| Jeholodens Fossil range: Middle Cretaceous | |
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 Fossil displayed in Hong Kong Science Museum. | |
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Jeholodens |
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Jeholodens was a primitive mammal belonging to the Triconodonta family, and which lived in present-day China during the Middle Cretaceous about 125 million years ago.
Known only from a single specimen, the holotype consists of a virtually complete articulated skull and skeleton, it shared its corporal characteristics with most other Mesozoic mammals; it was a long-tailed, nocturnal tetrapod (with prehensile fingers and toes) which hunted insects, its food, during the night.
It is suspected to be a nocturnal creature because it had very large eyes which were roughly 5 cm across. This would have allowed it to have better night vision for catching insects. It was a relatively advanced mammal for its time and had larger shoulders blades and collar bone; it also had grasping hands. It had forelimbs and it was likely to be capable of an upright stance.
According to "Biology" 9th edition by Mader,[citation needed] this mammal had the sprawling hindlimbs of a reptile but its forelimbs were under the belly, as in modern mammals.
