Turgidodon

Turgidodon is an extinct genus of alphadontid marsupial from the Late Cretaceous of western North America.^[1]

Turgidodon Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, Campanian–Maastrichtian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Clade:	Marsupialiformes
Family:	†Alphadontidae
Genus:	†Turgidodon Cifelli, 1990[1]
Type species
Turgidodon praesagus (Russell, 1952)
Other species
Turgidodon rhaister (Clemens, 1966) Turgidodon russelli (Fox, 1979) Turgidodon parapraesagus (Rigby & Wolfberg, 1987) Turgidodon lillegraveni Cifelli, 1990 Turgidodon madseni Cifelli, 1990
Synonyms
Alphadon rhaister Clemens, 1966 Delphodon? praesagus Russell, 1952 Alphadon praesagus (Russell, 1952) Sahni, 1972 Alphadon russelli Fox, 1979 Alphadon parapraesagus Rigby & Wolfberg, 1987

Naming

The genus was named in 1990 by Richard L. Cifelli for species that had previously been described as members of Alphadon, with the name after the Latin word Turgidus: "swollen". The type species is T. praesagus, first named in 1952 by Russell as a species of Delphodon for a tooth from the Oldman Formation of Alberta. As well, Turgidodon includes T. rhaister, named in 1966 by Clemens as a species of Alphadon from the Lance Formation, T. russelli, named in 1979 by Fox as a species of Alphadon also from the Oldman Formation, T. parapraesagus, named in 1987 by Rigby and Wolfberg as a species of Alphadon from the Forest Fauna, and two species named in 1990 by Cifelli: T. lillegraveni and T. madseni. Both T. lillengraveni and T. madseni are from the Kaiparowits Formation of Utah, and named after paleontologists important to the studies of early mammals.^[1]