Abstract: A new palaeanodont, Auroratherium sinense, was discovered in the Wutu Formation in 1993. Palaeanodonts are a rare group of fossorially adapted mammals, which up to now has been found solely in North America from the Paleocene to the Oligocene. This initial discovery suggests that palaeanodonts may also be widely, but rarely, distributed in the Paleogene of Asia. Associated with the specimen are other mammals, such as Changlelestes (Soricomorpha), Mesodmops (Multituberculata), Alagomyid, Paramyid and ctenodactyloid rodents, carpolestid primates, and primitive perissodactyls.

摘要： 山东五图古乏齿兽类标本保留了原始真兽类的齿式和齿尖配置，与北美古新世Amelotabes simpsoni最为相似。但与后者有明显的差异，故另立属种:Auroratherfum sinense。古乏齿兽类是一类已绝灭的哺乳动物，材料稀少，以前只见于北美早第三纪地层中其起源不清，在归类上也有不同的意见。山东标本的发现是北美以外地区的首次记录，同时也表明了这种动物虽然数量不多，却散布在早第三纪的北美和亚洲两大陆。