Morganucodon
genus of mammals (fossil)
Morganucodon ("Glamorgan tooth") is an early mammaliaform genus that lived from the Late Triassic to the Middle Jurassic. It first appeared about 205 million years ago. Unlike many other early mammaliaforms, Morganucodon is well represented by abundant and well-preserved (though in the vast majority of cases disarticulated) material. Most of this comes from Glamorgan in Wales (Morganucodon watsoni), but fossils have also been found in Yunnan Province in China (Morganucodon oehleri) and various parts of Europe and North America. Some closely related animals (Megazostrodon) are known from exquisite fossils from South Africa.
The name comes from a Latinization of Morganuc, the name for South Glamorgan in the Domesday Book, the county of Wales where it was discovered by Walter Georg Kühne, giving the meaning "Glamorgan tooth".
History of discovery
In the summer of 1947, fieldwork was done at Duchy Quarry in Glamorgan in southern Wales. Grey conglomerate that formed fissure fill deposits within karstic voids in Carboniferous limestone was extracted. In 1949, Walter Georg Kühne noted the lower cheek tooth of a primitive mammal while examining samples of the rock. He named it Morganucodon watsoni, with the genus name being derived from Morganuc, which Kühne stated was the name of South Glamorgan in the Domesday Book, with the species name being in honour of D. M. S. Watson.
“Morganucodon” enters the record as genus of mammals (fossil). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Morganucodon, genus and mammals can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Morganucodon” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Morganucodon, genus and mammals provides the most credible route into that argument.
Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q131813. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1947 and 1949.
Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.
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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Morganucodon”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Morganucodon primary sources, Morganucodon archive and Morganucodon research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Morganucodon” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.