Kollikodontidae
Kollikodontidae is an extinct family of early monotreme mammals that lived in what is now Australia during the mid-Cretaceous period, about 113 to 96 million years ago (Albian to Cenomanian ages).
The family is centered on the type genus Kollikodon. Other possible genera have been suggested, such as Kryoryctes and Sundrius, but their status is uncertain.
Defining features include very specialized bunodont (rounded, grinding) molars, which in some species point to a diet of hard-shelled prey like mollusks. The jaw canal was relatively narrow.
Body size estimates place these animals at roughly 3.5 to 8 kilograms (about 7.7 to 17.6 pounds).
Kollikodontidae are related to monotremes, the group that today includes the platypus and echidnas, and they help shed light on early mammal evolution.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 04:03 (CET).