| Kuehneotheriids | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Clade: | Therapsida |
| Clade: | Cynodontia |
| Clade: | Mammaliaformes |
| Superlegion: | †Kuehneotheria McKenna, 1975 |
| Family: | †Kuehneotheriidae Kermack, Kermack, & Mussett, 1968 |
| Type species | |
| †Kuehneotherium praecursoris Kermack, Kermack, & Mussett, 1968 | |
| Genera | |
Kuehneotheriidae is an extinct family ofmammaliaforms traditionally placed within 'Symmetrodonta', though now generally considered more basal than true symmetrodonts.[2] All members of Kuehneotheriidae which have been found so far are represented only by teeth, but these teeth have features which have ledpaleontologists to classify kuehneotheriids as very close relatives of the first truemammals.[3] But fossil clades based solely on teeth often lead to difficulties (Ausktribosphenidae being a good example), and it is not possible to draw significant conclusions aboutmammalian evolution from Kuehneotheriidae unless some more complete skeletons are found.
