Allotheria Fossil range: Late Triassic– Early Oligocene PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Skull of Ptilodus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Subclass:	†Allotheria Marsh, 1880
Orders
†Gondwanatheria (uncertain) †Haramiyida †Multituberculata †Triconodonta †Volaticotheria

Allotheria ("other beasts", from the Greek allos-other and therion-wild animal) was a branch of successful mesozoic mammals. The most important characteristic was the presence of lower molariform teeth equipped with two longitudinal rows of cusps.

[edit] Interpretations

When he first identified Allotheria in 1880, Othniel Marsh regarded this group as an order within Marsupialia. But in 1997, McKenna and Bell classified Allothera as an infraclass.

[edit] Further reading

Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska, Richard L. Cifelli, and Zhe-Xi Luo, Mammals from the Age of Dinosaurs: Origins, Evolution, and Structure (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004), 249.