Multituberculata

Multituberculates Temporal range: Middle Jurassic-Late Eocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Skeleton of Catopsbaatar
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Subclass:	†Allotheria
Order:	†Multituberculata Cope, 1884
Suborders
†Plagiaulacida (paraphyletic) †Cimolodonta

Multituberculata (commonly known as multituberculates, named for the multiple tubercles of their teeth) is an extinct order of rodent-like mammals with a fossil record spanning over 130 million years.^{[citation needed]} They first appeared in the Middle Jurassic, and reached a peak diversity during the Late Cretaceous and Paleocene. They eventually declined from the mid-Paleocene onwards, disappearing from the known fossil record in the late Eocene.^[1] They are the most diverse order of Mesozoic mammals with more than 200 species known, ranging from mouse-sized to beaver-sized. These species occupied a diversity of ecological niches, ranging from burrow-dwelling to squirrel-like arborealism to jerboa-like hoppers.^[2][3] Multituberculates are usually placed as crown mammals outside either of the two main groups of living mammals—Theria, including placentals and marsupials, and Monotremata^[4]—but usually as closer to Theria than to monotremes.^[5][6] They are considered to be closely related to Euharamiyida and Gondwanatheria as part of Allotheria.