon provides additional evidence to an increasingly complex scope of mammalian morphology and niche inhabitation. As the volant herbivorous lifestyle is previously only known from therian gliders, Vilevolodon stands as evidence of locomotor convergence, as well as mammaliaform evolutionary experimentation during the Jurassic.[1] Along with Maiopatagium, Vilevolodon represents the most primitive known gliders in mammalian evolution, appearing approximately 100 million years before the earliest known therian gliders.[3]