Paulchoffatia

Paulchoffatia is an extinct mammal of the Upper Jurassic - Lower Cretaceous. It was a relatively early member of the also extinct order of Multituberculata, suborder "Plagiaulacida", family Paulchoffatiidae. It lived in Europe during 'the age of the dinosaurs'.

Genus: Paulchoffatia Kühne WB, 1961
'for Paul Choffat'
Aka: Paulchoffia
Remarks: "Paulchoffatia Kühne 1961 is characterized by a massive Corpus mandibulae (the part of the jaw below the tooth row), a rounded lower margin of the jaw and a massive, only slightly curved and steeply inclined incisor with a short root", (Hahn & Hahn 2000, p.105).
The name presumably honours the geologist, Léon Paul Choffat[?], (1849-1919).

Species: Paulchoffatia delgadoi Kühne WB, 1961
Place: Guimarota
Country: Portugal
Age: Kimmeridgian, Upper Jurassic
Remarks: The skull probably had a length of 2,5cm. This taxon is based on five lower jaw fossils.
Further material of this genus, (though very possibly not this species), has been reported from the Lower Cretaceous location of Galve, Spain.
Reference: Kühne (1961), Eine Mammaliafauna aus dem Kimmeridge Portugals. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Monatshefte, 1961, p.374-381.
(A mammalian fauna from the Kimmeridgian of Portugal.)

Page references: Hahn G & Hahn R (2000), Multituberculates from the Guimarota mine, p.97-107 in Martin T & Krebs B (eds), Guimarota - A Jurassic Ecosystem, Verlag Dr Friedrich Pfeil, München.
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/multis.htm) Multituberculata Cope, 1884. As that's my webpage, there are no issues of copyright. Trevor Dykes)