Cimolodon

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* Other Fauna/Minor#Cimolodon

## CimolodonLettuce Head Tooth

***Cimolodon*** (Lettuce Head Tooth) is a genus of cimolodontid multituberculate mammal that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous. Given how the scene it appears in is set in the Arctic Circle, it is likely that it is *Cimolodon nitidus*, which was found in the Prince Creek Formation (though it is primarily known from the Lance Formation further down south).

## Description

*Cimolodon* belongs to an order of rodent-like mammals known as multituberculates, named for the multiple cusps and tubercles on their cheek teeth. Traditionally, multituberculates have been inaccurately thought of as sprawling animals. Prehistoric Planet, on the other hand, properly depicts *Cimolodon* with fully erect, digitigrade limbs. However, it appears to be slightly oversized, and seems to be modeled after herbivorous rodents like marmots, ground squirrels, and even beavers, though multituberculate studies imply that they were omnivores or carnivores due to having teeth like those of mammals under the carnivoran order, hence, while *Cimolodon* would have superficially resembled a rodent to some degree due to being a multituberculate, it may not have looked too much like a herbivorous rodent.

## Habitat

*Main: Prince Creek Formation*

Main: Prince Creek Formation

***“ Although the short and warm polar summer is a time of great plenty, it can also bring perils. Warm air rises and becomes charged electrically. And that creates frequent and violent lightning storms. In the north of America, the lush growth, fueled by the constant sunlight, has now been baked tinder-dry. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Ice Worlds*
There are several species of *Cimolodon* that lived from the Cenomanian to the Maastrichtian Stage of the Cretaceous Period. On the show, however, the segment *Cimolodon* appears in is set in the Arctic Circle, indicating that this is the latest species, *Cimolodon nitidus*, which lived in various southern formations like the Lance Formation, but also left fossils dating 71 - 69 million years ago in the Prince Creek Formation, a polar woodland that experienced 120 days of winter darkness, with temperatures dropping as low as 2 - 4 degrees Celsius (36 - 39 degrees Fahrenheit) during the cold months. Even so, the warm conditions of summertime are not devoid of danger, and may in fact start lightning storms and cause the area to suffer frequent forest fires, a disaster the mammal faced in the segment it appeared in.

## Appearance

In the fourth segment of Ice Worlds, a lightning storm, formed by the warm summer conditions, sets a forest in the Arctic ablaze. One troodontid, slowly walking in the midst of the flames, tries to pinpoint the source of the sounds it hears, the calls of distress of other animals. It stalks around the forest, waiting for some of these other creatures to flee the flames and run straight into it. Eventually, the troodontid comes across a stick, smoking embers on its tip. Realizing what it can do with this, the troodontid runs off with the burning twig in its mouth, eventually dropping it by a tree that still seems unaffected by the flames.

***“ At the fire's edge, troodontids gather to prey on animals that are trying to escape the flames. Anything that spreads the fire creates more opportunities for the most ingenious Arctic hunter of its time. ”***

― **David Attenborough**, *Ice Worlds*
With this action, the forest fire spreads, and several *Cimolodons* rush out of the woods, right where the troodontid is waiting to ambush and pursue them. The theropod eventually grabs one of the multituberculates with its jaws, pinning it to the ground while shaking its neck, snapping it in the process. Its hunt a success, the predator gets up, holding the limp body of its latest kill by the neck, shaking it one last time before letting loose a single chirp of satisfaction, slightly flaring out the feathers on the back of its head.

## References

1. ↑ Naish, Darren (@TetZoo) (June 15, 2022) on Twitter, confirming that the small mammal in Ice Worlds is *Cimolodon*.
2. ↑ Thurston, D.K.; Fujita, K. (1994). *1992 Proceedings, International Conference on Arctic Margins*. Anchorage, Alaska: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Minerals Management Service, Alaska Outer Continental Shelf Region.
3. ↑ Cruro-pedal Structure of the paulchoffatiid *Rugosodon eurasiaticus* and Evolution of the Multituberculate Ankle
4. ↑ Adaptive radiation of multituberculate mammals before the extinction of dinosaurs