Microcosmodontidae
Microcosmodontidae is a poorly preserved family of fossil mammals within the extinct order Multituberculata. Representatives are known from the Upper Cretaceous till the Lower Paleocene of North America.
Taxon: Microcosmodontidae (Holtzman RC & Wolberg DL, 1977) Fox RC, 1999
Page reference: Page reference: Kielan-Jaworowska Z & Hurum JH (2001), Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals. Paleontology 44, p.389-429.
(This information has been derived from [1] (http://home.arcor.de/ktdykes/taenio.htm) MESOZOIC MAMMALS; Eucosmodontidae, Microcosmodontidae and Taeniolabidoidea, an internet directory. As that's my webpage, there are no issues of copyright. Trevor Dykes)
Microcosmodontidae
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Therapsida
Class: Mammalia
Order: Multituberculata
Family: Microcosmodontidae Genera
Microcosmodon
Acheronodon
Pentacosmodon
Ref.
For the technically minded, this family is part of the suborder of Cimolodonta. Other than that, their systematic relationships are hard to define.
Remarks: Would it surprise anyone to know that microcosmodontids were rather small? They also had a "large lower incisor with a restricted enamel band, (Kielan-Jaworowska & Hurum 2001, p.417).
This grouping has also be seen as Microcosmodontinae Holtzman & Wolberg, 1977, within Eucosmodontidae. However, "Microcosmodontidae (new rank assigned by Fox to the subfamily Microcosmodontinae)," (Kielan-Jaworowska & Hurum, 2001).
References: Holtzman & Wolberg (1977), The Microcosmodontinae and Microcosmodon woodi , new multituberculate taxa (Mammalia) from the Late Paleocene of North America. Sci. Publi. of the Sci. Museum of Minnesota, New Series, r, p.1-13.
Fox (1999), The monophyly of the Taeniolabidoidea (Mammalia: Multituberculata), p.26 in Leanza (ed.). Abstracts, VII International Symposium on Mesozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems[?], Buenos Aires, pp.64.